Using Inductive Approach as Research Strategy in Requirements Engineering

This paper is primarily targeted at doctoral students and other researchers considering using inductive approach as a research strategy. We present interpretive research designed to explore the interaction strategies between analysts and clients/users during requirements determination process and the factors that may be at work in such interaction. Using inductive approach can be treated as both an underlying philosophy and a specific mode of analysis. As a philosophical approach to human understanding, it provides the philosophical grounding for interpretivism. As a mode of analysis, it suggests a way of understanding textual data. Within the philosophy underpinning inductive approach, researchers need to design a research strategy that flows directly from the research questions and goals of the research project. This paper explores such a strategy.