Investigations about replication of empirical studies in software engineering

Abstract

Context. A recent mapping study intended to verify the current state of replication of empirical studies in Software Engineering (SE) identified two sets of studies: the empirical studies reporting actually replications and a second group of studies that were concerned with concepts, classifications, guidelines, and other themes about replication. Objective. The purpose of this research is to analyze and discuss the content of the second set of studies about replications published between 1996 and 2013. Method. This is a mapping study, in which the primary studies were collected by two previous mapping studies covering the period 1996-2012 complemented by a non-systematic search that collected some articles published in 2013. Results. We analyzed 36 papers reporting empirical and non-empirical studies about replications in SE published in the last 17 years. These papers explored different topics related to concepts and classifications, presented guidelines, and discussed theoretical issues that are relevant for our understanding of replication in our field.