论文标题
软件工程研究中的采样：批判性审查和准则
Sampling in Software Engineering Research: A Critical Review and Guidelines
论文作者
论文摘要
在经验软件工程研究中，代表性抽样似乎很少。并非所有研究都需要代表性样本，但是普遍缺乏代表性抽样会破坏科学领域。因此，本文在最近的高质量软件工程研究中报告了对采样状态的批判性综述。关键发现是：（1）随机抽样很少见； （2）复杂的抽样策略非常罕见； （3）抽样，代表性和随机性通常被误解。这些发现表明，软件工程研究有普遍的危机。为了解决这些问题，本文将现有的采样知识综合为简洁的底漆，并提出了广泛的指南，以改善软件工程研究中采样的行为，演示和评估。进一步建议，尽管研究人员应努力寻求更具代表性的样本，但贬低非概率抽样通常是反复无常的，尤其是误导性的，主要是定性研究。
Representative sampling appears rare in empirical software engineering research. Not all studies need representative samples, but a general lack of representative sampling undermines a scientific field. This article therefore reports a critical review of the state of sampling in recent, high-quality software engineering research. The key findings are: (1) random sampling is rare; (2) sophisticated sampling strategies are very rare; (3) sampling, representativeness and randomness often appear misunderstood. These findings suggest that software engineering research has a generalizability crisis. To address these problems, this paper synthesizes existing knowledge of sampling into a succinct primer and proposes extensive guidelines for improving the conduct, presentation and evaluation of sampling in software engineering research. It is further recommended that while researchers should strive for more representative samples, disparaging non-probability sampling is generally capricious and particularly misguided for predominately qualitative research.
