Decision Support Analysis for Software Effort Estimation by Analogy

Effort estimation by analogy (EBA) is an established method for software effort estimation. For this paper, we understand EBA as a meta-method which needs to be instantiated and customized at different stages and decision points regarding a specific context. Some example decision problems are related to the selection of the similarity measures, the selection of analogs for adaptation or the weighting and selection of attributes. This paper proposes a decision-centric process model for EBA by generalizing the existing EBA methods. Typical decision-making problems are identified at different stages of the process as part of the model. Some existing solution alternatives of the decision-making problems are then studied. The results of the decision support analysis can be used for better understanding of EBA related techniques and for providing guidelines for implementation and customization of general EBA. An example case of the process model is finally presented.