Software Engineering Institute

In February 2006, the Software Engineering Measurement and Analysis Initiative at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) conducted the first in a series of yearly studies to gauge the state of the practice in software measurement. To conduct this study, a structured, self-administered survey consisting of 17 questions was distributed to a random sample of software practitioners who had contacted the SEI during 2004 and 2005. 

The results of this study, which are revealed in this technical report, offer these benefits: they can be used to indicate (1) what measurement definition and implementation approaches are being adopted and used by the community, (2) the most prevalent types of measures being used by organizations that develop or acquire software, and (3) what behaviors are preventing the effective use of measurement (so that these barriers can be addressed). In addition, when the studies are conducted on a periodic basis, the results can indicate trends over time.