Individual skill
isr-theory-development
Use when building or refining the mechanism for an Information Systems Research (ISR) manuscript — deriving behavioral hypotheses for empirical work or analytical propositions/equilibrium predictions for modeling work, always centered on the IT artifact and the sociotechnical interplay across levels of analysis. Builds the theory; it does not test it (isr-methods, isr-data-analysis).
Information-Systems-Research-Skills/skills/isr-theory-development/SKILL.md
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# Theory Development (isr-theory-development)
## When to trigger
- Your predictions are descriptive ("IT use relates to performance") with no mechanism
- You have an analytical model but the propositions are unmotivated or the comparative statics are not theorized
- A reviewer says "where is the IS theory?" or "this could be any social science"
- You must connect a behavioral and an economic/design logic (intradisciplinary work)
## Two theorizing modes — match yours to your genre
ISR houses **behavioral/empirical** and **analytical/economic & design-science** research as co-equal genres. The shape of "theory" differs:
- **Behavioral mode.** Build an explicit causal **mechanism** centered on the IT artifact: how a feature of the system, platform, or algorithm changes cognition, affect, behavior, interaction, or organizing — then derive hypotheses *a priori*. State the boundary conditions and the level(s) (individual → group → firm → network → society). Theorize mediation (the process) and moderation (when it strengthens/weakens), not just main effects.