Toward Systems Engineering Meta‐Methodology

Abstract

AbstractA significant portion of Systems Engineering research deals with building methodologies, methods, frameworks, techniques, and tools for performing various systems engineering activities, which are arguably better than legacy ones. However, there is no clear guidance for systems engineering methodology building. In fact, there is barely any guidance about how to build methodology for anything. Systems researchers must practice what they preach – a systems approach – even in the very process of designing systems engineering systems and methods. This paper is a step toward forming a consolidated body of knowledge on systems methodology building – conception, design, construction, evaluation, and deployment – indeed much like the way we build systems. While some aspects of this methodology may seem intuitive, we introduce several insights that may be useful for informing researchers about the fundamentals of methodological research, as well as about the appropriate justification of such research.