DSS Research Research Articles

Process Tracing Methods in Decision Support Systems Research: Exploring the Black Box

An overview is provided of the appficability to DSS research of process tracing methodologies in general and verbal protocol analysis in particular. Rationale is developed for why process tracing methods are an important addition to the inventory of methodologies available to researchers, stressing the need to explore the black box of decision processes. A variety of process tracing methods are presented, along with their relative strengths and weaknesses. Verbal protocol analysis is discussed as a particularly promising method for use in DSS research. The nature of verbal protocols is outlined and methods for analysis are reviewed. The criticisms of this method and the controversy surrounding its use are discussed, and an assessment of the validity of these criticisms is provided. Finally, areas of DSS research in which protocols may prove valuable are identified and relevant studies are examined.

The evaluation of DSS groups

DSS research has largely ignored evaluation procedures for organizational units which support DSS work. This article reports on a study to explore evaluation variables and procedures for DSS groups. It suggests the importance of multiple perspectives in evaluation and identifies evaluation variables relevant to these perspectives. Recommendations are made for evaluating DSS groups by matching evaluation variables with appropriate evaluation techniques.

Evidence and principles of functional and dysfunctional DSS

Though the primary objective of DSS is to improve decision making effectiveness, recent DSS experiments find that this objective is accomplished in disappointingly few cases. These DSS experiments are reviewed and their results are analyzed using several general empirical findings in psychology and management. These findings include the dubious robustness of normative decision aids, the sensitivity and variability of decision making behavior, and the realities of organizational decision making processes. Finally, the DSS research mission is discussed.

DSS design: a systemic view of decision support

A systemic view of DSS can provide a concrete framework for effective design of DSS and can also serve as a basis for accumulating DSS research results.

What Is Happening in DSS?

A reply to Naylor [Naylor, T. H. 1982. Decision support systems or whatever happened to M.I.S.? Interfaces 12(4, August) 92–94.] discusses the state of the art in DSS research, whether the way in which it is being presented is detrimental, and the future of DSS.

CONTINUITY IN MIS/DSS LABORATORY RESEARCH: THE CASE FOR A COMMON GAMING SIMULATOR*

ABSTRACTTo date, case analyses and field studies have predominated in MIS/DSS research. Laboratory studies seem not to have been given the attention they deserve. This trend is partially due to: (1) the high costs associated with developing decision simulators and related software to support laboratory research and (2) difficult problems with external validity because of unrealistically simple simulated decision environments and DSS software. Since MIS/DSS laboratory research has been most successful when studies have occurred in an interrelated stream, the development of common, portable, and flexible simulators seems desirable. Common simulators would reduce the time and cost of developing experiments, provide for research continuity, comparability, and replication, and facilitate researcher‐to‐researcher communication. Sufficiently complex simulators and DSS software would reduce problems with external validity by providing more realistic laboratory models. This paper presents a software package that offers considerable potential as a common tool for DSS research.

Decision Support Systems: the next research/practice connection

North-Holland Publishing Company Human Systems Management 3 (1982) 5455 Over the lest ten years or so, there has been a number of important occurances which have created an environment conducive to the use of systems which support decision making. The four most important occurances seem to have been: (i) The technological developments in hardware and software and their use; (ii) Recognition of the importance of the psychological dimension in decision making; (iii) Recognition of the interdependent nature of organizational subsystems; and (iv) Recognition of the fuzzy nature of many aspects of problem solving. Within each of these major areas there are numerous partitions which could be used to delineate a particular focus for research investigation or practical development. What is needed now is a careful delineation of the partitions of these areas by providing a framework for the study of DSS like the Mason and Mitroff [I] MIS framework. A framework is necessary if research is to be focused not only on such as technology and the psychological dimension of decision making but on the interaction of the various main effects. The study of the interaction of specific research aspects is more likely to lead to a strong connection between research and practice, since in practice all the main effects and their interactions must be considered. What would be desirable would be to construct research situations which are likely to impact the practical needs of individuals responsible for designing and implementing DSS. If DSS research is viewed as a means of providing (I) practical insights into the difficult and worrisome situations which surround DSS in organizations, and (2) a forum for practitioners to report the re-