THE PROCESS OF RESEARCH INVESTIGATIONS IN ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE - AN UNIFIED VIEW

A number of research communities recognize Artificial Intelligence (AI ) as a valid reference discipline. However, several papers have critic ized AI's research methodologies, This paper attempts to clarify and i mprove the methods used in AI. Definitions are proposed for terms such as AI theory, principles, hypotheses, and observations. Next, a unifi ed view of AI research methodology is proposed. This methodology conta ins a long term dimension based upon the scientific method and an indi vidual project dimension. The individual project dimension identifies four strategies: Hypothetical/deductive, hermeneutical/inductive, case -based, and historical analysis. The strategies differ according to ho w prototyping is used in an experiment.