Making research methodologies in theoretical computing explicit

Abstract

All research should be guided by a process that begins with the researcher's philosophical world view and then details why the research has value, how the research was done, and why the particular approach was used. In addition, this process should be made known to the research community. In this paper we argue that theoretical or applied computing research does not normally conform to this common approach of being explicit about the research approach used but that it should do so. We adopt a pragmatic world view and use an argumentation method within a philosophical analysis design to support our position. We then adopt an accepted conceptual model of research methodology structure and use two examples to show that it can be applied across the field of computing. In addition, we propose a set of questions that could guide researchers in assessing the validity of their research. The model and the questions can be introduced to postgraduate students and developing researchers to assist them in planning and reporting their research. In addition to the practical contribution made by the model and questions, this paper adds to the debate about the place of research methodologies in Computer science research.