13 Building Theories from Multiple Evidence Sources In conclusion, the first process step is summarized by using our schema in Table 1.
2.1.2. Identify Search ParametersUsing the concrete
topic definition in the TTDD, the next process step in building a theory focuses on the search parameters for finding evidence. The evidence will be the basis for our body of knowledge. Hence, it is crucial to (a) clearly identify acceptable forms of evidence, and (b) describe how we will proceed to find the evidence.
By determining the forms of acceptable evidence it is indirectly determined how rigorous the overall process of building the body of knowledge will be. If, for instance, only the most significant and best documented empirical
results will be considered, a highly rigorous process is most likely. The overall rigor becomes more relaxed if, for instance, qualitative evidence such as lessons learned is included.
Possible forms of evidence include A rigorous empirical study with a comparison of the object understudy
to other existing practices, a controlled experiment in a research environment, an industrial case study, literature surveys, a qualitative statement of lessons learned, a poll, or even a single person’s opinion captured in a white paper or interview. A good overview and classification of possible empirical evidence can be found in (Zelkowitz and Wallace, Along with the types of accepted evidence goes the definition of accepted (i.e., trusted) sources for such evidence. Such sources can
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