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Criteria of progress for information systems design theories

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Abstract

According to Kuhn, science and progress are strongly interrelated. In this paper, we define criteria of progress for design theories. A broad analysis of the literature on information systems design science reveals that there is no consensus on the criteria of progress for design theories. We therefore analyze different concepts of progress for natural science theories. Based on well-founded criteria stemming from the philosophy of science and referring to natural science theories, we develop a set of criteria of progress for design theories. In summary, our analysis results in six criteria of progress for design theories: A design theory is partially progressive compared to another if it is ceteris paribus (1) more useful, (2) internally more consistent, (3) externally more consistent, (4) more general, (5) simpler, or (6) more fruitful of further research. Although the measurement of these criteria is not the focus of this paper, the problem of measurement cannot be totally neglected. We therefore discuss different methods for measuring the criteria based on different concepts of truth: the correspondence theory of truth, the coherence theory of truth, and the consensus theory of truth. We finally show the applicability of the criteria with an example.

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Notes

  1. The relationship between IS design science research (DSR) and IS design theory development is discussed in the following section.

  2. For a detailed discussion of the relationship between IS DSR und IS design theory, we refer to the Subsect. 2.3.

  3. Venable takes this definition from David Kroenke, but the citation is unknown.

  4. To be frank, we did not become aware of the issue of unintended side effects ourselves; one of the reviewers kindly drew our attention to this important aspect.

  5. We consider the function point method to be a design theory. Although it does not directly refer to the design of a computer system, it refers to the design of an IS artifact. At the beginning of this paper, we adopted the IS definition by Alter (2006, p. 12) who defines an information system as a specific “work system whose work practices are devoted to processing information, i.e. capturing, transmitting, storing, retrieving, manipulating, and displaying information.” Taking this definition, a method for estimating the costs of an IS project is clearly part of the information system. Ergo, the function point method is a (theoretical) approach saying how to design (a part of) an information system.

  6. Formally, a contradiction is defined as a statement of the form “a and not a.” Whilst such a formal contradiction is invalid, the formulation of concurrent goals is allowed, of course. Two concurrent goals might be costs and quality.

  7. Bucher et al. use a proprietary terminology and differentiate between context types and project types. However, this terminology can be mapped to our notion of scope (context type) and purpose (project type).

  8. Charlesworth (1956) argues that the claim for simplicity commonly ascribed to William of Ockham (“Ockham’s razor”) has already been articulated by Aristotle.

  9. Venable’s (2006a, b) definition of a problem is strongly related to Gregor and Jones’ (2007) definition purpose and scope for a design theory because the purpose of a design theory often is to address a specific problem with a given scope.

  10. We cannot discuss the different theories of truth in detail here. David (2009) gives a short overview of the variety of theories discussed under the label of a correspondence theory of truth and discusses some of its major advantages and disadvantages. Young (2008) deals with the correspondence theory of truth. For the consensus theory of truth, we directly refer to its most popular proponent: Jürgen Habermas (cf. e.g. Habermas 1984).

  11. The experiment is interesting from a methodological point of view because Sobel and Clarkson (2002) were heavily criticized by Berry and Tichy (2003) for methodological errors in the experiment design and its result. Sobel and Clarkson (2003) answer this criticism.

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  1. Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen, Müller-Friedberg-Strasse 8, 9000, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Stephan Aier & Christian Fischer

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  1. Stephan Aier
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  2. Christian Fischer
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Correspondence to Stephan Aier.

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Aier, S., Fischer, C. Criteria of progress for information systems design theories. Inf Syst E-Bus Manage 9, 133–172 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-010-0130-8

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