  Requirements Engineering Methods (REMs) support Requirements Engineering (RE)
tasks, from elicitation, through modeling and analysis, to validation and
evolution of requirements. Despite the growing interest to design, validate and
teach REMs, it remains unclear what components REMs should have. A
classification framework for REMs is proposed. It distinguishes REMs based on
the domain-independent properties of their components. The classification
framework is intended to facilitate (i) analysis, teaching and extension of
existing REMs, (ii) engineering and validation of new REMs, and (iii)
identifying research challenges in REM design. The framework should help
clarify further the relations between REM and other concepts of interest in and
to RE, including Requirements Problem and Solution, Requirements Modeling
Language, and Formal Method.
