What works for whom, where, when, and why?: on the role of context in empirical software engineering

摘要: Context is a central concept in empirical software engineering. It one of the distinctive features discipline and it an in-dispensable part practice. likely responsible for most challenging methodological theoretical problems: study-to-study variation research findings. Still, engineering mostly concerned with attempts to identify universal relationships that are independent how work settings other contexts interact processes important The aim this paper provide overview context affects can be better 'contextualized' order understanding what works whom, where, when, why. We exemplify importance examples from recent systematic reviews offer recommendations on way forward.