A study of Language-Action Perspective as a theoretical framework for web services

A science of services and its technological component, web services are contingent on appropriate theoretical contributions. This dissertation investigates the appropriateness of language-action framework as a source of theory for web services.;Web service supports interoperability among applications independent of its platform, through a set of standards. Current web service efforts are hindered by complexities created by proliferation of standards which are sometimes competing and/or overlapping. These complexities undermine usability of web services, therefore hindering widespread adoption. These complexities can be managed by developing boundaries for each web service aspect and design methodologies tailored towards web services. Language-Action Perspective (LAP) is a candidate theoretical perspective because it follows basic premise of web services, i.e., supporting communication among applications to achieve business goals.;The central hypothesis of this dissertation is that the LAP would be an appropriate theoretical framework for web services. This hypothesis is tested through three inter-dependent essays. The first essay investigates whether LAP constructs can describe and explain the web services architecture. Findings from this essay reveal a need for mechanisms to guide web service conversations. The second essay investigates this finding with enterprise integration as its application domain. This essay develops a mechanism for accessing design knowledge with LAP constructs. The outcome is translated into web service conversation specifications. As proof of concept, a research prototype that utilizes LAP based mechanism to generate web service conversation specifications as integration solutions is also developed. The third essay assesses the contribution of LAP constructs for designing effective integration solutions. The contribution of LAP constructs were assessed by designing and carrying out a controlled experiment. The assessment shows that LAP based mechanism produces higher quality integration solutions and reduces designer effort required for developing solutions.;Significant contributions from this dissertation include an LAP-inspired reference framework for web services (essay 1), a methodology and software artifact for designing enterprise integration solutions as web service conversation specifications (essay 2), an evaluation of the relative effectiveness of LAP constructs for designing web service solutions (essay 3). Together they test the central hypothesis -- appropriateness of LAP as a theoretical framework for web services.