> I am curious why a p value threshold (alpha) of 0.1 was used, rather than the more typical 0.05. I believe p thresholds higher than 0.05 are frequently used

> I am curious why a p value threshold (alpha) of 0.1 was used, rather than the more typical 0.05. I believe p thresholds higher than 0.05 are frequently used in social sciences simply because the phenomena are so complex that you would never get anything significant with a lower p threshold. Of course, that's not a real argument: you should pick the p threshold not based on what you think you can achieve, but based on the consequences of the decision you'll drive with the result. In this case, the authors might not think the consequences of getting software development practises wrong is that impactful, because the humans in the loop will prevent real disaster no matter what methodology you use.