Before venturing further, it is worthwhile considering the broader purpose of the research and specifically the aims of the knowledge produced by the project. Writing from a sociological perspective, Blaikie (2010) distinguishes between two broad categories of social science research:
theory-oriented research and policy-oriented research. In the context of IS research, one could take policy-oriented research more broadly to mean applied research with a technological- or business-policy application. Social science research focused on identifying the theoretical framework that best describes a phenomenon is what Blaikie (2010) describes theory-oriented research. This type of research aims to produce “knowledge for understanding” (p. 49) and is concerned with “advancing fundamental knowledge about the social world, in particular, with the development and testing of theories” (p. 49). One of the core aims of this PhD project is to integrate the various theoretical streams and lines of evidence in order to identify the factors that are the strongest determinants of individuals’ access decisions. Such a motivation is theory-oriented research, as it aims to determine which factors provide the best explanation for a phenomenon where there are many potential explanations. But that is not all.
While grounded in theoretical motivations, this research also aims to contribute to our understanding of the phenomenon in order to inform practitioners dealing with the issue. Thus, the research can be considered policy-oriented. Blaikie describes policy-oriented research as
“producing knowledge for action” (p. 49) and is concerned with “with practical outcomes, with trying to solve some practical problem, with helping practitioners accomplish tasks, and with the development and implementation of policy” (p. 49). This project is applied in a sense that it is motivated by the issues and challenges, including piracy, faced by those in the film and music industries. As a unique phenomenon, digital piracy raises questions that are theoretically interesting.
Thus, the empirical context under examination is the source and motivation for the theoretical enquiry. Understanding which factors are the strongest determinants of individuals’ access decisions is important for developing government and business policies that will encourage individuals to use legal access modes rather than digital piracy. Ultimately, the development of theoretical research in this area can help inform policy interventions and the development of business models, but these are implications that are indirectly inferred from the empirical findings, not direct implications.
The goals of any research project, whether these are theoretically or practically oriented, are always related to the current understanding of the phenomenon. When it comes to digital piracy, the existence of markets where legal access of film and music occurs in parallel to illegitimate piracy presents a theoretical conundrum for researchers. It is clear that the social phenomenon occurs, but it is not well understood. In such circumstances, Blaikie (2010) argues that a deductive research strategy is most appropriate.
Research using a deductive strategy aims to “find or formulate a possible explanation, a theoretical argument for the existence of the behaviour or the social phenomenon under consideration. The task is to test that theory, by deducing one or more hypotheses from it, and then to collect appropriate data. Should the data match the theory, some support will be provided for its continuing use, particularly if further tests produce similar results. However, if the data do not match the theory, the theory must be either modified or rejected” (p. 19). In this research strategy
“knowledge of the social world is advanced by means of a trail and error process” (Blaikie 2010, p.19). When it comes to digital piracy it is widely acknowledged that the phenomenon is taking place. What remains unknown is why it is taking place under some conditions, but not others. What differentiates the decision to access something legally and the decision to access something via piracy? This research project builds upon the foundations previously laid by other researchers. It
draws upon the theories that they use to describe piracy as a phenomenon and predict behaviour, but also builds upon the empirical evidence accumulated over the last two decades. The purpose of the research is not to describe the phenomenon, but rather to test a combination of theories that have been previously used to predict behaviour.
Decisions about how to access film and music lie at the intersection of many disciplines and modes of enquiry. As decisions that involve considerations about products and their purchase or non-purchase, such decisions can be investigated using theories and concepts from economics and marketing. As decisions which may involve considerations of illegal modes, they may be analysed using frameworks from criminology. As the ethicality of the various modes is frequently questioned, investigations of such decisions may be informed by frameworks of ethical decision-making. Further, as the decisions may involve judgements of other people and occur in social contexts, investigations may also draw on the literature of social psychology. Last, as the decision is inevitably one involving the use of IT, the context is firmly in the domain of IS research. Thus a researcher investigating access decisions for film and music must decide upon which discipline should serve as the appropriate source of theoretical frameworks, but also which body of empirical evidence should be considered before undertaking new research efforts.
At a theoretical level, the research of this project builds upon theories and models that come from across the social sciences and seek to explain different varieties of behaviour. This project is informed by theories and models that concern individuals’ intentions to perform behaviour, their engagement in criminal and illegal activities, their engagement in ethically questionable acts or contexts with a salient ethical dimension, and their consumption decisions. A substantial body of empirical evidence examining these theories and their applicability to decisions and behaviour of individuals across various contexts has been accumulated. Thus, before data were collected this project reviewed the empirical evidence to identify which theories were best suited to explain the phenomenon of interest.
The various disciplines in the social sciences become potential sources for what Carmines and Zeller (1979) term substantive theory: the theory that links concepts in the research to one another. The substantive theory used in this investigation is aligned with its ontology of cautious realism, and informs the identification and selection of concepts and how they influence the decision and behaviour. At a broad level the substantive theory comes from the across the social sciences and is conceptually integrated based upon notions from consumer behaviour. In addition to
being sources of substantive theory, other disciplines are also sources for what Carmines and Zeller term auxiliary theory: theory about the relationships between the concepts and the measures of the concepts. The auxiliary theory of this investigation is informed by falsificationism, which outlines a process of evaluating the hypotheses and relates to the measurement and evaluation of the concepts in the investigations.
In order to progress within the paradigm of critical rationalism, using a deductive research strategy, the following steps were followed in conducting this research project:
A research question was developed with reference to phenomena of interest and unanswered questions.
An analysis of the relevant theoretical and empirical literature was undertaken in order to devise an appropriate theoretical model to describe the phenomena.
A set of hypotheses were derived from the theoretical model, which was in turn influenced by the existing theoretical and empirical evidence.
A number of studies were undertaken in order to evaluate the hypotheses that derive from the model.
The model was evaluated in light of the findings from the empirical investigations to see if the findings were corroborated.
Relevant implications for the investigation were identified.
2.5. Chapter Summary
Due to the diversity in the research philosophies within the field of IS, it is necessary to outline one’s philosophical perspectives in order to contribute to the field. This chapter fulfils those obligations by outlining the ontological and epistemological assumptions that informed this research project. Specifically, the research is based upon an ontology of cautious realism and an epistemology of falsification, which in combination can be described as a paradigm of critical rationalism (Blaikie 2010). This paradigm relies upon theory testing through empirical falsification, where assertions are evaluated against accumulated evidence. This research project attempted to understand why films and music are in some instances accessed legally, while accessed illegally in others. This question lies at the intersection of many different disciplines, and a number of theoretical explanations deriving from different disciplines can account for why this behaviour may occur. This research attempted to integrate these various streams. In doing so, it took a deductive
approach to integrating the theoretical evidence, given the existing empirical findings, and then built a model which was subsequently tested. The remaining chapters of this thesis provide further detail about the hypothesis development and testing, and then reflect upon the implications of the results.