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The Research Method we Need or Deserve? A Literature Review of the Design Science Research Landscape

Author

Listed:
  • Nagle, Tadhg
  • Doyle, Cathal

    (Victoria University of Wellington)

  • Alhassan, Ibrahim
  • Sammon, David

Abstract

There has been a concerted effort by Senior Scholars to support the successful adoption and publication of Design Science Research (DSR) in top-ranked Information Systems journals. However, DSR is underperforming, and the support by Senior Scholars in the form of editorials and exemplars have provided confusion as well as clarity. Conducting a descriptive literature review, this study sets out to bring empirical context and insight to the many Senior Scholar discussions on the presentation, implementation, and contributions of DSR. Reviewing 111 articles in the AIS Senior Scholars’ Basket the study finds significant transparency issues that have lead to methodological slurring. The study also finds that while DSR has produced research with a strong focus on utility and usefulness, it does so through generalized problems and solutions, which overlooks the messy complexity of real IS problems and the actual use of proposed solutions. Finally, there is little evidence to support a theory obsession in DSR, a topic of concern for the wider IS research community.

Suggested Citation

  • Nagle, Tadhg & Doyle, Cathal & Alhassan, Ibrahim & Sammon, David, 2020. "The Research Method we Need or Deserve? A Literature Review of the Design Science Research Landscape," OSF Preprints yjbd7_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:yjbd7_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/yjbd7_v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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