ISERN basic terminology

Experimental Software Engineering

Software

1. Software is part of a system solution that can be encoded to execute on a computer as a set of instructions; it includes all the associated documentation necessary to understand, transform and use that solution.
2. Software is the collection of computer programs, procedures, rules, and associated documentation and data (IEEE)

Fact

Information considered to be objectively real because it was obtained through observation.

Hypothesis

"A tentative explanation that accounts for a set of facts and can be tested by further investigation; a theory"

Experiment

In general, an experiment is defined as an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or testing a principle, supposition, etc. ;

"In software engineering: a trial that is conducted in order to verify a hypothesis defined beforehand in a controlled setting in which the most critical factors can be controlled or monitored".

Law

A statement that predicts behavior under certain defined conditions, that is based on facts, reason, and observation, and that is accepted as true. There are no established laws in software engineering.

Model

A model is a simplified representation of a system or phenomenon with any hypotheses required to describe the system or explain the phenomenon, often mathematically.

An abstraction of reality emphasizing those aspects that are of interest to someone.

Paradigm

• "A point of view in which some principles, approaches,concepts, and even theories, have been stated uniformly".
• A set of assumptions about reality that, when applied to a particular situation, can be used as a guide for action. For example, Quality Improvement Paradigm (QIP).

QIP

The Quality Improvement Paradigm (QIP) is an iterative, goal-driven framework for continuous improvement of software development. The QIP is a closed-loop process which includes steps for planning, executing, and evaluating improvements to software development environments, as well as for incorporating experience gained from improvement efforts into future development.

Experimental Design: Basic Terms

Observation

A discrete instance of the phenomena being studied, e.g. a specific software module, a specific code review, an individual programmer.

Population

All observations of the phenomena being studied, e.g. all software modules, all code reviews, all programmers.

Parameter

Descriptive measures of a population.

Sample

A subset of a population.

Statistic

A descriptive measure of a sample, e.g., mean.

Research Hypothesis

A tentative theory or supposition provisionally adopted to account for certain facts and to guide in the investigation of others.

Statistical Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis (H0)

A statement concerning one or more parameters that is subjected to statistical test.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1)

Power of Test

Confidence Interval

Confidence Limits

Critical Region

Replication

Statistical Test

A statistic whose purpose is to provide a test of some statistical hypothesis. Test statistics such as t and F have known sampling distributions that can be employed in determining the probability of an obtained result under the null hypothesis.

Level of Significance

Probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true.

Experimental Error

Measure that includes all uncontrolled sources of variation affecting a particular score.

Statistical Model

A mathematical statement concerning the sampling distribution of a random variable that is used in evaluating the outcome of an experiment or in predicting the outcome of future replications of an experiment.

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