ITR: Collaborative Research: Organizational Dynamics of Software Problems, Bugs, Failures and Repairs

这个项目将通过研究软件问题在其持续的社会技术环境中的作用，开发一种新的、综合的软件问题管理理论。研究人员将使用扎根的理论和自动化的概念、数据和文本挖掘方法，比较分析来自开源软件开发项目的大量纵向问题报告数据，如联网计算机游戏、互联网/网络基础设施、X射线天文/深空成像和学术软件研究。该项目将分析软件构件、问题事件、问题管理活动、问题管理基础设施和底层社会组织之间(错误的)匹配的实例。解释模型将通过将这些要素之间的(错误)调整模式与结果联系起来，例如修复的容易程度、问题的持久性、交流的信息量、所需的技能种类和社会组织结构。由此产生的模型可以指导软件的新工具、基础设施和组织实践的开发。它们还将为整个社区获取和管理知识的做法提供新的视角。这项研究将为理解系统开发和使用如何与全球软件行业提供的社会技术背景的丰富性、多样性和时间演变联系在一起提供概念上的转变。

This project will develop a new, integrative theory of software problem management by studying softwareproblems in their ongoing sociotechnical contexts. The researchers willcomparatively analyze large bodies (gigabytes) of longitudinalproblem-report data from open-source software development projects such as networked computer games, Internet/Web infrastructure, X-ray astronomy/deep space imaging, and academic software research, using grounded-theory and automated concept, data, and text-miningmethods. The project will analyze instances of (mis-)alignment between software artifacts, problem episodes, problem-management activities, problem-management infrastructure, and underlying socialorganization. Explanatory models will be built by linking patterns of (mis-)alignment among these elements to outcomes such as ease-of-repair, persistence of problems, amount of information exchanged, kinds of skills needed, and structure of social organization. The resulting models can guide the development of newtools, infrastructures, and organizational practices for software. They will also provide new perspectives on community-wide practices of capturing and managing knowledge. This research will provide a conceptual shift in understanding how system development and use are bound together with the richness, variety, and temporal evolution of the socio-technical contexts provided by the global software industry.