SOFTWARE TESTING EFFORT ESTIMATION WITH COBB-DOUGLAS FUNCTION: A PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Shaik Nafeez Umar

Abstract: Effort estimation is one of the critical challenges in Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC). It is the basis for the project’s effort estimation, planning, scheduling and budget planning. This paper illustrates model with an objective to depict the accuracy and bias variation of an organization’s estimates of software testing effort through Cobb-Douglas function (CDF). Data variables selected for building the model were believed to be vital and have significant impact on the accuracy of estimates. Data gathered for the completed projects in the organization for about 13 releases. Statistically, all variables in this model were statistically significant at p<0.05 and p<0.01 levels. The Cobb-Douglas function was selected and used for the software testing effort estimation. The results achieved with CDF were compared with the estimates provided by the area expert. The model’s estimation figures are more accurate than the expert judgment. CDF has one of the appropriate techniques for estimating effort for software testing. CDF model accuracy is 93.42%.

Keywords: Effort estimation, software testing, Cobb-Douglas function, STLC and SDLC

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2013.0205003