Teaching Software Metrology: The Science of Measurement for Software Engineering

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Ralph, Paul, Kuutila, Miikka, Arif, Hera, Ayoola, Bimpe
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866909228262752256
author Ralph, Paul
Kuutila, Miikka
Arif, Hera
Ayoola, Bimpe
author_facet Ralph, Paul
Kuutila, Miikka
Arif, Hera
Ayoola, Bimpe
contents While the methodological rigor of computing research has improved considerably in the past two decades, quantitative software engineering research is hampered by immature measures and inattention to theory. Measurement-the principled assignment of numbers to phenomena-is intrinsically difficult because observation is predicated upon not only theoretical concepts but also the values and perspective of the research. Despite several previous attempts to raise awareness of more sophisticated approaches to measurement and the importance of quantitatively assessing reliability and validity, measurement issues continue to be widely ignored. The reasons are unknown, but differences in typical engineering and computer science graduate training programs (compared to psychology and management, for example) are involved. This chapter therefore reviews key concepts in the science of measurement and applies them to software engineering research. A series of exercises for applying important measurement concepts to the reader's research are included, and a sample dataset for the reader to try some of the statistical procedures mentioned is provided.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_14494
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Teaching Software Metrology: The Science of Measurement for Software Engineering
Ralph, Paul
Kuutila, Miikka
Arif, Hera
Ayoola, Bimpe
Software Engineering
While the methodological rigor of computing research has improved considerably in the past two decades, quantitative software engineering research is hampered by immature measures and inattention to theory. Measurement-the principled assignment of numbers to phenomena-is intrinsically difficult because observation is predicated upon not only theoretical concepts but also the values and perspective of the research. Despite several previous attempts to raise awareness of more sophisticated approaches to measurement and the importance of quantitatively assessing reliability and validity, measurement issues continue to be widely ignored. The reasons are unknown, but differences in typical engineering and computer science graduate training programs (compared to psychology and management, for example) are involved. This chapter therefore reviews key concepts in the science of measurement and applies them to software engineering research. A series of exercises for applying important measurement concepts to the reader's research are included, and a sample dataset for the reader to try some of the statistical procedures mentioned is provided.
title Teaching Software Metrology: The Science of Measurement for Software Engineering
topic Software Engineering
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.14494