*3.1. Data Collection*

Data was gathered from multiple sources to capture the largest possible dataset that met our requirements and build a comprehensive profile of the use of SSM since 1980. The following are the digital tools employed, though not necessarily in order, because finding primary source materials often required using more than one source.


The Publish or Perish tool produced 1000 results, limited in the tool to those that included the full keyword terms "soft systems methodology" or "SSM". These pieces were located from the university library databases and other Boolean searches to produce the original corpus of data for review. Each piece was evaluated to ensure that the authors employed a variety of SSM that matched with Checkland, Boardman, or another author that had both described and tested their version in a research setting at least once. However, due to natural variations among authors' approaches that fit their theoretical view or naturalistic setting requirements, we could not hold these constant to say they are all true to a fixed version of SSM. However, each piece claimed to employ or describe a version of SSM they believed met basic criteria aligned to Checkland or another published conception of the approach. All other source outputs were integrated into the database. Using these data sources to build the database, we employed the following approach to analyzing the data to answer our questions as follows.
