Per Runeson, Martin Host, Austen Rainer, Bjorn Regnell

Case Study Research in Software Engineering (eBook, ePUB)

Guidelines and Examples

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Based on their own experiences of in-depth case studies of software projects in international corporations, in this book the authors present detailed practical guidelines on the preparation, conduct, design and reporting of case studies of software engineering. This is the first software engineering specific book on the case study research method.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Seitenzahl: 256
• Erscheinungstermin: 7. März 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781118181003
• Artikelnr.: 37344957

Autorenporträt

Dr. Austen Rainer is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire. He is an active member of the Centre for Empirical Software Process Research (CESPR) and teaches several courses?in the BSc(Hons) and MSc degree programs. Dr. Per Runeson is leader of the Software Engineering Research Group at Lund University, as well as Research Director for EASE - Embedded Applications Software Engineering. He is a Senior Researcher at Sony Ericsson, where he fulfills his role as a verification advisor. His research focuses on efficient verification and validation processes. Dr. Martin Höst is Director of the M.Sc. Programme in Computer Science and Engineering at Lund University and a member of the Software Engineering Research Group (SERG). Dr. Björn Regnell is a professor of Software Engineering at Lund University's Department of Computer Science and Vice Dean of Research at the Faculty of Engineering, LTH. His research interests include market-driven software development, requirements engineering, software quality, software innovation, software product management, and empirical research methods.

