The relevant topics include, but are not restricted to, the following: New ideas pertaining to measurement, evaluation, comparison and development of empirical software methods Qualitative methods Infrastructures and novel techniques for conducting empirical studies Families of experiments Replication of empirical studies Cross- and multi-disciplinary methods and studies Systematic literature reviews Aggregation, synthesis and meta-analysis of studies Empirical studies of software processes and products Industrial experience, case studies and action-research Evaluation and comparison of techniques and models Reports on the benefits / costs associated with using certain technologies Empirically-based decision making Development and evaluation of empirical prediction systems or software estimation models Data mining and empirical methods Quality measurement and assurance Simulation-based studies in software engineering Software project experience and knowledge management Software technology transfer to the industry Measurement and process improvement programs