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Title: Reflecting on the Use of the Policy-Process-Product Theory in Empirical Software Engineering
The primary theory of software engineering is that an organiza- tion’s Policies and Processes influence the quality of its Products. We call this the PPP Theory. Although empirical software engineer- ing research has grown common, it is unclear whether researchers are trying to evaluate the PPP Theory. To assess this, we analyzed half (33) of the empirical works published over the last two years in three prominent software engineering conferences. In this sample, 70% focus on policies/processes or products, not both. Only 33% provided measurements relating policy/process and products. We make four recommendations: (1) Use PPP Theory in study design; (2) Study feedback relationships; (3) Diversify the studied feed- forward relationships; and (4) Disentangle policy and process. Let us remember that research results are in the context of, and with respect to, the relationship between software products, processes, and policies.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2135156
PAR ID:
10513664
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
ACM
Date Published:
Edition / Version:
1
ISBN:
9798400703270
Page Range / eLocation ID:
2112 to 2116
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Empirical Software Engineering Software Process and Policy
Format(s):
Medium: X
Location:
San Francisco CA USA
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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