Adam Taylor

Experiments are used to provide a means of investigating a cause and effect relationship between a factor and observed outcomes. “A controlled experiment in software engineering is a randomised or quasi-experiment, in which individuals or teams (the study units) conduct one or more software engineering tasks for the sake of comparing different populations, processes, methods, [...]

A quasi-experiment is similar to a laboratory experiment but always lacks random assignment to treatment. Question 5.1 The Express Engineered Elements (EEE) company is currently organised around three divisions, each responsible for the products it sells in one of its main markets, and with each division currently undertaking about five software development projects. Until now, [...]

Surveys are a common methodology used within Software Evaluation and evaluations generally. One limitation with surveys is often wanting to survey people you can’t, for example, why do people not apply to Durham University. Question 3.1 The Binary Black Box (BBB) company manufactures relatively low-end computers that are sold to organisations such as schools that [...]

A case study is an empirical enquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. Question 6.1 The Express Engineered Elements (EEE) company is currently organised around three divisions, each responsible for the products it sells in one of its main markets, and with each division currently undertaking about five software development projects. Until [...]

The empirical context of Software Evaluation refers to evaluation based on “information gained by means of observation, experience, or experiment.” It is very much to do with rigorous, scientific investigations and evaluations. This is in contrast to anecdotal evidence and “rules of thumb”. The following questions are related to the empirical context. Question 2.1 For [...]