Other-settings generalization in is research

Abstract

This paper presents a simple conceptualization of generalization, called other-settings generalization, that is valid for any IS researcher who claims that his or her results have applicability beyond the sample where data were collected. An other-settings generalization is the researcher's act of arguing, based on the representativeness of the sample, that there is a reasonable expectation that a knowledge claim already believed to be true in one or more settings is also true in other clearly defined settings. Features associated with this conceptualization of generalization include (a) recognition that all human knowledge is bounded, (b) recognition that all knowledge claims-including gene..