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Reconciling Theories with Design Choices in Design Science Research

  • Conference paper
Design Science at the Intersection of Physical and Virtual Design (DESRIST 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 7939))

Abstract

Despite increased acceptance of design science research, concerns about rigor and relevance permeate the research community. One way to increase rigor is by codifying design knowledge into design theories. While this idea is gaining popularity, it is unclear how to approach design theorizing in a scientifically rigorous, yet practically relevant, way. In this paper, we address one particularly murky issue in design science research: reconciling theoretical abstractness with practicality. Since many design theories are moderately abstract, a gap exists between theoretical propositions and concrete issues faced in practice. We present a case study of real information system (IS) development where these issues become evident. Based on the identified issues we provide four theory-driven recommendations including specification of transformational rules, developing or imagining a real IS artifact, specification of boundary conditions and over-specification of the theoretical core. The consequences of these recommendations for design science theorizing are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Business Administration, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    Roman Lukyanenko & Jeffrey Parsons

Authors
  1. Roman Lukyanenko
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  2. Jeffrey Parsons
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information Systems, University of Liechtenstein, Fürst-Franz-Josef-Strasse 21, 9490, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

    Jan vom Brocke

  2. Department of Information and Service Economy, Aalto University, Chydenia (Runeberginkatu 22-24), P.O. Box 21220, 00076, Aalto, Finland

    Riitta Hekkala  & Matti Rossi  & 

  3. Department of Management Information Systems, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, 430J McClelland Hall, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Sudha Ram

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Lukyanenko, R., Parsons, J. (2013). Reconciling Theories with Design Choices in Design Science Research. In: vom Brocke, J., Hekkala, R., Ram, S., Rossi, M. (eds) Design Science at the Intersection of Physical and Virtual Design. DESRIST 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7939. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38827-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38827-9_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-38826-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-38827-9

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