Developing research questions in conversation with the literature: operationalization & tool support.

Area of Science:

• Empirical Software Engineering
• Research Methodology
• Information Science

Background:

• Empirical software engineering requires understanding practical problems and their solutions, which often emerge contextually.
• Researchers may not define research questions (RQs) upfront due to evolving problem understanding, similar to agile software development with unclear requirements.
• Properly scoping RQs is challenging in early research phases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an iterative and incremental approach to research question (RQ) scoping in empirical software engineering.
• To introduce the concept of 'Agile' literature reviewing, emphasizing tool support for transparency and traceability.
• To present FRAMEndeley, a novel tool integrated with reference management systems for enhanced RQ scoping.

Main Methods:

• Leveraging Inductive Top-Down Theorizing to frame RQ scoping as an iterative process.
• Integrating literature reviewing with experimental work to refine RQs.
• Developing and evaluating FRAMEndeley, a utility within a Reference Management System (Mendeley) to support Agile literature reviewing and RQ scoping.

Main Results:

• FRAMEndeley provides tool support for Agile literature reviewing, facilitating RQ testing and adjustment.
• The proposed approach enhances transparency and traceability in the RQ scoping process.
• The utility demonstrates a proof of concept for integrating RQ scoping with literature management.

Conclusions:

• RQ scoping is an iterative process that benefits from close interaction with literature.
• Agile literature reviewing, supported by integrated tools like FRAMEndeley, is crucial for effective RQ refinement.
• Reference Management Systems are suitable platforms for conducting Agile literature reviewing to improve RQ relevance and focus.