Abstract
Everyone agrees that reliable empirical “facts” must be derived from a series of investigations. However, the question of what is an appropriate framework for this series is an unresolved issue. Other articles in this issue present replication as the basis for this framework (Shull FJ, Carver JC, Vegas S, Juristo N (2008) The role of replications in Empirical Software Engineering, J Empir Softw Eng (in press)); however, alternatives exist! This brief note argues triangulation should be considered as the basis for this knowledge discovery (from empirical evaluation) strategy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson LW, Krathwohl DR (2001) A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman, New York
Bratthall L, Jorgensen M (2002) Can you trust a single data source exploratory software engineering case study. J Empir Softw Eng 7:9–26
Brewer J, Hunter A (1989) Multi-method research: a synthesis of styles. Sage, Newbury
Campbell DT, Stanley JC (1963) Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA
Cresswell JW (2002) Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approaches. Sage, Newbury
Daly J (1996) Replication and a multi-method approach to empirical software engineering research, Ph.D. thesis. University of Strathclyde press, Glasgow Department of Computer Science
Denzin MK (1970) The research act in sociology. Aldine, Venice
Downward P, Mearman A (2005) Methodological triangulation at the Bank of England: an investigation, Discussion Paper 505. University of the West of England press, Bristol School of Economics
Ehrenberg ASC, Bound JA (1993) Predictability and prediction. J R Stat Soc A 1 56(2):167–206
Gigerenzer G, Selten R (2002) Bounded rationality. MIT, Cambridge
Gomory RE (1995) An essay on the known, the unknown and the unknowable. Sci Am 272:120
Guindon R (1990) Designing the design process: exploiting opportunistic thoughts. Hum-Comput Interact 5:305–344
Guion LA (2002) Triangulation: establishing the validity of qualitative studies. Technical Report FCS6014, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. University of Florida press, Gainesville
Kimchi J, Polivka B, Stevenson JS (1991) Triangulation: operational definitions. Nurs Res 40(6):364–366
Miller J (2005) Replicating software engineering experiments: a poisoned chalice or the Holy Grail. J Inform Softw Technol 47:233–244
Rittel H, Webber M (1973) Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sci 4:155–169
Simon HA (1996) Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd edn. MIT, Cambridge
Wood W, Daly J, Miller J, Roper M (1999) Multi-method research: an empirical investigation of object-oriented technology. J Syst Softw 48:13–26
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editor: Claes Wohlin
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miller, J. Triangulation as a basis for knowledge discovery in software engineering. Empir Software Eng 13, 223–228 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-008-9063-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-008-9063-y