The empirical software engineering research community has two general aims:
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To understand how software is actually developed and maintained; and
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To understand what improvements should be made to software development and maintenance, and how those improvements should be implemented.
Empirical software engineering research, therefore, is about both contemplation and action. It is a discipline which attempts to understand phenomena whilst at the same time trying to change those very phenomena (in order to improve them). And it is a discipline that, by definition, promotes empirical evidence as the
primary source of reliable knowledge for achieving these two general aims.