The classification of requirements engineering methods

A classification of requirements engineering methods based on the social assumptions made about organizations is presented. The scheme, based on a taxonomy of social theories after J. Lyotard (1984), provides a set of categories corresponding to metanarratives used within requirements engineering. A short description of each metanarrative is provided in terms of the assumptions made about the nature of society and the expected role of the requirements engineer. A decision aid for practitioners is included in the form of a table that classifies a representative sample of requirements engineering methods.<>