A Grounded Theory of the Requirements Engineering Process

摘要

This paper explores the requirements engineering (RE) process by conducting interviews with REprofessionals and applying grounded theory to determine whether a theory of RE emerges.Analysis of theinterviews revealed prominent data patterns that were used to model the RE process. The model depicts theRE process as one of establishing a match through discovery and streamlining, and which utilizescorrective measures in order to manage threats to establishing a match. The process involves many entitiesbut is mainly conducted by RE professionals whose experience plays a major role in extracting completerequirements and detecting occasions of mismatch between customer needs and the software requirements,which represent their main concern during the process. This paper contributes to the empirical analysis of RE by presenting evidence of the RE process in its basicform as carried out in industry, which may form as a building block for further RE research.