Analysis Of Empirical Studies Based On Systematic Reviews In Software Engineering

Since evidence-based software engineering was introduced into the research community in 2004, systematic review, as a relatively new empirical method, has caught more and more attention and adoption. While systematic review has a rapid development abroad, only a few researchers pay attention to it in our country. The thesis specified the concepts, types and processes of systematic review. And it illustrates the relations among evidence-based software engineering, systematic review and empirical software engineering. With more and more systematic reviews published in software engineering, analysis of existing systematic reivews helps us to understand the methodology application, covered topics, and problems. It is helpful for the application and improvement of systematic review. Researchers could use tertiary study, one specific type of systematic review, to study the systematic reviews in software engineering.The thesis divided the existing tertiary studies into three types-general software engineering, specific topic, and methodology study. The one which had the most systematic reviews coverd the literature until the end of 2010. The case study in the thesis updated the list of systematic reviews until the end of 2012. It tested the applicability of Pareto’s Law to the evidence distribution on specific topic areas in software engineering.Performing a systematic review is time-consuming. One solution for this problem is to use support tools. We used the B/S architecture system-Systematic Reviews, to assist our research. The thesis introduced the main functions of the system, and specified the deficiency which had been found in practice.