Model-Guided Fieldwork: A Practical, Methodological and Philosophical Investigation in the use of Ethnomethodology for Engineering Software Requirements

TL;DR

This paper introduces 'Model Guided Fieldwork', a systematic approach combining ethnomethodological observations with iterative system modeling to improve software requirements engineering, demonstrated through a high-profile e-Science case study.

Contribution

It presents a novel, practical methodology for ethnomethodological fieldwork in requirements engineering, integrating modeling to enhance data collection and analysis.

Findings

Effective integration of ethnomethodology and modeling in requirements elicitation

Empirical validation through a high-profile e-Science project case study

Addresses philosophical and methodological concerns in ethnomethodological requirements engineering

Abstract

Ethnomethodological fieldwork has long been acknowledged as a potentially valuable way of informing the design of technology. However, there is relatively little methodological support for this activity, particularly in relation to the systematic approaches to development advocated in mainstream software and requirements engineering. This thesis focuses on the use of ethnomethodological fieldwork for the engineering of software requirements. Firstly, it proposes an approach, dubbed "Model Guided Fieldwork," to support a fieldworker in making observations that may contribute to a technological development process. It does this by supplementing the normal debriefing sessions that a fieldworker and a technologist might have, with a lightweight iterative system modelling exercise, in such a way that the fieldwork and modelling can be mutually guiding. Secondly, the thesis presents an application of this approach in a high-profile e-Science project. This case study provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between ethnomethodological ethnography and requirements engineering empirically. Thirdly, the thesis addresses a number of theoretical and philosophical concerns relating to its project. This consists in a number of clarifications and counterarguments which aim to better situate ethnomethodological fieldwork as a method of requirements elicitation. In these three regards the thesis constitutes a practical methodological and philosophical investigation into the topic at hand.