Methodological Issues in the Evaluation of System Analysis and Design Techniques

Abstract

This chapter examines methodological issues arising in the comparison of systems analysis and design techniques. An argument is made to establish a foundation of research and more broadly consider the management of scope in analysis and design research. A discussion of why and how we evaluate techniques is provided. A generalized approach combining both deductive and inductive reasoning is presented and a combined grammar-based and cognitive-based approach to comparison is discussed. In addition, concepts from Friedman’s economic methodology are applied in the choice between alternative ontologies that underlie grammar-based comparisons. The chapter concludes with a set of nine questions that researchers should consider when designing and developing research in the evaluation of systems analysis and design techniques.