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There are a lot of factors.Okay, I understand that part. So if you don't have an IS lens, you're most likely going to have to use a tripod for it? Or are there ways of getting around that so you don't have to use a tripod?
Firstly, you get blur when either the camera or the subject is moving and the shutter speed is not fast enough to freeze the movement. For camera movement (camera shake) the rule of thumb is that you want a shutter speed that is as fast as the reciprocal of the focal length (plus the crop factor). So for your 18-55mm lens at 55mm...you would want to use a shutter speed of at least 1/90. (55x1.6=88)
That can be hard to get when the light is low, the limiting factor will be the max aperture of the lens. In this case, the max at 55mm is F5.6...which isn't very big. A better zoom lens might have a max aperture of F2.8, which lets in 4 times as much light...which will let you use a much faster shutter speed.
So that rule is just a rule of thumb...if you are steady you can shoot hand held with slower shutter speeds...or you can use various techniques to help you (lean up against something etc). That can gain you some sharpness at slower speeds but when the light gets low, or you want to shoot with a smaller aperture, then you may really need to use a tripod.
Image Stabilization can really help. It can give you two or three 'stops' worth of stability...so instead of the 1/90 that you would usually need...you could maybe use 1/15. That's great, but as mentioned, it will only help to stop blur from camera movement. If your subject moves, that will still give you blur at those low shutter speeds.
Long story...if you want a 'better' lens...look for one that has a large maximum aperture (F2.8). That is better than having IS...but if you get a lens that has both a large aperture and IS...then you really have something cool...but then it gets expensive.