SoftPak: Statistical Package for Software Applications Basic proposal

This proposal addresses an important area of software engineering that should be of particular interest to the RL^C3CB measurement initiative' An innovative approach is proposed to providing COMprehenSiver domain- packaged statistical methods for application to software engineering' The approach develops a statistical package for software applications that specifically targets the critical needs of the software engineering community for appropriate statistical tools. We call the proposed system SoftPak. SoftPak packages relevant aspects of the e)cisting body of statistical methods and techniques in a system tailored to the unique needs of the software community' SoftPak relates the statistical tools to specific user roles and applications' A key aspect of SoftPak is that it is targeted for use by non- statisticians' To facilitate use by the non-statistician. SoftPak embodies several important innovations not provided by e)^isting statistical tools: (1) use of SoftPak is goal directed, rather than algorithm directed; (2) SoftPak provides automated support for the selection of appropriate statistical methods; (3) SoftPak provides help to the user in performing multi-step analyses; and (4) SoftPak supports the concept of iterative analysis cycles.