Empirical evaluation of change impact predictions using a requirements management tool with formal relation types : a quasi-experiment

Background: This research was part of a master’s thesis to evaluate the impact of using TRIC, a software tool with formal requirements relationship types, on the quality of change impact prediction in software. Objective: To analyze the real-world impact of using a software tool with formal requirements relationship types; for the purpose of the evaluation of effectiveness of tools; with respect to the quality of change impact predictions; in the context of software requirements management; from the viewpoint of system maintenance engineers. Method: This research features a quasi-experiment with 21 master’s degree students predicting change impact for five change scenarios on a realworld software requirements specification. The quality of change impact predictions was measured by the F-measure and the time in seconds to complete the prediction.