Framework for Describing and Analyzing Context and Factors for Software Engineering Research: Applying the SEMAT Kernel

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 Abstract—There is currently no widely accepted approach to report software engineering research findings. It is not easy to understand the context from which a research work is conducted and factors that influences the results, and hence difficult to evaluate the applicability of findings to another context. This paper proposes a framework for describing and analyzing context and factors for software engineering research. Our proposed framework is an approach towards Theory Based Software Engineering (TBSE) that relates contextual factors and process improvement objectives systematically. Our approach towards TBSE is centered on a software engineering kernel known as Essence. Essence originates from the recent global SEMAT (Software Engineering Method and Theory) initiative and is currently an emerging standard with OMG (Object Management Group). Essence helps identify architecture views to describe the context of a software engineering endeavor. It also helps identify factors of success and make recommendations precise and actionable. This paper demonstrates the application of our proposed approach on a telecommunications case study. This case study by itself is interesting because it yielded 21% productivity gains and 58% decrease in defects. But more importantly, it demonstrates the viability of our approach in making theory practical to development teams in a systematic manner.