The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies

Kashumi Madampe; John Grundy; Rashina Hoda; Humphrey Obie

doi:10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00065

The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies

Kashumi Madampe, John Grundy, Rashina Hoda, Humphrey Obie

Department of Software Systems & Cybersecurity

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research

Abstract

Empirical software engineering researchers are committed to investigating better ways of improving software engineering practice. To do this, gathering data about software professionals' experiences and perspectives on the researched topic is crucial. However, in the last decade, our experience of recruiting software professionals as potential participants in our studies has met with fluctuating success. Therefore, we had to explore multiple possibilities when recruiting participants. This cost us more effort and time than anticipated. In this paper, we briefly discuss the challenges we faced when recruiting participants for empirical research in software engineering, the solutions we implemented to address these challenges, and a concise list of strategies for garnering the interest of potential participants.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2024
Editors	Zixuan Feng
Place of Publication	Piscataway NJ USA
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages	417-422
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9798350366136
ISBN (Print)	9798350376920
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00065
Publication status	Published - 2024
Event	IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing 2024 - Liverpool, United Kingdom Duration: 2 Sept 2024 → 6 Sept 2024 https://conf.researchr.org/home/vlhcc-2024 (Website) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/10714498/proceeding (Proceedings)

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
ISSN (Print)	1943-6092
ISSN (Electronic)	1943-6106

Conference

Conference	IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing 2024
Abbreviated title	VL/HCC 2024
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Liverpool
Period	2/09/24 → 6/09/24
Internet address	https://conf.researchr.org/home/vlhcc-2024 (Website) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/10714498/proceeding (Proceedings)

Keywords

challenges
empirical studies
participant recruitment
software engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00065

Cite this

Madampe, K., Grundy, J., Hoda, R., & Obie, H. (2024). The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies. In Z. Feng (Ed.), Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2024 (pp. 417-422). (Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC). IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00065

Madampe, Kashumi ; Grundy, John ; Hoda, Rashina et al. / The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies. Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2024. editor / Zixuan Feng. Piscataway NJ USA : IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2024. pp. 417-422 (Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC).

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title = "The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies",

abstract = "Empirical software engineering researchers are committed to investigating better ways of improving software engineering practice. To do this, gathering data about software professionals' experiences and perspectives on the researched topic is crucial. However, in the last decade, our experience of recruiting software professionals as potential participants in our studies has met with fluctuating success. Therefore, we had to explore multiple possibilities when recruiting participants. This cost us more effort and time than anticipated. In this paper, we briefly discuss the challenges we faced when recruiting participants for empirical research in software engineering, the solutions we implemented to address these challenges, and a concise list of strategies for garnering the interest of potential participants.",

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doi = "10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00065",

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series = "Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC",

publisher = "IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers",

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booktitle = "Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2024",

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Madampe, K , Grundy, J , Hoda, R & Obie, H 2024, The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies. in Z Feng (ed.), Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2024. Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC, IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway NJ USA, pp. 417-422, IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing 2024, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 2/09/24. https://doi.org/10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00065

The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies. / Madampe, Kashumi ; Grundy, John ; Hoda, Rashina et al.
Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2024. ed. / Zixuan Feng. Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2024. p. 417-422 (Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research

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AB - Empirical software engineering researchers are committed to investigating better ways of improving software engineering practice. To do this, gathering data about software professionals' experiences and perspectives on the researched topic is crucial. However, in the last decade, our experience of recruiting software professionals as potential participants in our studies has met with fluctuating success. Therefore, we had to explore multiple possibilities when recruiting participants. This cost us more effort and time than anticipated. In this paper, we briefly discuss the challenges we faced when recruiting participants for empirical research in software engineering, the solutions we implemented to address these challenges, and a concise list of strategies for garnering the interest of potential participants.

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Madampe K , Grundy J , Hoda R, Obie H. The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies. In Feng Z, editor, Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2024. Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 2024. p. 417-422. (Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC). doi: 10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00065

The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

HCMDSE: Human-centric Model-driven Software Engineering

Cite this

The struggle is real! The agony of recruiting participants for empirical software engineering studies

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Projects

HCMDSE: Human-centric Model-driven Software Engineering

Cite this