An examination of determinants of software testing and project management effort

Software estimation research has primarily focused on software effort involved in direct software development. As more and more organizations buy instead of building software, more effort is spent on software testing and project management. In this empirical study, the effect of program duration, computer platform, and software development tool (SDT) on program testing effort and project management effort is studied. The study results point to program duration and software tool as significant determinants of testing and management effort. Computer platform, however, does not have an effect on testing and management effort. Furthermore, the mean testing effort for third generation (3G) development environment was significantly higher than the mean testing effort for fourth generation (4G) environments that used IDE. In addition, the management effort for 4G environment projects without the use of IDE was lower than nonprogramming report generation projects.