Software Measurement Standard Etalons: A DesignProcess

Abstract

Material measurement standard etalons are widely recognized as critical for accurate measurements in sciences and engineering. However, there is no measurement standard etalons yet in software engineering. The absence of such concept in software measurement can have a negative impact on software engineers and managers when they using measurement results in decision-making. Software measurement standards etalons would help verify measurement results and they should be included within the design of every software measure proposed. Since the process for establishing standard etalons for software measures has not yet been investigated, this paper tackles this issue and proposes a seven steps design process. A case study of this design process of a software measurement standard etalon is presented using ISO 19761: COSMIC-FFP.