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Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering pp 312–336Cite as

Building Theories in Software Engineering

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In mature sciences, building theories is the principal method of acquiring and accumulating knowledge that may be used in a wide range of settings. In software engineering, there is relatively little focus on theories. In particular, there is little use and development of empirically-based theories. We propose, and illustrate with examples, an initial framework for describing software engineering theories, and give advice on how to start proposing, testing, modifying and using theories to support both research and practise in software engineering.

Keywords

  • Software Engineering
  • Software Engineer
  • Building Theory
  • Exploratory Case Study
  • Scope Condition

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Software Engineering, Simula Research Laboratory, NO-1325, Lysaker, Norway

    Dag I. K. Sjøberg, Tore Dybå, Bente C. D. Anda & Jo E. Hannay

Authors
  1. Dag I. K. Sjøberg
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  2. Tore Dybå
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  3. Bente C. D. Anda
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  4. Jo E. Hannay
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fraunhofer Center Maryland, 20742, College Park, MD, USA

    Forrest Shull

  2. National Research Council Canada, K1A 0R6, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Janice Singer

  3. Simula Research Laboratory, NO-1325, Lysaker, Norway

    Dag I. K. Sjøberg

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Sjøberg, D.I.K., Dybå, T., Anda, B.C.D., Hannay, J.E. (2008). Building Theories in Software Engineering. In: Shull, F., Singer, J., Sjøberg, D.I.K. (eds) Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-044-5_12

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