On: Open plan offices attract highest levels of worker...

[jacques_chester]

You're right software engineering literature is not as strong as, say, physics -- where you can relatively easily strip out confounding factors. Or medicine, where you can get funding for very large samples. We have to work with the limits of the subject and the research funding.

However it seems that there is a growing body of supporting literature coming from other fields that open-plan is usually a decision with unseen costs. The linked article is an example.

[walshemj → jacques_chester]

of course not it saves building services budget and they dont care a fig for the effect on the business overall.

Some director saved 10% on deskspace costs and got his/her bonus but screwed the productivity of all the staff by 10/15%