Transcript Slide 1
Design science methodology for
a PhD project
Roel Wieringa
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Goal
• Discuss one of our research projects
1. Subject
2. Methodological structure
• Relate this to your project
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1. Subject
• Project goal:
– Extending enterprise architecture design with
goal-oriented requirements engineering
• Partners:
– BizzDesign (Wilco Engelsman)
– Novay (Dick Quartel)
– UT (Roel Wieringa)
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Work done so far
KAOS and i* and Tropos and causal loop diagrams and ....
Fusion: reasons to add elements
ARMOR
Reduction: reasons to delete elements
Light Armor
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Result (roughly)
influence
Desire is phenomenon
ideal for a stakeholder
Stakeholder
Is-a
Desire
Whatever is
observable to
stakeholders
Phenomenon
conflict
Is-a
Goal is desire for which
budget is made available
decomposition
Is-a
Goal
Is-a
If the goal is a system
property, it is called a
requirement
Requirement
System property
Requirements must be satisfied by
observed system property
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Status
• Concepts are stable for now ... Fixed point in improvement
iterations
– Still to look at action goals and state goals
– Measure of preferences?
• Relationships require a lot more work
– Influence: state→state, action →state, action →action.
• Use + and – of causal loop diagram for state → state?
– Decomposition: analytic and synthetic
– Conflict: logically impossible, physically impossible, technically
impossible, violation of standards, socially impossible, humanly
impossible, too expensive ...
• We will do some empirical work before we return to this
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2. Methodological structure
Engineering cycle (a.k.a. regulative cycle):
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“Solution”
Problem investigation
Artefact
Technique
Treatment design
Method
....
Treatment validation
Implementation (transfer to Bizzdesign)
Implementation evaluation
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Methodological structure of PhD thesis
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Problem investigation
Treatment design
Treatment validation
Implementation (transfer to Bizzdesign)
Implementation evaluation
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What did we do so far
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Problem investigation: TBD
Treatment design: light Armor
Treatment validation: TBD
Implementation (transfer to Bizzdesign)
Implementation evaluation
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Methodological options
• Problem investigation
– What we know now: Mging large # of reqs, tracing EA to
reqs, determining impact of req change or EA change are
all problematic
– To do: survey
• Among BizzDesign consultants? BizzDesign customers?
• In-depth interviews?
• Questionnaire
• Treatment design: light Armor
• Treatment validation: TBD
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Initial problem
understanding
Improved problem
understanding
Initial treatment design
Improved treatment
design
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Treatment validation
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Methodological options
• Problem investigation: Some survey
• Treatment design: light Armor
• Treatment validation: TBD
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Methodological options
• Problem investigation: Some survey
• Treatment design: light Armor
• Treatment validation questions
– Internal validity: LArmor in BizzDesign consultancy
mitigates identified problems?
– Trade-offs: All of LArmor?
– Sensitivity: All of BizzDesign concultancy? Only Bizzdesign
consultancy?
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Methodological options
• Problem investigation
• Treatment design: light Armor
• Treatment validation methods
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–
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Simulation: Wilco uses LArmor with toy example
Simulation: Wilco uses LArmor with past project data
Action research: Wilco uses Larmor in a project
Opinion research: Wilco elicits opinion of Bizzdesign consultants
about Larmor concepts & method
– Experiment: Wilco studies BizzDesign consultants using Larmor
on an artificial problem, compares to control group using
current BizzDesign method
– Case study: Wilco studies BizzDesign consultants using Larmor in
a project
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Methodological issues
• Generalization
– Applicable to similar GORE methods?
– Applicable to similar companies/projects?
• Theory
– A theory is a dictionary plus a statement with scope of
application; mechanism counterfactually supported
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Preferably, statement indicates mechanism
Scope = generalization; always uncertain, possibly limited
Mechanism
Counterfactual
– Theories applied?
– Theory that will explain case study observations?
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• Organizational design science (Van Aken)
– Elaborate problem investigation (diagnosis)
– Like a physician
• Artefact design science (Wieringa)
– Elaborate treatment design and validation
– Like a medicine manufacturer
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Discussion
• What about your project?
• Written presentation structure?
– Problem – treatment – validation, with varying emphases
• Oral presentation structure?
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Table of contents of two items
Context: the stage
Goals: what are you going to do
Why interesting for audience
What is new wrt related work
Substance 1: the version that everyone can understand
Substance 2: brief indication of some technical detail
–
Please keep your slides readable: minimum point size is 18
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Discussion
• What about your project?
• Written presentation structure?
– Problem – treatment – validation, with varying emphases
• Oral presentation structure?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Table of contents of two items
Context: the stage
Goals: what are you going to do
Why interesting for audience
What is new wrt related work
Substance 1: the version that everyone can understand
Substance 2: brief indication of some technical detail
–
Please keep your slides readable: minimum point size is 18
IS Seminar 31st August
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Discussion
• What about your project?
• Written presentation structure?
– Problem – treatment – validation, with varying emphases
• Oral presentation structure?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Table of contents of two items
Context: the stage
Goals: what are you going to do
Why interesting for audience
What is new wrt related work
Substance 1: the version that everyone can understand
Substance 2: brief indication of some technical detail
–
Please keep your slides readable: minimum point size is 18
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