Layered models of research methodologies

The status of research methodology employed by studies on the application of AI techniques to solving problems in engineering design, analysis, and manufacturing is poor. There may be many reasons for this status including: unfortunate heritage from AI, poor educational system, and researchers' sloppiness. Understanding this status is a prerequisite for improvement. The study of research methodology can promote such understanding, but most importantly, it can assist in improving the situation. This paper introduces concepts from the philosophy of science and builds on them models of worldviews of science. These worldviews are combined with a research heuristics or research perspectives and criteria for evaluating research to create a layered model of research methodology. This layerd model can serve to organize and facilitate a better understanding of future studies of research methodologies. The paper discusses many of the issues involved in the study of AI and AIEDAM research methodology using this layered model. How can our intellectual life and institutions be arranged so as to expose our beliefs. conjectures, policies, positions, sources of ideas, traditions, and the like |whether or not they are justiiable|to maximum criticism, in order to counteract and eliminate as much intellectual error as possible? (Bartley, 1962, p. 140)