  As researchers, we are now witnessing a fundamental change in our
technologically-enabled world due to the advent and diffusion of highly
disruptive technologies such as generative AI, Augmented Reality (AR) and
Virtual Reality (VR). In particular, software engineering has been profoundly
affected by the transformative power of disruptive innovations for decades,
with a significant impact of technical advancements on social dynamics due to
its the socio-technical nature. In this paper, we reflect on the importance of
formulating and addressing research in software engineering through a
socio-technical lens, thus ensuring a holistic understanding of the complex
phenomena in this field. We propose a research playbook with the goal of
providing a guide to formulate compelling and socially relevant research
questions and to identify the appropriate research strategies for empirical
investigations, with an eye on the long-term implications of technologies or
their use. We showcase how to apply the research playbook. Firstly, we show how
it can be used retrospectively to reflect on a prior disruptive technology,
Stack Overflow, and its impact on software development. Secondly, we show it
can be used to question the impact of two current disruptive technologies: AI
and AR/VR. Finally, we introduce a specialized GPT model to support the
researcher in framing future investigations. We conclude by discussing the
broader implications of adopting the playbook for both researchers and
practitioners in software engineering and beyond.
