How reviewers think about internal and external validity in empirical software engineering

: Empirical methods have grown common in software engineering, but there is no consensus on how to apply them properly. Is practical relevance key? Do internally valid studies have any value? Should we replicate more to address the tradeoff between internal and external validity? We asked the key players of softwareengineering research, but they do not agree on answers to these questions. The original paper has been published at the International Conference on Software Engineering 2015 [SSA15]. Empirical research in software engineering came a long way. From being received as a niche science, the awareness of its importance has increased. In 2005, empirical studies were found in about 2% of papers of major venues and conferences, while in recent years, almost all papers of ICSE, ESEC/FSE, and EMSE reported some kind of empirical evaluation, as we found in a literature review. Thus, the amount of empirically investigated claims has increased considerably. With the rising awareness and u...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2016
• Where: SE
• Authors: Janet Siegmund, Norbert Siegmund, Sven Apel
• Keywords: SE 2016, Software Engineering