Requirements Elicitation Technique Selection: A Theory-Based Contingency Model

Requirements elicitation has been recognized as a critical stage in system development projects, yet current models prescribing particular elicitation techniques are still limited in their development and application. This research reviews efforts aimed at addressing this, and synthesizes a common structure consisting of project contingencies, elicitation techniques, logic of fit, and a success construct, arguing for the need to more comprehensively study and organize each. As a first step in this research, models drawn from organizational literature are used to categorize project contingencies into dimensions dealing with their impact on the uncertainty and equivocality of the overall development project.