Understanding the Effects of Developer Activities on Inspection Interval

Abstract

We have conducted an industrial experiment to assess the cost-benefit tradeoffs of several software inspection processes. Our results to date explain the variation in observed effectiveness very well, but are unable to satisfactorily explain variation in inspection interval. In this article we examine the effect of a new factor - process environment - on inspection interval (calendar time needed to complete the inspection). Our analysis suggests that process environment does indeed influence inspection interval. in particular, we found that non-uniform work priorities, time-varying workloads, and deadlines have significant effects. Moreover, these experiences suggest that regression models are inherently inadequate for interval modeling, and that queueing models may be more effective. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-97-19)