Psychometric theory applied to questionnaire-based appraisals on software process assessments: An initial report

Abstract

Adopting a software process model for organizations requires them to begin with an appraisal of their current processes. However, the current existing automated tools for process assessments can not verify the authenticity of answers and are therefore limited in their reliability level depending only in the employees' responses. This paper presents our research in psychometric theory applied to questionnaire-based appraisals to determine feasibility of combining them together to develop a reliable assessment tool to provide more reliable evidences about organizations' current maturity/capability level. We have found a lot of work can be done to improve appraisals questionnaires with psychometric theory and we show here areas that can be improved and first steps in how it can be done.