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The adoption of capture-recapture in software engineering: a systematic literature review

Context: Capture-recapture method has long been adopted in software engineering as a relatively objective way for defect estimation. While many relevant studies have been carried out to evaluate various capture-recapture models and estimators, there still lacks common understanding on the adoption status of the method in software engineering. It is necessary to systematically collect empirical evidence of Capture-recapture adoption hence form necessary understanding on the method. Objective: This study aims to synthesize relevant primary studies on the adoption of capture-recapture method in software engineering, and try to identify possible gaps between the state-of-practice and the state-of-art so as to provide clues for future research. Method: By following the guidelines of Kitchenham, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review(SLR) on studies of the adoption of capture-recapture method in software engineering. Results: From 5 common digital libraries, we retrieved 506 published articles, among them 44 were identified as relevant primary studies. We identified 18 capture-recapture estimators under 4 basic models. Types of the currently existing studies as well as the relevant influencing factors to adoption of the capture-recapture method are also discussed. Conclusion: Results show that there are no conclusive decisions on the best capture-recapture models and estimators. Besides, the number of inspectors and their capability to detect defects as well as the difficulty to detect defects are most critical influencing factors. In addition, lacking of industrial application may be the major issue of current adoption status of capture-recapture method in software engineering.