Inhaltsangabe

FOREWORD xiii PREFACE xv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xvii PART I CASE STUDY METHODOLOGY
1 INTRODUCTION 3 1.1 What is a Case Study? 3 1.2 A Brief History of Case
Studies in Software Engineering 5 1.3 Why a Book on Case Studies of
Software Engineering? 6 1.4 Conclusion 9 2 BACKGROUND AND DEFINITION OF
CONCEPTS 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Research Strategies 11 2.3
Characteristics of Research Strategies 13 2.3.1 Purpose 13 2.3.2 Control
and Data 14 2.3.3 Triangulation 15 2.3.4 Replication 16 2.3.5 Inductive and
Deductive Enquiries 16 2.4 What Makes a Good Case Study? 17 2.5 When is the
Case Study Strategy Feasible? 19 2.6 Case Study Research Process 20 2.7
Conclusion 21 3 DESIGN OF THE CASE STUDY 23 3.1 Introduction 23 3.2
Elements of the Case Study Design 24 3.2.1 Rationale for the Study 24 3.2.2
Objective of the Study 24 3.2.3 Cases and Units of Analyses 26 3.2.4
Theoretical Framework 29 3.2.5 Research Questions 30 3.2.6 Propositions and
Hypotheses 31 3.2.7 Concepts 32 3.2.8 Methods of Data Collection 32 3.2.9
Methods of Data Analysis 33 3.2.10 Case Selection 33 3.2.11 Selection of
Data 35 3.2.12 Data Definition and Data Storage 36 3.2.13 Quality Control
and Assurance 36 3.2.14 Maintaining the Case Study Protocol 37 3.2.15
Reporting and Disseminating the Case Study 38 3.3 Legal, Ethical, and
Professional Issues 40 3.4 Conclusion 45 4 DATA COLLECTION 47 4.1
Introduction 47 4.2 Different Types of Data Source 47 4.2.1 Classification
of Data Sources 47 4.2.2 Data Source Selection 49 4.3 Interviews 50 4.3.1
Planning Interviews 50 4.3.2 The Interview Session 52 4.3.3 Postinterview
Activities 53 4.4 Focus groups 54 4.5 Observations 56 4.6 Archival Data 57
4.7 Metrics 58 4.8 Conclusion 60 5 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 61 5.1
Introduction 61 5.2 Analysis of Data in Flexible Research 62 5.2.1
Introduction 62 5.2.2 Level of Formalism 64 5.2.3 Relation to Hypotheses 65
5.3 Process for Qualitative Data Analysis 65 5.3.1 Introduction 65 5.3.2
Steps in the Analysis 66 5.3.3 Techniques 68 5.3.4 Tool support 70 5.4
Validity 71 5.4.1 Construct Validity 71 5.4.2 Internal Validity 71 5.4.3
External Validity 71 5.4.4 Reliability 72 5.5 Improving Validity 72 5.6
Quantitative Data Analysis 74 5.7 Conclusion 76 6 REPORTING AND
DISSEMINATION 77 6.1 Introduction 77 6.2 Why Report and Disseminate 78 6.3
The Audience for the Report 79 6.4 Aspects of the Case Study to Report and
Disseminate 80 6.5 When to Report and Disseminate 81 6.6 Guidelines on
Reporting 82 6.6.1 The Generic Content of an Academic Report 82 6.6.2
Reporting Recommendations from Evaluative Case Studies 84 6.6.3 Reporting
to Stakeholders, Including Sponsor(s) 85 6.6.4 Reporting the Context of the
Case Study 87 6.6.5 Reporting to Students 89 6.6.6 Ad Hoc and Impromptu
Reporting 90 6.7 Formats and Structures for a Report 91 6.8 Where to Report
94 6.9 Ethics and Confidentiality 94 6.10 Conclusion 95 7 SCALING UP CASE
STUDY RESEARCH TO REAL-WORLD SOFTWARE PRACTICE 97 7.1 Introduction 97 7.2
The Aims of Scaling up Case Studies 98 7.3 Dimensions of Scale 99 7.4
Longitudinal Case Studies 100 7.5 Multiple Case Studies 102 7.5.1 Multiple
Cases and Replications 102 7.5.2 Selecting the Cases 104 7.6
Multiresearcher Case Studies 105 7.7 Conclusion 107 8 USING CASE STUDY
RESEARCH 109 8.1 Introduction 109 8.2 Reading and Reviewing Case Studies
109 8.2.1 Development of Checklists 110 8.2.2 Checklists for Conducting
Case Study Research 111 8.2.3 Checklists for Reading and Reviewing Case
Studies 111 8.2.4 Development of Practice 111 8.3 Identifying and
Synthesizing Use Case Research 111 8.3.1 Identifying Primary Studies 112
8.3.2 Synthesis of Evidence from Multiple Case Studies 113 8.3.3 Current
State of Synthesis 117 8.4 The Economics of Case Study Research 118 8.4.1
Costs and Benefits of Evaluation Techniques 119 8.4.2 Evaluation of the
DESMET Methodology 119 8.4.3 Frameworks for Organizing Methods of
Evaluation 119 8.5 Specializing Case Study Research for Software
Engineering 121 8.5.1 The Longitudinal Chronological Case Study Research
Strategy 122 8.5.2 Controlled Case Studies 123 8.6 Case Studies and
