A Grounded Theoretical and Linguistic Analysis Approach for Non-Functional Requirements Analysis

An important aspect of the requirements engineering process is the specification of traceable, unambiguous and operationalizable non-functional requirements. This remains a non-trivial task due to the lack of well-documented, systematic procedures that facilitate a structured analysis of the qualitative data that is typically the input to this activity. This research investigates the development of a procedural approach that can potentially fill this gap by incorporating procedural perspectives from Grounded Theory Method, Linguistic Analysis and the Non-Functional Requirement Framework, without significantly deviating from existing practice. This paper describes a preliminary version of this procedural approach along with empirical illustrations using data from a redesign initiative of a library website of a public university in the United States. The paper concludes with a preliminary assessment of the approach and a discussion of the contributions of the research.