Researching Information Systems Researching Information Systems Methods using Method Mining -A Case Study on Process Improvement Methods

Methods are of fundamental importance for IS research. A method refers to a well-defined sequences of activities that, if carried out proficiently, yield predictable results. Research methods provide guidance for conducting IS research projects, while practical methods address real-world problems. Often the same method is applied differently in different settings and new methods are constantly being proposed, although methods with the same purpose already exist. Therefore, it is increasingly challenging to understand the spectrum of available methods and how they are used. The questions we aim to answer are: How can we describe similarities and differences of methods that share the same purpose? and Why are there differences in the way how methods are used? To address these, we propose a method mining procedure which uses the technique of process mining, and use the procedure to investigate process improvement methods. Our findings provide valuable implications for both research and practice.