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Case Study Research in Software Engineering: Guidelines and Examples

Case Study Research in Software Engineering: Guidelines and Examples

by Björn Regnell, Austen Rainer, Martin Höst, Per Runeson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Release Date: April 2012
ISBN: 9781118104354
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Book Description

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.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. CONTENTS
  5. FOREWORD
  6. PREFACE
  7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  8. PART I: CASE STUDY METHODOLOGY
    1. Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
      1. 1.1 WHAT IS A CASE STUDY?
      2. 1.2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF CASE STUDIES IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      3. 1.3 WHY A BOOK ON CASE STUDIES OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING?
      4. 1.4 CONCLUSION
    2. Chapter 2: BACKGROUND AND DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
      1. 2.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 2.2 RESEARCH STRATEGIES
      3. 2.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH STRATEGIES
      4. 2.4 WHAT MAKES A GOOD CASE STUDY?
      5. 2.5 WHEN IS THE CASE STUDY STRATEGY FEASIBLE?
      6. 2.6 CASE STUDY RESEARCH PROCESS
      7. 2.7 CONCLUSION
    3. Chapter 3: DESIGN OF THE CASE STUDY
      1. 3.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 3.2 ELEMENTS OF THE CASE STUDY DESIGN
      3. 3.3 LEGAL, ETHICAL, AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
      4. 3.4 CONCLUSION
    4. Chapter 4: DATA COLLECTION
      1. 4.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 4.2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATA SOURCE
      3. 4.3 INTERVIEWS
      4. 4.4 FOCUS GROUPS
      5. 4.5 OBSERVATIONS
      6. 4.6 ARCHIVAL DATA
      7. 4.7 METRICS
      8. 4.8 CONCLUSION
    5. Chapter 5: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
      1. 5.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 5.2 ANALYSIS OF DATA IN FLEXIBLE RESEARCH
      3. 5.3 PROCESS FOR QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
      4. 5.4 VALIDITY
      5. 5.5 IMPROVING VALIDITY
      6. 5.6 QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
      7. 5.7 CONCLUSION
    6. Chapter 6: REPORTING AND DISSEMINATION
      1. 6.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 6.2 WHY REPORT AND DISSEMINATE
      3. 6.3 THE AUDIENCE FOR THE REPORT
      4. 6.4 ASPECTS OF THE CASE STUDY TO REPORT AND DISSEMINATE
      5. 6.5 WHEN TO REPORT AND DISSEMINATE
      6. 6.6 GUIDELINES ON REPORTING
      7. 6.7 FORMATS AND STRUCTURES FOR A REPORT
      8. 6.8 WHERE TO REPORT
      9. 6.9 ETHICS AND CONFIDENTIALITY
      10. 6.10 CONCLUSION
    7. Chapter 7: SCALING UP CASE STUDY RESEARCH TO REAL-WORLD SOFTWARE PRACTICE
      1. 7.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 7.2 THE AIMS OF SCALING UP CASE STUDIES
      3. 7.3 DIMENSIONS OF SCALE
      4. 7.4 LONGITUDINAL CASE STUDIES
      5. 7.5 MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES
      6. 7.6 MULTIRESEARCHER CASE STUDIES
      7. 7.7 CONCLUSION
    8. Chapter 8: USING CASE STUDY RESEARCH
      1. 8.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 8.2 READING AND REVIEWING CASE STUDIES
      3. 8.3 IDENTIFYING AND SYNTHESIZING USE CASE RESEARCH
      4. 8.4 THE ECONOMICS OF CASE STUDY RESEARCH
      5. 8.5 SPECIALIZING CASE STUDY RESEARCH FOR SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      6. 8.6 CASE STUDIES AND SOFTWARE PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
      7. 8.7 CONCLUSION
  9. PART II: EXAMPLES OF CASE STUDIES
    1. Chapter 9: INTRODUCTION TO CASE STUDY EXAMPLES
      1. 9.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. Chapter 10: CASE STUDY OF EXTREME PROGRAMMING IN A STAGE–GATE CONTEXT
      1. 10.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 10.2 CASE STUDY DESIGN
      3. 10.3 PLANNING
      4. 10.4 DATA COLLECTION
      5. 10.5 DATA ANALYSIS
      6. 10.6 REPORTING
      7. 10.7 LESSONS LEARNED
    3. Chapter 11: TWO LONGITUDINAL CASE STUDIES OF SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT
      1. 11.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 11.2 BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH PROJECT
      3. 11.3 CASE STUDY DESIGN AND PLANNING
      4. 11.4 DATA COLLECTION
      5. 11.5 DATA ANALYSIS
      6. 11.6 REPORTING
      7. 11.7 LESSONS LEARNED
    4. Chapter 12: AN ITERATIVE CASE STUDY OF QUALITY MONITORING
      1. 12.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 12.2 CASE STUDY DESIGN
      3. 12.3 PLANNING
      4. 12.4 DATA ANALYSIS
      5. 12.5 REPORTING
      6. 12.6 LESSONS LEARNED
    5. Chapter 13: A CASE STUDY OF THE EVALUATION OF REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT TOOLS
      1. 13.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 13.2 DESIGN OF THE CASE STUDY
      3. 13.3 DATA COLLECTION
      4. 13.4 DATA ANALYSIS
      5. 13.5 REPORTING AND DISSEMINATION
      6. 13.6 LESSONS LEARNED
    6. Chapter 14: A LARGE-SCALE CASE STUDY OF REQUIREMENTS AND VERIFICATION ALIGNMENT
      1. 14.1 INTRODUCTION
      2. 14.2 CASE STUDY DESIGN
      3. 14.3 PLANNING
      4. 14.4 DATA COLLECTION
      5. 14.5 DATA ANALYSIS
      6. 14.6 LESSONS LEARNED
  10. EPILOGUE
  11. APPENDIX A: CHECKLISTS FOR READING AND REVIEWING CASE STUDIES
    1. A.1 DESIGN OF THE CASE STUDY
    2. A.2 DATA COLLECTION
    3. A.3 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
    4. A.4 REPORTING AND DISSEMINATION
    5. A.5 READER'S CHECKLIST
  12. APPENDIX B: EXAMPLE INTERVIEW INSTRUMENT (XP)
  13. APPENDIX C: EXAMPLE INTERVIEW INSTRUMENT (REVV)
  14. APPENDIX D: EXAMPLE OF A CODING GUIDE
    1. D.1 CODING INSTRUCTIONS
    2. D.2 CODES
  15. APPENDIX E: EXAMPLE OF A CONSENT INFORMATION LETTER
  16. REFERENCES
  17. Index