In Search of Scientific Agile

Over the last twenty years, authors of systematic literature reviews have repeatedly criticized the state of agile research, describing it as nascent, random, and lacking appropriate recruitment strategies. This paper highlights some historical misperceptions and assumptions that tend to misdirect researchers, especially those new to the field. It also calls attention to some challenges intrinsic to agile research and comments on how those challenges impact research design. The intent is to help new researchers more easily make sense of the existing literature, so that they can focus their energy and resources on meaningful contributions to the field.