Topic selection in industry experiments
Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Conducting Empirical …, 2014•dl.acm.org
This paper shares our experience with initial negotiation and topic elicitation process for
conducting industry experiments in six software development organizations in Finland. The
process involved interaction with company representatives in the form of both multiple group
discussions and separate face-to-face meetings. Fitness criteria developed by researchers
were applied to the list of generated topics to decide on a common topic. The challenges we
faced include diversity of proposed topics, communication gaps, skepticism about research …
conducting industry experiments in six software development organizations in Finland. The
process involved interaction with company representatives in the form of both multiple group
discussions and separate face-to-face meetings. Fitness criteria developed by researchers
were applied to the list of generated topics to decide on a common topic. The challenges we
faced include diversity of proposed topics, communication gaps, skepticism about research …
This paper shares our experience with initial negotiation and topic elicitation process for conducting industry experiments in six software development organizations in Finland. The process involved interaction with company representatives in the form of both multiple group discussions and separate face-to-face meetings. Fitness criteria developed by researchers were applied to the list of generated topics to decide on a common topic. The challenges we faced include diversity of proposed topics, communication gaps, skepticism about research methods, initial disconnect between research and industry needs, and lack of prior work relationship. Lessons learned include having enough time to establish trust with partners, importance of leveraging the benefits of training and skill development that are inherent in the experimental approach, uniquely positioning the experimental approach within the landscape of other validation approaches more familiar to industrial partners, and introducing the fitness criteria early in the process.