The ABC of software engineering research

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dc.contributor.authorStol, Klaas-Jan
dc.contributor.authorFitzgerald, Brian
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Regional Development Funden
dc.date.accessioned2018-10-24T08:56:34Z
dc.date.available2018-10-24T08:56:34Z
dc.date.issued2018-07
dc.date.updated2018-10-17T06:06:21Z
dc.description.abstractA variety of research methods and techniques are available to SE researchers, and while several overviews exist, there is consistency neither in the research methods covered nor in the terminology used. Furthermore, research is sometimes critically reviewed for characteristics inherent to the methods. We adopt a taxonomy from the social sciences, termed here the ABC framework for SE research, which offers a holistic view of eight archetypal research strategies. ABC refers to the research goal that strives for generalizability over Actors (A) and precise measurement of their Behavior (B), in a realistic Context (C). The ABC framework uses two dimensions widely considered to be key in research design: the level of obtrusiveness of the research and the generalizability of research findings. We discuss metaphors for each strategy and their inherent limitations and potential strengths. We illustrate these research strategies in two key SE domains, global software engineering and requirements engineering, and apply the framework on a sample of 75 articles. Finally, we discuss six ways in which the framework can advance SE research.en
dc.description.sponsorshipEuropean Regional Development Fund (through the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme to Lero—the Irish Software Research Centre (http://www.lero.ie))en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationStol, K.-J. and Fitzgerald, B. (2018) 'The ABC of Software Engineering Research', ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 27(3), 11 (51 pp). doi: 10.1145/3241743en
dc.identifier.doi10.1145/3241743
dc.identifier.endpage11-51en
dc.identifier.issn1049-331X
dc.identifier.issn1557-7392
dc.identifier.issued3en
dc.identifier.journaltitleACM Transactions On Software Engineering and Methodoloyen
dc.identifier.startpage11-1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/7037
dc.identifier.volume27en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG)/15/SIRG/3293/IE/Software Development with Alternative Workforces/en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Research Centres/13/RC/2094/IE/Lero - the Irish Software Research Centre/en
dc.relation.urihttps://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3241743
dc.rights© 2018 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to Association for Computing Machinery.en
dc.subjectResearch methodologyen
dc.subjectResearch strategyen
dc.subjectCross-computing tools and techniquesen
dc.subjectSoftware engineeringen
dc.titleThe ABC of software engineering researchen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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