The relevance of assumptions and context factors for the integration of inspections and testing

Integrating inspection processes with testing processes promises to deliver several benefits, including reduced effort for quality assurance or higher defect detection rates. Systematic integration of these processes requires knowledge regarding the relationships between these processes, especially regarding the relationship between inspection defects and test defects. Such knowledge is typically context-dependent and needs to be gained analytically or empirically. If such kind of knowledge is not available, assumptions need to be made for a specific context. This article describes the relevance of assumptions and context factors for integrating inspection and testing processes and provides mechanisms for deriving assumptions in a systematic manner.