Developer experience · Longitudinal empirical study

Understanding the motivations, participation, and performance of open source software developers: A longitudinal study of the Apache projects

Management Science. · 2006

Roberts, J., A., Hann, I.-H., Slaughter, S. A.

Original paper ↗

Summary

Motivations and participation relate to developer performance over time.

For your marketing

Possible founder application

Align recognition and task design with sustained contributor motivation.

Reported result

What the study found

Motivations and participation relate to developer performance over time.

Research question

What the authors investigated

How do motivation and participation relate to OSS performance?

Design

Longitudinal empirical study

Sample and setting

Apache project developers

Scope and transfer

Limitations to keep in view

Abstract evidence; Apache-specific and historical context.

Research sources

Publisher DOI landing page abstract; design, context and findings are taken from the abstract.

Study strength

3.5/5 Abstract-level evidence is useful for framing questions; verify full methods before transfer.

How this was assessed

The 1–5 evidence-check score is a practical reading aid, not a formal peer review or a probability that a conclusion is true. It combines design strength (2 points), sample reporting (1), comparison/control clarity (1), and how much of the paper could be checked (1). Access affects how confidently this directory can assess a study, not the study's underlying quality. Blinding is reported separately because it is not relevant to every design.

Design transparency · 2/2

Based on the reported study design in the retrieved source.

Sample and setting · 1/1

The sample context is stated; a numerical count is preserved only when reported.

Outcome clarity · 1/1

The finding is summarized from publisher or article metadata.

Access for checking · 0.5/1

Only abstract or bibliographic access was confirmed.

Double-blind? The retrieved publisher record does not establish whether participants or outcome assessors were blinded.