In order to investigate the state of IS research in Australia, a series of surveys was distributed to the heads of all IS discipline groups in Australian universities in 2004, 2005 and 2006. We focused on the ‘school’ level (where ‘school’ represents a group of people focused primarily on teaching and researching IS). The group of target respondents expected to represent these schools was the head of discipline for each of the groups identified by the Information Systems Heads of Department (ISHoDs) mailing list. Based on the previous study by Avgerou et al. (1999) and aspects of paradigm and method from Neuman (2006), a number of dimensions of the schools’ research activities were identified and incorporated into the original questionnaire. The survey has been refined progressively to the current instrument, although the broad focus remains consistent. The survey contained questions on:
people—number, level and research activity of staff, number of enrolled and completing PhD students
structures—school structural titles, real names and super-organisations
foci—topics of research interest, unit of analysis, human–technology spectrum, beneficiaries of the research
paradigm—positivist, interpretivist or critical
methods—survey, case study, action research, laboratory experiment, and so on
performance—publication output, research funds obtained, collaboration.
In addition, a brief SWOT analysis of Australian IS research was added to the questionnaire.
As indicated, the target group was the groups on the ISHoDs mailing list (one response required from the head of discipline of each group) and the survey was distributed and returned via e-mail.