Case Study Research in Software Engineering

Foreword xv Preface xix Acknowledgements xxi 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 12 2.3 Characteristics of research strategies 14 2.4 What makes a good case study? 18 2.5 When is the case study strategy feasible? 20 2.6 Case study research process 21 2.7 Conclusion 22 3. Design of the case study 23 3.1 Introduction 23 3.2 Elements of the case study design 24 3.3 Legal, ethical and professional issues 42 3.4 Conclusion 48 4. Data collection 49 4.1 Introduction 49 4.2 Different types of data sources 50 4.3 Interviews 52 4.4 Focus groups 57 4.5 Observations 58 4.6 Archival data 60 4.7 Metrics 61 4.8 Conclusion 63 5. Data analysis and interpretation 65 5.1 Introduction 65 5.2 Analysis of data in flexible research 66 5.3 Process for qualitative data analysis 70 5.4 Validity 75 5.5 Improving validity 77 5.6 Quantitative data analysis 79 5.7 Conclusion 81 6. Reporting and dissemination 83 6.1 Introduction 83 6.2 Why report and disseminate 84 6.3 The audience for the report 85 6.4 Aspects of the case study to report and disseminate 87 6.5 When to report and disseminate 88 6.6 Guidelines on reporting 88 6.7 Formats and structures for a report 99 6.8 Where to report 102 6.9 Ethics and confidentiality 102 6.10 Conclusion 104 7. Scaling up case study research 105 7.1 Introduction 105 7.2 The aims of scaling up case studies 106 7.3 Dimensions of scale 107 7.4 Longitudinal case studies 109 7.5 Multiple case studies 111 7.6 Multi-researcher case studies 114 7.7 Conclusion 116 8. Using case study research 117 8.1 Introduction 117 8.2 Reading and reviewing case studies 118 8.3 Identifying and synthesizing use case research 120 8.4 The economics of case study research 127 8.5 Specializing case study research for Software Engineering 130 8.6 Case studies and software process improvement 133 8.7 Conclusion 135 Part II. Examples of Case Studies 9. Introduction to case study examples 139 9.1 Introduction 139 10. Case studies of eXtreme Programming 143 10.1 Introduction 143 10.2 Case study design 144 10.3 Planning 146 10.4 Data collection 149 10.5 Data analysis 149 10.6 Reporting 156 10.7 Lessons learned 157 11. Longitudinal case studies of software project management 159 11.1 Introduction 159 11.2 Background to the research project 159 11.3 Case study design and planning 160 11.4 Data collection 164 11.5 Data analysis 166 11.6 Reporting 170 11.7 Lessons learned 172 12. An iterative case study of quality monitoring 173 12.1 Introduction 173 12.2 Case study design 175 12.3 Planning 176 12.4 Data analysis 179 12.5 Reporting 180 12.6 Lessons learned 180 13. An evaluative case study of software tools 181 13.1 Introduction 181 13.2 Design of the case study 182 13.3 Data collection 190 13.4 Data analysis 191 13.5 Reporting and dissemination 192 13.6 Lessons learned 193 14. A large-scale case study 195 14.1 Introduction 195 14.2 Case study design 196 14.3 Planning 201 14.4 Data collection 206 14.5 Data analysis 207 14.6 Lessons learned 208 Appendices 217 Appendix A. Checklists for reading and reviewing case studies 217 Appendix B. Example Interview instrument (XP) 221 Appendix C. Example interview instrument (REVV) 223 Appendix D. Example of a coding guide 227 Appendix E. Example of a consent information letter 233 Bibliography 235 References 235 Index 251