Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Making Sense of Design Science in Information Systems Research: Insights from a Systematic Literature Review

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Designing for a Digital and Globalized World (DESRIST 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10844))

Abstract

This study presents insights from a systematic literature review of design science in IS. A lack of agreement on how to classify and demarcate design science from behavioral science research led to the iterative development of a theoretically-grounded, encompassing framework of knowledge contributions in the larger context of general scientific inquiry as well as associated coding schemata. The results of the systematic literature review support our framework and the idea that paradigmatic boundaries (e.g., design science versus behavioral science research) are difficult to uphold for contemporary information systems research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    We group these related frameworks under the label of dualities of goals and scope frameworks.

  2. 2.

    Knowledge concerned with the bringing into being of something based on the ancient greek notion of technê.

  3. 3.

    Universally discoverable knowledge of how things are based on the ancient greek notion of epistêmê.

  4. 4.

    The exact date of the search was the 2nd of November, 2017.

  5. 5.

    We decided to use idiographic/nomothetic rather than situational/abstract to describe the different scopes of knowledge as it seems plausible to have abstract representations of situational knowledge, which might lead to unnecessary confusion.

  6. 6.

    We chose the label behavior rather than science as we argue that design also applies to science.

  7. 7.

    Here we build on and extend Iivari's [40] notion of research strategies in DSR. The basic idea is to identify research strategies by examining in what order idiographic or nomothetic inquiries are executed. For example, research developing a nomothetic methodology and then testing it in a case study would be classified as Top-Down; design action research engaging in a practical problem and distilling nomothetic insights from it would be classified as Bottom-Up; Mixed is used to classify research which exhibits elements of both strategies.

References

  1. Hevner, A.R., March, S.T., Park, J., Ram, S.: Design science in information systems research. MIS Q. 28, 75–105 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gregor, S., Hevner, A.R.: Positioning and presenting design science research for maximum impact. MIS Q. 32, 337–355 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rai, A.: Diversity of design science research. Manag. Inf. Syst. Q. 41, iii–xviii (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  4. vom Brocke, J., Hevner, A., Maedche, A.: Call for papers, issue 1/2019 - design science research and digital innovation. Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 59, 309–310 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Goes, P.B.: Editor’s comments: design science research in top information systems journals. MIS Q. 38, iii–viii (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  6. McKay, J., Marshall, P., Hirschheim, R.: The design construct in information systems design science. J. Inf. Technol. 27, 125–139 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Fischer, C., Winter, R., Wortmann, F.: Design theory. Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 2, 387–390 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Niederman, F., March, S.T.: Design science and the accumulation of knowledge in the information systems discipline. ACM Trans. Manage. Inf. Syst. 3, 1–15 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Iivari, J.: A paradigmatic analysis of information systems as a design science. Scand. J. Inf. Syst. 19, 5 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Baiyere, A., Hevner, A., Gregor, S., Rossi, M.: Artifact and/or theory? Publishing design science research in IS. In: ICIS 2015 Proceedings (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Lee, A.S., Chiasson, M., Alter, S., Kremar, H.: Long live design science research! …. and remind me again about whether it is a new research paradigm or a rationale of last resort for worthwhile research that doesn’t fit under any other umbrella. In: ICIS 2012 Proceedings (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Purao, S., Baldwin, C., Hevner, A.R., Storey, V.C., Pries-Heje, J., Smith, B., Zhu, Y.: The sciences of design: observations on an emerging field. Commun. AIS 23, 523–546 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hevner, A.R.: A three cycle view of design science research. Scand. J. Inf. Syst. 19, 4 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Baskerville, R., Kaul, M., Storey, V.C.: Genres of inquiry in design-science research: justification and evaluation of knowledge production. MIS Q. 39, 541–564 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Iivari, J.: Information system artefact or information system application: that is the question. Inf. Syst. J. 27, 753–774 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Qiu, L., Benbasat, I.: Evaluating anthropomorphic product recommendation agents: a social relationship perspective to designing information systems. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 25, 145–181 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Germonprez, M., Hovorka, D., Gal, U.: Secondary design: a case of behavioral design science research. J. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 12, 662 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Goldkuhl, G.: The empirics of design research: activities, outcomes and functions. In: International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2013), 15–18 Dec 2013, Milan, Italy. AIS eLibrary (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Goldkuhl, G., Lind, M.: A multi-grounded design research process. In: Winter, R., Zhao, J.L., Aier, S. (eds.) DESRIST 2010. LNCS, vol. 6105, pp. 45–60. Springer, Heidelberg (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13335-0_4

