Related papers: Sampling in Software Engineering Research: A Criti…
Background: Given the social aspects of Software Engineering (SE), in the last twenty years, researchers from the field started using research methods common in social sciences such as case study, ethnography, and grounded theory. More…
The evidence-based approach has increasingly been employed to synthesize empirical findings from the primary research in software engineering. Nevertheless, the reproducibility of evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) studies seems to…
Network sampling is a crucial technique for analyzing large or partially observable networks. However, the effectiveness of different sampling methods can vary significantly depending on the context. In this study, we empirically compare…
The discipline of software engineering (SE) combines social and technological dimensions. It is an interdisciplinary research field. However, interdisciplinary research submitted to software engineering venues may not receive the same level…
Decomposing large systems into smaller components with limited privileges has long been recognized as an effective means to minimize the impact of exploits. Despite historical roots, demonstrated benefits, and a plethora of research efforts…
This paper presents the core principles of reliability in software engineering - outlining why reliability testing is critical and specifying the process of measuring reliability. The paper provides insight for both novice and experts in…
Research must be reproducible in order to make an impact on science and to contribute to the body of knowledge in our field. Yet studies have shown that 70% of research from academic labs cannot be reproduced. In software engineering, and…
Modern science is relying on software more than ever. The behavior and outcomes of this software shape the scientific and public discourse on important topics like climate change, economic growth, or the spread of infections. Most…
Context: Pre-publication peer review of scientific articles is considered a key element of the research process in software engineering, yet it is often perceived as not to work fully well. Objective: We aim at understanding the perceptions…
Podcasts have become an increasingly popular medium for knowledge sharing within the software engineering (SE) community, offering insights into industry developments and the perspectives of professionals with different backgrounds. As this…
Empirical Standards are natural-language models of a scientific community's expectations for a specific kind of study (e.g. a questionnaire survey). The ACM SIGSOFT Paper and Peer Review Quality Initiative generated empirical standards for…
In the dynamic field of Software Engineering (SE), where practice is constantly evolving and adapting to new technologies, conducting research is a daunting quest. This poses a challenge for researchers: how to stay relevant and effective…
As any scientific discipline, the software engineering (SE) research community strives to contribute to the betterment of the target population of our research: software producers and consumers. We will only achieve this betterment if we…
Increasingly, Software Engineering (SE) researchers use search-based optimization techniques to solve SE problems with multiple conflicting objectives. These techniques often apply CPU-intensive evolutionary algorithms to explore…
In the short period since the release of ChatGPT, large language models (LLMs) have changed the software engineering research landscape. While there are numerous opportunities to use LLMs for supporting research or software engineering…
Statistical samples, in order to be representative, have to be drawn from a population in a random and unbiased way. Nevertheless, it is common practice in the field of model-based diagnosis to make estimations from (biased) best-first…
Failure studies are important in revealing the root causes, behaviors, and life cycle of defects in software systems. These studies either focus on understanding the characteristics of defects in specific classes of systems or the…
Peer review is a key activity intended to preserve the quality and integrity of scientific publications. However, in practice it is far from perfect. We aim at understanding how reviewers, including those who have won awards for reviewing,…
Experimentation with software prototypes plays a fundamental role in software engineering research. In contrast to many other scientific disciplines, however, explicit support for this key activity in software engineering is relatively…
Almost every software system provides configuration options to tailor the system to the target platform and application scenario. Often, this configurability renders the analysis of every individual system configuration infeasible. To…