Figure 1. Visualization of the research model and method used in each
phase.
3.1 Step 1 – Exploratory
Case-study
The first step of this study’s exploratory nature aims to answer
RQ1, RQ2.1, RQ2.3, RQ2.4 and RQ3 and is described in the following
subsections.
3.1.1 Phase 1 – Contextual analysis and
design
Case studies have been long established in the software engineering
field to explore how different processes and tasks are carried out in
practice in the industry. Due to the exploratory nature of the study,
we, therefore, employed a multiple qualitative case study approach
[1] to gain a detailed understanding of how PD arises and its
related adverse consequences.
First, the study was presented and discussed during a workshop with one
or more participants from each of the five involved companies. Such
participants were always employees with management responsibilities
related to the processes, methods, and tools employed in the
organizations. This phase acted both as an introduction session where
each company briefly described their overall software development
process together with an assessment of concerned stakeholders of the
process. The goal of these workshops was to introduce the participating
companies to the study, to align and equip them with relevant knowledge
about the concept of PD (we showed the definition, we explained the
metaphor, and we reported a few anecdotal examples) and to gather
background and contextual information on each participating company in
preparation for the following interviews. Further, the aim of this stage
was also to communicate and describe what the ”process” term refers to
within this study’s context and also to identify potential interviewees
for the next stages of the study. Each workshop lasted from 30 to 60
minutes and was digitally recorded.
3.1.2 Phase 2 – Qualitative Data
Collection
The data collection method was a combination of interviews together with
the analysis of internal company documents. This study employed a
combination of the technique of unstructured and semi-structured
interviews where the questions were both formulated as general concerns
and interests from the researcher about PD. However, the interviews also
had several questions that were prepared and formulated in advance
[2].
The interviews aimed to explore the concept of PD within each of the
companies and what aspects impact and drive such debt (see Table I). We
started by asking the interviewees to describe their overall software
development process, both from a historical and a systematic
perspective. We asked four follow-ups to learn about the aspects of the
process, focusing on the characteristics described in Section 3.1.1
(according to our RQs).