Mapping human values and scrum roles: a study on students' preferences

Abstract

Despite the long tradition on the study of human values, the impact of this field in the software engineering domain is rarely studied. To these regards, this study focuses on applying human values to agile software development process, more specifically to scrum roles. Thus, the goal of the study is to explore possible associations between human values and scrum roles preferences among students. Questionnaires are designed by employing the Short Schwartz's Value Survey and are distributed among 57 students. The results of the quantitative analysis process consisting of descriptive statistics, linear regression models and Pearson correlation coefficients, revealed that values such as power and self-direction influence the preference for the product owner role, the value of hedonism influences the preference for scrum masters and self-direction is associated with team members' preference.