Grounded Theory in Software Engineering: Challenges and Lessons Learned from the Trenches
Pilar Rodríguez · 2024
Context: Grounded Theory (GT) is a research method that facilitates theory development. Its application in Software Engineering (SE) often raises concerns among researchers. Objectives: This paper aims to highlight challenges in applying GT in SE and provide practical insights to overcome them. Method: I outline the top five challenges I faced while applying GT to develop a theory of value for value-based feature selection. The theory was developed taking a positivist stand. I also reflect on the lessons that I learned along the way. Results: The top five challenges are: 1) defining research questions, 2) keeping away from the related literature, 3) assuring the trustworthiness of "ground" data, 4) specifying the theory with a proper granularity level, and 5) reporting a GT study in a limited-length research paper. These challenges led to 17 lessons learned. Conclusions: While my experience with GT in SE has been positive, certain aspects of the method need thoughtful consideration, particularly when the research is conducted from a positivist stand. I hope that the experience I share in this paper is valuable for others in the SE community attempting to use GT for their studies.