Towards a semantic knowledge base on threats to validity and control actions in controlled experiments

Abstract

[Context] Experiment planners need to be aware of relevant Threats to Validity (TTVs), so they can devise effective control actions or accept the risk. [Objective] The aim of this paper is to introduce a TTV knowledge base (KB) that supports experiment planners in identifying relevant TTVs in their research context and actions to control these TTVs. [Method] We identified requirements, designed and populated a TTV KB with data extracted during a systematic review: 63 TTVs and 149 control actions from 206 peer-reviewed published software engineering experiments. We conducted an initial proof of concept on the feasibility of using the TTV KB and analyzed its content. [Results] The proof of concept and content analysis provided indications that experiment planners can benefit from an extensible TTV KB for identifying relevant TTVs and control actions in their specific context. [Conclusions] The TTV KB should be further evaluated and evolved in a variety of software engineering contexts.