Together with Mika Mäntylä and supported by Vahid Garousi and Austen Rainer, Michael Felderer gave a tutorial on Benefitting from Grey Literature in Software Engineering Research at PROFES 2019 in Barcelona.
Description of the Tutorial:
Grey literature is becoming more and more important as a source of knowledge because software engineering practitioners write and share information in different forms of grey literature (GL) like blogs, videos or white papers. The overall goal of this tutorial is to present ways how software engineering research can benefit from the vast amount of information covered by GL. The participants of this tutorial will learn how GL can be used for various aspects of software engineering research, e.g., shaping new directions of research, or using knowledge and evidence from grey literature in empirical studies in software engineering. First, the concept of GL in general and from the perspective of different disciplines like health sciences or social sciences are presented. Second, the concept of GL in software engineering and types of GL are presented and discussed with the participants. Third, ways how GL can be used in primary studies and secondary studies in software engineering are presented. The discussed application scenarios in primary studies comprise analysis of GL materials with a qualitative approach, analysis of GL with a quantitative approach, and reference of GL sources. In secondary studies, GL can be incorporated into multivocal literature reviews and grey literature reviews. The instructors will present their guidelines for these reviews and explore them with the participants of the tutorial. Finally, the challenges and benefits of using GL in software engineering are discussed. The examples presented during the tutorial are from the domains of software processes and software testing. It is sufficient if potential participants are interested in the topic and intend to use grey literature in their empirical studies in software engineering. Knowledge of systematic literature review and empirical studies in software engineering are and advantage but not required. Participants should bring their notebook or tablet to enable participation in the practical part.