The Human Need for Storytelling: Reflections on Qualitative Software Engineering Research With a Focus Group of Experts

TL;DR

This paper reflects on the evolution, importance, challenges, and future prospects of qualitative research in software engineering, based on a moderated expert focus group discussion.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive expert perspective on the state and future of qualitative software engineering research, highlighting key challenges and developments.

Findings

Qualitative SE research has gained recognition since the 1980s.

Practitioners face common impediments in conducting qualitative studies.

The future of qualitative SE research involves addressing current challenges and expanding its role.

Abstract

From its first adoption in the late 80s, qualitative research has slowly but steadily made a name for itself in what was, and perhaps still is, the predominantly quantitative software engineering (SE) research landscape. As part of our regular column on empirical software engineering (ACM SIGSOFT SEN-ESE), we reflect on the state of qualitative SE research with a focus group of experts. Among other things, we discuss why qualitative SE research is important, how it evolved over time, common impediments faced while practicing it today, and what the future of qualitative SE research might look like. Joining the conversation are Rashina Hoda (Monash University, Australia), Carolyn Seaman (University of Maryland, United States), and Klaas Stol (University College Cork, Ireland). The content of this paper is a faithful account of our conversation from October 25, 2025, which we moderated and edited for our column.