Empirical Track
The discussion at past REFSQ conferences had confirmed the strong need for empirical validation of the effectiveness for our RE methods, but the literature to date, including that of REFSQ, could show more of this validation. This lack was assumed to be at least partly due to the difficulty of finding and persuading the participation of a sufficient number of suitable experimental subjects. To address this lack, the 2011 edition of REFSQ featured a new multi-event Empirical Track.
One event of the Empirical Track was an live experiment conducted during a plenary session early in the REFSQ conference. The goals of this event, besides that of permitting the conduct of an experiment, were to raise awareness for the necessity and benefits of empirical studies and to show that participating in them is not dangerous to one’s health. Specifically, REFSQ 2011 participants were invited to participate in an experiment about risk estimation. Preliminary results of the experiment were reported in a plenary session at the end of the conference, and the detailed results of the experiment were reported at the following year’s REFSQ.
It is clearly understood in the Requirements Engineering (RE) community that case studies of industry projects are critical for our in-depth understanding of both: (a) the phenomena occurring in projects, processes, systems, and services and (b) the impact of our RE methods on the quality, cost, and deliverability of systems.
In 2012, we introduced a new event to the Empirical Track, in which REFSQ participants were invited to fill out in their spare time, some online questionnaires, each of which requires at most 30 minutes to fill out.
This year’s REFSQ continues the two-event Empirical Track. Accordingly, we issued a call for the following kinds of submissions:
- Live Experiment: a controlled experiment, requiring no more than 90 minutes, that involves all REFSQ participants who want to participate.
- Online Questionnaire: an online questionnaire (survey), designed to require no more than 30 minutes, that is promoted at REFSQ and that can be filled out by all interested REFSQ participants, and in their spare time at the conference.
After careful consideration of the submitted proposals, one live experiment and three online questionnaires were accepted.
Live Experiment
- Understandability of Goal-Modelling with ArchiMate 2.0, conducted by Wilco Engelsman and Roel Wieringa
Online Questionnaires – Results
- State of the Practice for Sustainability as an Explicit Objective, conducted by Birgit Penzenstadler, Mahvish Khurum and Kai Petersen
- Crowdsourcing for Requirements Engineering: Expert Survey, conducted by Mahmood Hosseini, Keith Phalp, Jacqui Taylor and Raian Ali
- Traceability during Development of Systems with Safety and Security Implications – Importance, Tools, and Challenges, conducted by Vikash Katta and Tor Stålhane
The posters will be displayed also throughout the conference.
Important Dates and Times
REFSQ Main Conference: 7-10th April 2014
Introduction Empirical Track: Tuesday 8 April, 11:00-11:10
Live Experiment Session 1: Wednesday 9 April, 9:30–10:30
Live Experiment Session 2: Wednesday 9 April, 14:00–15:30
Report of the Live Experiment: Thursday 10 April, 12:00–12:35
Event co-chairs
Jolita Ralyte – University of Geneva, Switzerland
Xavier Franch – Univ. Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain
Program Committee
Dan Berry, U. Waterloo, Canada
Travis Breaux, CMU, USA
David Callele, Experience First Design Inc., Canada
Maya Daneva, U. of Twente, The Netherlands
Oscar Dieste, U. Politécnica Madrid, Spain
Sergio España, U. Politécnica Valencia, Spain
Matthias Galster, U. Canterbury, New Zealand
Andrea Hermann, Independent Researcher, Germany
Marjo Kauppinen, U. Aalto, Finland
Barbara Paech, U. Heidelberg, Germany
Anna Perini, FBK, Italy
Carme Quer, U. Politècnica Catalunya, Spain
Bjorn Regnell, U. Lund, Sweden
Krzysztof Wnuk, U. Lund, Sweden
