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For broader coverage of this topic, see Interdisciplinarity and Complex system.
Not to be confused with Scientific method.

Process science is the method of describing change from an inquiry-oriented process perspective.[1][2][3] Process science includes algorithms, heuristics, and sequences found in psychology, linguistics, anthropology, politics, and economics.[4] In sociology, processes are temporal.[5] In computer science, a process is the collective input/output.[6]

Overview

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Principles and phases

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Brocke et al. state that process science has four central tenets:[7]

  1. "Processes are in the focus"[7]
  2. A science of discovery (observation), explanation, and investigation[7]
  3. Interdisciplinarity[7]
  4. A science of social impact[7]

Brocke et al. subdivide process science into three phases:[8]

  1. Discovery (emergence)[8]
  2. Explanation (dynamics)[8]
  3. Intervention (change)[8]

History

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The term "process science" has been used in different disciplines, including computer science,[9] business process management,[10] and engineering.[11]

In a paper published in 2021, a group of scholars from diverse scientific backgrounds used the term to introduce an "interdisciplinary study of continuous change".[12] They envisioned a scientific field that gives primacy to processes at various scales. Implicitly drawing on the tenets of process philosophy,[13] process science works on the premise that the world is in a constant state of change and becoming, and scientific work should target at understanding these processes in the study of phenomena of all kinds.[12]

The founding group of the interdisciplinary field of process science includes researchers from social science, management science, and computer science. One of the founding members is the computer scientist Wil van der Aalst.[14]

Other

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Process science is an emerging scientific field concerned with studying the nature of change.[15][14] It provides terminology and develops sets of methods and tools for studying change.[16][17] Since it is characterized by a highly interdisciplinary approach and a focus on real-world problems, process science can be considered a form of post-disciplinary research.[18] Process science is influenced by numerous fields, including computer science, social science, psychology, natural science, urban science, economics, and engineering.[11]

Process science applies the concept of process to recognize sequences of actions (activities taken by specific actors) and events (dynamics that occur in the environment) that unfold over time. Both are abstract categories formed from instantaneous observations or occurrences.[19] Process science aims to identify and optimize opportunities related to digital trace data.[20] It also focuses on collecting and developing various algorithmic techniques to analyze these data.[21]

The study of processes has been applied to a diverse range of areas, including technological, economic, political, environmental, social, and human aspects of change.[22]

