Summary: Social Science Theories in Software Engineering Research

Abstract

Human aspects are becoming increasingly important in software engineering research. Despite this, it is unclear how software engineering utilizes existing theories from social sciences. As a result, the objective of this critical review is to assess which and how social science theories are used in five high-quality software engineering research journals. 87 unique social science theories from disciplines such as psychology, management, and economics are identified. However, the results show that less than two percent of articles employ a social science theory, and there are still challenges with incorporating social science theories in software engineering research.