Measurement and Metrology Requirements for Empirical Studies in Software Engineering

  • Authors:
  • Alain Abran;Asma Sellami

  • Affiliations:
  • -;-

  • Venue:
  • STEP '02 Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on Software Technology and Engineering Practice
  • Year:
  • 2002

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Abstract

'Software metrics' are most often proposed as themeasurement tools of choice in empirical studies insoftware engineering, and the field of 'software metrics'is most often discussed from the perspective referred toas measurement theory'. However, in otherdisciplines, it is the domain of knowledge referred to asmetrology' that is the foundation for the developmentand use of measurement instruments and measurementprocesses. In this paper, our initial modeling of the setsof measurement concepts documented in the ISOInternational Vocabulary of Basic and General Termsin Metrology is used to investigate and position themeasurement concepts referred to in the Guide to theSoftware Engineering Body of Knowledge. Thisstructured analysis reveals that much work remains tobe done to introduce the full set of measurement andmetrology concepts as fundamental tools for empiricalstudies in software engineering.