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. Akoka, J., Comyn-Wattiau, I., Prat, N., Storey, V.C.: Evaluating knowledge types in design science research: an integrated framework. In: Maedche, A., vom Brocke, J., Hevner, A. (eds.) DESRIST 2017. LNCS, vol. 10243, pp. 201–217. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59144-5_12

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  21. Barquet, A.P., Wessel, L., Rothe, H.: Knowledge accumulation in design-oriented research. In: Maedche, A., vom Brocke, J., Hevner, A. (eds.) DESRIST 2017. LNCS, vol. 10243, pp. 398–413. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59144-5_24

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. AIS. http://aisnet.org/?SeniorScholarBasket

  23. Popper, K.: The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Routledge, Abingdon (2005)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. Walls, J.G., Widmeyer, G.R., El Sawy, O.A.: Building an information system design theory for vigilant EIS. Inf. Syst. Res. 3, 36–59 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Gregor, S., Jones, D.: The anatomy of a design theory. J. AIS 8, 312–335 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Gregor, S.: The nature of theory in information systems. MIS Q. 30, 611–642 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Sein, M.K., Henfridsson, O., Purao, S., Rossi, M., Lindgren, R.: Action design research. MIS Q. 35, 37–56 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Prat, N., Comyn-Wattiau, I., Akoka, J.: A taxonomy of evaluation methods for information systems artifacts. J. Manag. Information Syst. 32, 229–267 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Bandara, W., Furtmueller, E., Gorbacheva, E., Miskon, S., Beekhuyzen, J.: Achieving rigor in literature reviews: insights from qualitative data analysis and tool-support. Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 34, 154–204 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Baskerville, R., Lyytinen, K., Sambamurthy, V., Straub, D.: A response to the design-oriented information systems research memorandum. Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 20, 11–15 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Österle, H., Becker, J., Frank, U., Hess, T., Karagiannis, D., Krcmar, H., Loos, P., Mertens, P., Oberweis, A., Sinz, E.J.: Memorandum on design-oriented information systems research. Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 20, 7–10 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. vom Brocke, J., Simons, A., Niehaves, B.: Reconstructing the giant: on the importance of rigour in documenting the literature search process, pp. 1–13 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sturm, B., Schneider, S., Sunyaev, A.: Leave no stone unturned: introducing a revolutionary meta-search tool for rigorous and efficient systematic literature searches. In: ECIS (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Fischer, C.: The information systems design science research body of knowledge–a citation analysis in recent top-journal publications. In: PACIS 2011 Proceedings (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Simon, H.A.: Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press, Cambridge (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Gauch, H.G.: Scientific Method in Practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Box, G.E., Hunter, W.G., Hunter, J.S.: Statistics for Experimenters (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Venable, J., Baskerville, R.: Eating our own cooking: towards a design science of research methods. In: Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Research Methods in Business and management, University of Bolton, Bolton, UK, pp. 399–407 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  39. March, S.T., Smith, G.F.: Design and natural science research on information technology. Decis. Supp. Syst. 15, 251–266 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Iivari, J.: Distinguishing and contrasting two strategies for design science research. Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 24, 107–115 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Kolfschoten, G.L., de Vreede, G.-J.: A design approach for collaboration processes: a multimethod design science study in collaboration engineering. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 26, 225–256 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Nissen, M.E.: Dynamic knowledge patterns to inform design: a field study of knowledge stocks and flows in an extreme organization. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 22, 225–263 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Germonprez, M., Kendall, J.E., Kendall, K.E., Mathiassen, L., Young, B., Warner, B.: A theory of responsive design: a field study of corporate engagement with open source communities. Inf. Syst. Res. 28, 64–83 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Grover, V., Lyytinen, K.: New state of play in information systems research: the push to the edges. MIS Q. 39, 271–275 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cologne, 50969, Cologne, Germany

    Alexander Herwix & Christoph Rosenkranz

Authors
  1. Alexander Herwix
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christoph Rosenkranz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Herwix .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Systems and Technology, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, USA

    Samir Chatterjee

  2. Muma College of Business, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

    Kaushik Dutta

  3. Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Rangaraja P. Sundarraj

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Herwix, A., Rosenkranz, C. (2018). Making Sense of Design Science in Information Systems Research: Insights from a Systematic Literature Review. In: Chatterjee, S., Dutta, K., Sundarraj, R. (eds) Designing for a Digital and Globalized World. DESRIST 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10844. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91800-6_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91800-6_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91799-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91800-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation