Towards building knowledge on causes of critical requirements engineering problems

Marcos Kalinowski, Rodrigo Oliveira Spínola, Tayana Conte, Rafael Prikladnicki, Daniel Méndez Fernández, Stefan Wagner

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

[Context] Many software projects fail due to problems in requirements engineering (RE). [Objective] The goal of this paper is to gather information on relevant RE problems and to represent knowledge on their most common causes. [Method] We replicated a global family of RE surveys in Brazil and used the data to identify critical RE problems and to build probabilistic causeeffect diagrams to represent knowledge on their common causes. [Results] The survey was answered by 74 different organizations, including small, medium and very large sized companies, conducting both, plan-driven and agile development. The most critical RE problems, according to those organizations, are related to communication and to incomplete or underspecified requirements. We provide the full probabilistic cause-effect diagrams with knowledge on common causes of the most critical identified RE problems online. [Conclusion] We believe that the knowledge presented in the diagrams can be helpful to support organizations in conducting causal analysis sessions by providing an initial understanding on what usually causes critical RE problems.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - SEKE 2015
Subtitle of host publication27th International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering
PublisherKnowledge Systems Institute Graduate School
Pages1-6
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)1891706373
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event27th International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, SEKE 2015 - Pittsburgh, United States
Duration: 6 Jul 20158 Jul 2015

Publication series

NameProceedings of the International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, SEKE
Volume2015-January
ISSN (Print)2325-9000
ISSN (Electronic)2325-9086

Conference

Conference27th International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, SEKE 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPittsburgh
Period6/07/158/07/15

Keywords

  • Causal Analysis
  • Causes
  • Knowledge Building
  • NaPiRE
  • Problems
  • Requirements Engineering
  • Survey

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Towards building knowledge on causes of critical requirements engineering problems'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this