Demonstrating a Contribution to Knowledge in Design Science Research

Abstract

Work-in-progress. Please do not quote without permission. This version of the paper is incomplete. Comments on the line of argument are welcome. 25August 2010 ABSTRACT Design science research (DSR) has been an important component of Information Systems (IS) research for a considerable period of time and its general acceptance as a legitimate approach to research in IS is increasing. An aspect of DSR that has been comparatively neglected, however, is the means by which a significant contribution to knowledge or theory is demonstrated. The aim of the essay is to provide assistance to DS researchers so that they are (i) better able to identify a contribution to knowledge when they are preparing journal articles or other scholarly works; and (ii) to show how a DSR article can be structured so that the contribution is highlighted. The two-dimensional framework that is proposed for identifying the contribution to knowledge relies on distinctions between new and existing knowledge and new and existing problems. The DSR communication schemata that is proposed has similarities to more conventional patterns, but includes the description of the DS artifact in place of a traditional results section. The DSR contribution framework and the DSR communication schemata are evaluated against existing examples of DSR. INTRODUCTION Design scence research (DSR) has been an important component of Information Systems (IS) research for a considerable period of time and its general acceptance as a legitimate approach to research in IS is increasing (see Kuechler and Vaishnavi 2008; Hevner and Chatterjee 2010). DSR in IS concerns the construction of a wide range of socio-technical artifacts, such as decision support systems, modelling tools, governance strategies, methods for IS evaluation and IS change interventions.