1. Empirical Studies as a Vehicle for Software Engineering Projects Claes Wohlin Dept. of Communication Systems Lund University, Sweden http://www.telecom.lth.se/SERG/

2. 2 Software Engineering course Content 1(2) z Lectures based on part of Software Engineering book. Four questions on written exam. z Group study (5 students): Requirements and Specifications, Verification and Validation or Management and Evolution. The work is presented in a seminar and reviewed by another group. In addition, one question for each area on the written exam. Two of the questions should be answered.

3. 3 Software Engineering course Content 2(2) z Project work in group (same group with 5 students) Characteristics:  Fictitious company with a problem  The project is supposed to be problem-driven  Based on data generated from an empirical study and industrial data  Limited number of hours

4. 4 Information for the project z General project description z Organisational description for the fictitious company z Two different project descriptions  Lead-time and subjective data  User-oriented scenarios as a means for reviews

5. 5 Start-up of projects z All students participated in two empirical studies. z The data is provided to the students. z The students:  are assumed to be consultants.  are given a problem statement from the customer.  meet the customer three times: kick-off, intermediate meeting and executive briefing.  have limited access to an expert.  write a project plan.

6. 6 The Empirical Study: Lead-Time and Subjective Data The students are asked to judge, using a pairwise comparison technique, which subjective factor is more important for a short lead-time. The students are assumed to be “experts”. This data together with industrial data from 12 software projects is input to the project. The industrial data consists of scores (five-point scale) for 10 subjective factors and lead times.

7. 7 Expected output z Given the data from the empirical study and industry, the students are expected to deliver the following:  Analysis of actual outcome from 12 projects (data set 1)  Analysis of knowledge of the “experts” (data set 2)  Comparison and analysis of the difference and similarities between data sets 1 and 2.  Method proposal for using subjective factors to judge lead-time in projects. Recommendations in this area.

8. 8 Summary The students: z get to work with a challenging software engineering problem. z participate in an empirical study. z get access to real industrial data. z learn to use empirical data.