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

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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.