Researchers and practitioners who work on process science-related topics are referred to as process scientists.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Millar, Robin (2015). "Process science". Encyclopaedia of Science Education. Dordrecht: Springer. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Most lists of processes however include observing, measuring, classifying, inferring, predicting, hypothesizing, and finding patterns, and some also add experimenting, planning investigations, controlling variables, communicating, and others. A 'process approach' to science contrasts with the more usual 'content approach,' in which the development of students' practical and inquiry skills is seen as secondary to, or a by-product of, the development of their scientific knowledge and understanding. [...] The process approach emphasizes science as a form of inquiry, rather than as a body of knowledge.
  2. ^ Kyle, William C.; Bonnstetter, Ronald J.; Gadsden, Thomas; Shymansky, James A. (1988). "...About Hands-on Science". Science and Children. 25 (7): 39–52. JSTOR 43166898. Retrieved 26 July 2024. The overall goal [of the 'Science Curriculum Improvement Study'] was to provide everyone with an understanding of inquiry, process approach, and the goals of science education.
  3. ^ Gatchel, Stanley G.; Tanik, Murat M. (December 2001). "Process Science And Philosophy: For Want Of Synthetic Thought And A Unifying Philosophy". Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science. 5 (4): 1–21. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Let the term 'process' be defined as all our attempts to describe this concept of change. So defined, process science becomes the scientific undertaking to seek methods of describing change in human-comprehensible forms, e.g. mathematics, language, experimentation, logic, and observation. The task of process philosophy is to interpret the findings of process science for effective coordination and use within human civilization.
  4. ^ vom Brocke, Jan; van der Aalst, Wil; Grisold, Thomas; Kremser, Waldemar; Mendling, Jan; Pentland, Brian T.; Recker, Jan; Roeglinger, Maximilian; Rosemann, Michael; Weber, Barbara (3 September 2021). "Process Science: The Interdisciplinary Study of Continuous Change". SSRN. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3916817. S2CID 237452856. Retrieved 26 July 2024. These include psychology, linguistics, anthropology, politics, economics, and others (Cornwell, 2015). In the broadest sense, a process brings about change through a sequence of temporally and causally related activities or events. To this end, the term has been appropriated by various disciplines in different ways (Mendling, Berente, Seidel, & Grisold, 2021; Pettigrew, 1997; Van de Ven & Poole, 1995).
  5. ^ vom Brocke, Jan; van der Aalst, Wil; Grisold, Thomas; Kremser, Waldemar; Mendling, Jan; Pentland, Brian T.; Recker, Jan; Roeglinger, Maximilian; Rosemann, Michael; Weber, Barbara (3 September 2021). "Process Science: The Interdisciplinary Study of Continuous Change". SSRN. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3916817. S2CID 237452856. Retrieved 26 July 2024. For example, in the context of sociology, processes serve to uncover the temporal aspects of a given phenomenon, e.g. life trajectories (Abbott, 1995).
  6. ^ vom Brocke, Jan; van der Aalst, Wil; Grisold, Thomas; Kremser, Waldemar; Mendling, Jan; Pentland, Brian T.; Recker, Jan; Roeglinger, Maximilian; Rosemann, Michael; Weber, Barbara (3 September 2021). "Process Science: The Interdisciplinary Study of Continuous Change". SSRN. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3916817. S2CID 237452856. Retrieved 26 July 2024. [C]omputer science uses the term to depict intended computational sequences to accomplish a specific outcome.
  7. ^ a b c d e vom Brocke, Jan; van der Aalst, Wil; Grisold, Thomas; Kremser, Waldemar; Mendling, Jan; Pentland, Brian T.; Recker, Jan; Roeglinger, Maximilian; Rosemann, Michael; Weber, Barbara (3 September 2021). "Process Science: The Interdisciplinary Study of Continuous Change". SSRN. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3916817. S2CID 237452856. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Process science emphasizes the following key charactersistics [sic]; (1) process are in the focus, (2) we scientifically investigate processes (3) through an interdisciplinary lens, and (4) we intend to influence and change processes to create impact.
  8. ^ a b c d vom Brocke, Jan; van der Aalst, Wil; Grisold, Thomas; Kremser, Waldemar; Mendling, Jan; Pentland, Brian T.; Recker, Jan; Roeglinger, Maximilian; Rosemann, Michael; Weber, Barbara (3 September 2021). "Process Science: The Interdisciplinary Study of Continuous Change". SSRN. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3916817. S2CID 237452856. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Discovery emphasizes the detection of (emergent) dynamics constituting the phenomenon of interest. [...] Explanation aims at understanding the dynamics of processes. [...] Intervention aims at changing processes as they unfold [...] [three] phase[s.]
  9. ^ van der Aalst, Wil; Damiani, Ernesto (2015). "Processes Meet Big Data: Connecting Data Science with Process Science". IEEE Transactions on Services Computing. 8 (6): 810–819. doi:10.1109/TSC.2015.2493732. ISSN 1939-1374. S2CID 10374577.
  10. ^ Mendling, Jan (2016). "From Scientific Process Management to Process Science: Towards an Empirical Research Agenda for Business Process Management" (PDF). In Hochreiner, Christoph; Schulte, Stefan (eds.). Proceedings of the 8th ZEUS Workshop. Vienna, Austria. pp. 1–4. ISSN 1613-0073.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^ a b Judd, Simon; Stephenson, Tom, eds. (2002). Process Science and Engineering for Water and Wastewater Treatment (1st ed.). London, United Kingdom: IWA Publishing. ISBN 9781900222754.
  12. ^ a b c vom Brocke, Jan; van der Aalst, Wil; Grisold, Thomas; Kremser, Waldemar; Mendling, Jan; Pentland, Brian T.; Recker, Jan; Roeglinger, Maximilian; Rosemann, Michael; Weber, Barbara (2021). "Process Science: The Interdisciplinary Study of Continuous Change". SSRN. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3916817. S2CID 237452856.
  13. ^ Rescher, Nicholas (2000). Process Philosophy: A Survey of Basic Issues (1st ed.). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 978-0-8229-7393-5.
  14. ^ a b "Process Science – Community". process-science.net. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  15. ^ "Process Science | ERCIS - European Research Center for Information Systems". www.ercis.org. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  16. ^ "Chair of Process and Data Science - RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY Chair of Process and Data Science - English". www.pads.rwth-aachen.de. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  17. ^ "Process Science". www.ai4.uni-bayreuth.de. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  18. ^ Pernecky, Tomas, ed. (2020). Postdisciplinary Knowledge (1st ed.). London, United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-33806-4.
  19. ^ Pentland, Brian T.; Liu, Peng (2017). "Network Models of Organizational Routines: Tracing Associations between Actions". In Mir, Raza; Jain, Sanjay (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Qualitative Research in Organization Studies (1st ed.). London, United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-68610-3.
  20. ^ Lazer, David M. J.; Pentland, Alex; Watts, Duncan J.; Aral, Sinan; Athey, Susan; Contractor, Noshir; Freelon, Deen; Gonzalez-Bailon, Sandra; King, Gary; Margetts, Helen; Nelson, Alondra; Salganik, Matthew J.; Strohmaier, Markus; Vespignani, Alessandro; Wagner, Claudia (2020). "Computational social science: Obstacles and opportunities". Science. 369 (6507): 1060–1062. Bibcode:2020Sci...369.1060L. doi:10.1126/science.aaz8170. hdl:1721.1/130299. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 32855329. S2CID 221342526.
  21. ^ "PADS-UPC". www.cs.upc.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  22. ^ "Home - Process Science". research.qut.edu.au. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  23. ^ Gatchel, Stanley G.; Tanik, Murat M. (December 2001). "Process Science And Philosophy: For Want Of Synthetic Thought And A Unifying Philosophy". Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science. 5 (4): 1–21. Retrieved 26 July 2024. 'Level of view,' or granularity, is an organizational technique to indicate lesser boundaries that combine to make up more inclusive boundaries.
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