Qualitative Research Methods in Software Engineering: Past, Present, and Future
Carolyn Budinger Seaman, Rashina Hoda, ROBERT H. FELDT · IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering · 2025
The paper entitled “Qualitative Methods in Empirical Studies of Software Engineering” by Carolyn Seaman was published in TSE in 1999. It has been chosen as one of the most influential papers from the third decade of TSE's 50 years history. In this retrospective, the authors discuss the evolution of the use of qualitative methods in software engineering research, the impact it's had on research and practice, and reflections on what is coming and deserves attention.