Quality assessment in secondary studies: a case study

Abstract

The need to investigate Software Engineering comes from its very conception, so various research methodologies are used, such as the Systematic Literature Review. An important part of the process of carrying out this type of study is the quality assessment of the primary studies that
have been collected. The objective is to exemplify how the evaluation process is carried out, modified and adapted. The Systematic Literature Review entitled “Human Factors and their Impact on Technical Debt Management” is used as a case study. In conclusion, quality assessment is one of the most important tasks within the process of carrying out a review; it allows us to know if the studies collected on a specific area are of quality or not, and in turn to find the weak or opportunities areas of the studies based on the quality criteria to inform and help in the research area on where more attention should be paid when carrying out a primary study to improve the quality of the studies and the area in general; Finally, it allows determining a rating for each selected study and thus creating a distinction between them to prioritize the attention, reading and confidence of their findings to help in the synthesis of the literature review.