Skip to main content

Guidelines for Case Survey Research in Software Engineering

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Contemporary Empirical Methods in Software Engineering

Abstract

This chapter presents guidelines for case survey research. The chapter includes a description of the research process and provides examples for each step of the process. The process comprises the following steps: (1) define research scope, (2) case identification and selection, (3) case extraction, (4) case analysis, and (5) reporting. In addition, we also present a checklist for the quality assessment of case surveys.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ali NB, Petersen K (2014) Evaluating strategies for study selection in systematic literature studies. In: 2014 ACM-IEEE international symposium on empirical software engineering and measurement, ESEM ’14, Torino, pp 45:1–45:4

    Google Scholar 

  • Ali NB, Usman M (2018) Reliability of search in systematic reviews: towards a quality assessment framework for the automated-search strategy. Inform Softw Tech 99:133–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2018.02.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badampudi D, Wohlin C (2016) Bayesian synthesis for knowledge translation in software engineering: method and illustration. In: 2016 42th Euromicro conference on software engineering and advanced applications (SEAA). IEEE, Piscataway, pp 148–156

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Badampudi D, Wohlin C, Petersen K (2015) Experiences from using snowballing and database searches in systematic literature studies. In: Proceedings of the 19th international conference on evaluation and assessment in software engineering, EASE 2015. Nanjing, pp 17:1–17:10

    Google Scholar 

  • Briand LC, Bianculli D, Nejati S, Pastore F, Sabetzadeh M (2017) The case for context-driven software engineering research: generalizability is overrated. IEEE Softw 34(5):72–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock R, Tubbs ME (1990) A case meta-analysis of gainsharing plans as organization development interventions. J Appl Behav Sci 26(3):383–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell DT, Cook TD (1979) Quasi-experimentation: design and analysis issues for field settings. Rand McNally College Publishing, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen J (1960) A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educ Psychol Meas 20(1):37–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruzes D, DybÃ¥ T (2011) Research synthesis in software engineering: a tertiary study. Inform Softw Tech 53(5):440–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruzes DS, DybÃ¥ T, Runeson P, Höst M (2015) Case studies synthesis: a thematic, cross-case, and narrative synthesis worked example. Empir Softw Eng 20(6):1634–1665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DybÃ¥ T (2013) Contextualizing empirical evidence. IEEE Softw 30(1):81–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterbrook S, Singer J, Storey MA, Damian D (2008) Selecting empirical methods for software engineering research. In: Guide to advanced empirical software engineering. Springer, Berlin, pp 285–311

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gable GG (1994) Integrating case study and survey research methods: an example in information systems. Euro J Inform Syst 3(2):112–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garousi V, Felderer M, Mäntylä MV (2019) Guidelines for including grey literature and conducting multivocal literature reviews in software engineering. Inform Softw Tech 106:101–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golembiewski RT, Proehl CW, Sink D (1981) Success of od applications in the public sector: toting up the score for a decade, more or less. Public Adm Rev 41(6):679–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood DJ, Levin M (2006) Introduction to action research: social research for social change. SAGE, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Guba EG, Lincoln YS (1982) Epistemological and methodological bases of naturalistic inquiry. ECTJ 30(4):233–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Jurisch M, Wolf P, Krcmar H (2013) Using the case survey method for synthesizing case study evidence in information systems research. In: 19th Americas conference on information systems, AMCIS 2013. Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitchenham B, Charters S (2007) Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering. Ver. 2.3 EBSE Technical report. EBSE

    Google Scholar 

  • Klotins E (2017) Using the case survey method to explore engineering practices in software start-ups. In: 2017 IEEE/ACM 1st international workshop on software engineering for startups (SoftStart). IEEE, Piscataway, pp 24–26

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhrmann M, Fernández DM, Daneva M (2017) On the pragmatic design of literature studies in software engineering: an experience-based guideline. Empir Softw Eng 22(6):2852–2891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson R (1993) Case survey methodology: quantitative analysis of patterns across case studies. Acad Manag J 36(6):1515–1546

    Google Scholar 

  • Linaaker J, Sulaman SM, Höst M, de Mello RM (2015) Guidelines for conducting surveys in software engineering v. 1.1. Technical report, Department of Computer Science, Lund University

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas WA (1974) The case survey method. Tech. rep., Rand Corporation, report R-1515-RC

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell J (1992) Understanding and validity in qualitative research. Harv Educ Rev 62(3):279–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller D, Friesen PH (1977) Strategy-making in context: ten empirical archetypes. J Manag Stud 14(3):253–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molléri JS, Petersen K, Mendes E (2016) Survey guidelines in software engineering: an annotated review. In: Proceedings of the 10th ACM/IEEE international symposium on empirical software engineering and measurement. ACM, New York, pp 58:1–58:6

    Google Scholar 

  • Molléri JS, Petersen K, Mendes E (2019) An empirically evaluated checklist for surveys in software engineering. http://arxiv.org/abs/1901.09850

  • Munir H, Moayyed M, Petersen K (2014) Considering rigor and relevance when evaluating test driven development: a systematic review. Inform Softw Tech 56(4):375–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen K, Gencel Ç (2013) Worldviews, research methods, and their relationship to validity in empirical software engineering research. In: 2013 joint conference of the 23rd international workshop on software measurement and the 8th international conference on software process and product measurement. Ankara, pp 81–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen K, Wohlin C (2009) Context in industrial software engineering research. In: Proceedings of the third international symposium on empirical software engineering and measurement, ESEM 2009. Lake Buena Vista, pp 401–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen K, Vakkalanka S, Kuzniarz L (2015) Guidelines for conducting systematic mapping studies in software engineering: an update. Inform Softw Tech 64:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen K, Badampudi D, Shah SMA, Wnuk K, Gorschek T, Papatheocharous E, Axelsson J, Sentilles S, Crnkovic I, Cicchetti A (2018) Choosing component origins for software intensive systems: in-house, cots, OSS or outsourcing? A case survey. IEEE Trans Softw Eng 44(3):237–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Runeson P (2006) A survey of unit testing practices. IEEE Softw 23(4):22–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Runeson P, Höst M (2009) Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study research in software engineering. Empir Softw Eng 14(2):131–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Runeson P, Höst M, Rainer A, Regnell B (2012) Case study research in software engineering—guidelines and examples. Wiley, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Siegmund J, Siegmund N, Apel S (2015) Views on internal and external validity in empirical software engineering. In: Proceedings of the 37th international conference on software engineering, vol 1. IEEE Press, New York, pp 9–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Wohlin C, Runeson P, da Mota Silveira Neto PA, Engström E, do Carmo Machado I, de Almeida ES (2013) On the reliability of mapping studies in software engineering. J Syst Soft 86(10):2594–2610

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin RK, Heald KA (1975) Using the case survey method to analyze policy studies. Adm Sci Q 1:371–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin RK, Yates D (1974) Street-level governments: assessing decentralization and urban services (an evaluation of policy related research)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Babar MA, Tell P (2011) Identifying relevant studies in software engineering. Inform Softw Tech 53(6):625–637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2010.12.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kai Petersen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Petersen, K. (2020). Guidelines for Case Survey Research in Software Engineering. In: Felderer, M., Travassos, G. (eds) Contemporary Empirical Methods in Software Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32489-6_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32489-6_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-32488-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-32489-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics