An empirical study of process-related attributes in segmented software cost-estimation relationships

Parametric software effort estimation models consisting on a single mathematical relationship suffer from poor adjustment and predictive characteristics in cases in which the historical database considered contains data coming from projects of a heterogeneous nature. The segmentation of the input domain according to clusters obtained from the database of historical projects serves as a tool for more realistic models that use several local estimation relationships. Nonetheless, it may be hypothesized that using clustering algorithms without previous consideration of the influence of well-known project attributes misses the opportunity to obtain more realistic segments. In this paper, we describe the results of an empirical study using the ISBSG-8 database and the EM clustering algorithm that studies the influence of the consideration of two process-related attributes as drivers of the clustering process: the use of engineering methodologies and the use of CASE tools. The results provid...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: JSS
• Authors: Juan Jose Cuadrado-Gallego, Miguel-Ángel Sicilia, Miguel Garre, Daniel Rodríguez
• Keywords: Effort Estimation Models, JSS 2006, Local Estimation Relationships, Single Mathematical Relationship