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1998
Report
Titel
A Comparison and Integration of Capture-Recapture Models and the Detection Profile Method
Abstract
In order to control inspections, the number of remaining defects in software artifacts after their inspection should be estimated. This would allow, for example, deciding whether a reinspection of supposedly faulty artefacts is necessary. Several studies in software engineering have considered capture-recapture models for performing such estimations. These models were initially developed for estimating animal abundance in wildlife research. In addition to these models, researchers in software engineering have recently proposed a procedure, namely the Detection Profile Method (DPM), that makes less restrictive assumptions than some capture-recapture models and that show promise in terms of estimation accuracy. In this study, we investigate the combination of DPM with capture-recapture models to address a practical difficulty when applying capture-recapture models alone: extreme under/over estimation. The existence of such extreme outliers provided by capture-recapture models can discour age their use because their consequences in terms of wasted effort of defect slippage can be substantial, and therefore it is not clear whether a particular estimate can be trusted. We identify a hybrid approach, using both capture-recapture models and DPM, and evaluate it using actual inspection data. Our results indicate that this hybrid approach has the same accuracy as capture-recapture models alone and DPM alone, and most importantly does not exhibit extreme over/under estimation. This new approach can be used in practice with a high degree of confidence since its estimates are not likely to exhibit extreme estimation error.
Verlagsort
Kaiserslautern