On Expanding the Scope of Design Science in IS Research

Design Science Research (DSR) has sparked a renaissance of contributions to IS, but its rigor and value of DSR could be increased by expanding its scope beyond its engineering roots to bring all modes of scientific inquiry to bear – exploratory, theoretical , experimental, and applied science / engineering (AS/E). All DSR Cycle activities can be realized as instances of one or more of the four modes. The rigor of DSR can therefore be defended in terms of the goals, research products, and standards of rigor already established for each mode. There is, moreover, a synergy among the modes that can only be realized when all four are brought to bear, because each informs the other three. To exclude any mode of inquiry from DSR, therefore, is to impoverish knowledge about its objects of inquiry. Based on these insights, we propose a modified Cycles Model for DSR realized under the disciplines of the four modes of scientific inquiry.