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Situational and Task Characteristics Systematically Associated with Accuracy of Software Development Effort Estimates

Situational and Task Characteristics Systematically Associated with Accuracy of Software Development Effort Estimates
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Author(s): Magne Jorgensen (Simula Research Laboratory, Norway)and Kjetil Molokken (Simula Research Laboratory, Norway)
Copyright: 2003
Pages: 3
Source title: Information Technology & Organizations: Trends, Issues, Challenges & Solutions
Source Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-066-0.ch221
ISBN13: 9781616921248
EISBN13: 9781466665330

Abstract

Estimation skill is only one, out of many, factors that potentially impacts the accuracy of software development effort estimates. In this paper we examine how the size of the development task, the contract type (fixed-price versus per hour payment), the task priorities (time-of-delivery, quality, or cost), and the difference between estimating own and other peoples work, impact estimation accuracy. We found that an understanding of these factors could be important to explain the variance of estimation accuracy and, consequently, important when deciding on estimation improvement actions based on estimation accuracy measurement.

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