Software Process Improvement 123 8.7 Conclusion 125 PART II EXAMPLES OF
CASE STUDIES 9 INTRODUCTION TO CASE STUDY EXAMPLES 129 9.1 Introduction 129
10 CASE STUDY OF EXTREME PROGRAMMING IN A STAGE-GATE CONTEXT 133 10.1
Introduction 133 10.1.1 Methodological Status 133 10.2 Case Study Design
134 10.2.1 Rationale 134 10.2.2 Objectives 134 10.2.3 Cases and Units of
Analysis 135 10.2.4 Theoretical Frame of Reference 136 10.2.5 Research
Questions 136 10.3 Planning 136 10.3.1 Methods of Data Collection 136
10.3.2 Selection of Data 137 10.3.3 Case Selection Strategy 137 10.3.4 Case
Study Protocol 137 10.3.5 Ethical Considerations 137 10.4 Data Collection
139 10.5 Data Analysis 139 10.5.1 Threats to Validity 144 10.6 Reporting
144 10.6.1 Academics 144 10.6.2 Practitioners 144 10.7 Lessons Learned 146
11 TWO LONGITUDINAL CASE STUDIES OF SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT 149 11.1
Introduction 149 11.2 Background to the Research Project 149 11.3 Case
Study Design and Planning 150 11.3.1 Rationale 150 11.3.2 Objective 150
11.3.3 Definition of the Case 150 11.3.4 Units of Analyses 151 11.3.5
Theoretical Frame of Reference and Research Questions 151 11.3.6 Case
Selection 151 11.3.7 Replication Strategy 152 11.3.8 Case Study Protocol
152 11.3.9 Quality Assurance, Validity, and Reliability 152 11.3.10 Legal,
Ethical, and Professional Considerations 153 11.4 Data Collection 154
11.4.1 Sources of Data 154 11.5 Data Analysis 157 11.6 Reporting 159 11.6.1
Internal Reporting of Results 160 11.6.2 Dissemination of Artifacts 160
11.7 Lessons Learned 160 12 AN ITERATIVE CASE STUDY OF QUALITY MONITORING
163 12.1 Introduction 163 12.2 Case Study Design 164 12.2.1 Objectives 164
12.2.2 Cases and Units of Analysis 165 12.2.3 Theoretical Frame of
Reference 165 12.2.4 Research Questions 165 12.3 Planning 165 12.3.1
Methods of Data Collection 165 12.3.2 Case Selection Strategy 167 12.3.3
Case Study Protocol 167 12.3.4 Ethical Considerations 167 12.3.5 Data
Collection 168 12.3.6 Exploratory Study 168 12.3.7 Confirmatory Study 168
12.3.8 Explanatory Study 168 12.4 Data Analysis 169 12.5 Reporting 169 12.6
Lessons Learned 169 13 A CASE STUDY OF THE EVALUATION OF REQUIREMENTS
MANAGEMENT TOOLS 171 13.1 Introduction 171 13.2 Design of the Case Study
172 13.2.1 Rationale 172 13.2.2 Objective 172 13.2.3 The Case and Its
Context 173 13.2.4 The Units of Analyses 174 13.2.5 Theoretical Framework
175 13.2.6 Research Questions 175 13.2.7 Propositions, Concepts, and
Measures 175 13.2.8 Case Study Protocol 175 13.2.9 Methods of Data
Collection 176 13.2.10 Methods of Data Analysis 176 13.2.11 Case Selection
Strategy 177 13.2.12 Data Selection Strategy 177 13.2.13 Replication
Strategy 177 13.2.14 Quality Assurance, Validity, and Reliability 177 13.3
Data Collection 178 13.4 Data Analysis 179 13.5 Reporting and Dissemination
180 13.6 Lessons Learned 181 14 A LARGE-SCALE CASE STUDY OF REQUIREMENTS
AND VERIFICATION ALIGNMENT 183 14.1 Introduction 183 14.2 Case Study Design
184 14.2.1 Rationale 184 14.2.2 Objectives 184 14.2.3 Cases and Units of
Analysis 185 14.2.4 Theoretical Frame of Reference 186 14.2.5 Research
Questions 187 14.3 Planning 188 14.3.1 Methods of Data Collection 189
14.3.2 Case Selection Strategy 190 14.3.3 Selection of Data 191 14.3.4 Case
Study Protocol 191 14.3.5 Ethical Considerations 192 14.4 Data Collection
192 14.5 Data Analysis 193 14.6 Lessons Learned 195 14.6.1 Effort
Estimation Lessons 195 14.6.2 Design and Planning Lessons 196 14.6.3 Data
Collection Lessons 197 14.6.4 Data Analysis Lessons 198 14.6.5 Reporting
Lessons 199 14.6.6 A General Lesson 199 EPILOGUE 201 Appendix A: CHECKLISTS
FOR READING AND REVIEWING CASE STUDIES 203 A.1 Design of the Case Study 203
A.2 Data Collection 204 A.3 Data Analysis and Interpretation 204 A.4
Reporting and Dissemination 204 A.5 Reader's Checklist 205 Appendix B:
EXAMPLE INTERVIEW INSTRUMENT (XP) 207 Appendix C: EXAMPLE INTERVIEW
INSTRUMENT (REVV) 209 Appendix D: EXAMPLE OF A CODING GUIDE 213 D.1 Coding
Instructions 213 D.2 Codes 214 D.2.1 High Level Codes: Research Questions
214 D.2.2 Medium Level Codes: Categories 216 D.2.3 Coding Example 216
Appendix E: EXAMPLE OF A CONSENT INFORMATION LETTER 219 REFERENCES 221
INDEX 235