PROJECT IDENTIFICATION ________________________________________________
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING TERM DEFINITIONS
SOFTWARE DOCUMENTATION includes all documents generated as part of software
development, i.e. software requirements specifications, design documents,
code,
test plans and history (test cases). Software documents refer to either
hard
copy or electronic form. It excludes end-user documentation,
i.e. user manuals
and operations manuals; and it excludes managerial documentation, i.e.
project
plans, schedule and staff plans, etc.
QUALITY OF DOCUMENTATION includes the following characteristics: adequacy,
completeness, usability, consistency, readability, ease of use, ease
of modification,
traceability.
USEFULNESS OF DOCUMENTATION is the extent to which the documentation
products are
used by software developers and maintainers, the documentation users.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. The questions must be answered for your current project work
group, and not the
organization as a whole.
2. The questions refer to software documentation produced during
development and
intended to be used by software developers and maintainers, not by
end users.
3. When referring to users, it means users of the documentation
(software developers
and maintainers), not end users.
4. Maintenance work refers to all work done after the first release.
5. For each question circle the answer that best fits the behaviors
of your work
group.
6. If you do not understand a question circle the "Don't know" response.
7. You may qualify your answers with a comment.
For each question circle the answer that best fits the project.
Each question is to be answered with either
a yes/no answer, or
an integer in the range of 1-5 (or Don't know) with the following meanings:
1: never
2: seldom
3: sometimes
4: usually
5: always
Don't know: if does not apply or question not understood.
Questionnaire
1. Are software documents other than code created during development?
Yes No Don't know
2. Are software requirements specifications (including prototyping documents)
generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
3. Are software design documents (including prototyping documents) generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
4. Are test case design documents generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
5. Are test/quality plan documents generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
6. Are test/quality plan documents generated from requirements specifications?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
7. Are test/quality plan documents generated from design documents?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
8. Are test cases used in testing recorded in a document?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
9. Are software documents generated during one phase used in later phases?
(Requirements documents used in design, design documents used in coding,
etc.)
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
10. Are software documents other than code used during development?
Yes No Don't know
11. When software documents are not used, is it because they are unreliable,
incomplete, or out of date?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
12. When software documents are not used, is it because they are not
conveniently
accessible?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
13. Are software documents other than code used during maintenance?
Yes No Don't know
14. Does your group have a documentation policy, that for each phase
of development
describes what documents are to be generated?
Yes No Don't know
15. Does the documentation policy include a list of software documents
that must be
created?
Yes No Don't know
16. Is a rigorous or well-defined procedure used to check that
document contents
satisfy the documentation policy?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
17. Does the documentation policy include a clear statement or
description of what
information must be included in each document?
Yes No Don't know
18. Are there any instructions or forms used to specify the format
and contents of
each software document?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
19. Are software documents checked to see that they have been done?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
20. For this software project, is there a person responsible for
collecting the
documentation?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
21. For this software project, is there a person responsible for
maintaining the
documentation?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
22. Is there a mechanism in place for checking that a software
document contains
the information specified in the documentation policy?
Yes No Don't know
23. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
24. Is there a written procedure (based on the policy or standards)
for creating
the software documents?
Yes No Don't know
25. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
26. Is there a mechanism to monitor adherence to this procedure?
Yes No Don't know
27. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
28. Is there adequate time to carry out this procedure?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
29. After a change has been made to the code, is there a mechanism
for checking
that all related documentation is updated?
Yes No Don't know
30. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
31. After a change has been made to the design, is there a mechanism
for checking
that all related documentation is updated?
Yes No Don't know
32. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
33. After a change has been made to the requirements, is there a mechanism
for
checking that all related documentation is updated?
Yes No Don't know
34. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
35. Is there a mechanism established to control changes to documentation?
Yes No Don't know
36. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
37. Is there a mechanism in place to monitor the completeness and accuracy
of the
documentation?
Yes No Don't know
38. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
39. Is there a mechanism in place used for ensuring traceability between
software
design and the requirements documents?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
40. Is there a mechanism in place used for ensuring traceability between
the code
and the design documents?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
41. Is there a mechanism in place used for ensuring traceability between
quality/test
plan and the requirements documents?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
42. Is there an independent group whose function is to assess the quality
of the
documentation generated in a project?
Yes No Don't know
43. Is there a mechanism in place to assess the usefulness of the documentation
generated in a project?
Yes No Don't know
44. Is there a mechanism in place that allows feedback on the
usefulness of the
documentation?
Yes No Don't know
45. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
46. Are measures of documentation usefulness collected?
Yes No Don't know
47. If so, how frequently are they collected?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
48. Are documentation errors and trouble reports tracked to solutions?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
49. Are documentation process data and error data for software projects
recorded
in a database?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
50. Are statistics gathered on documentation errors?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
51. Is there a mechanism to analyze documentation error data to
determine
distribution and characteristics of errors?
Yes No Don't know
52. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
53. Is there a mechanism in place to analyze documentation error root causes?
Yes No Don't know
54. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
55. Is there a documentation usage profile generated for software development?
Yes No Don't know
56. If so, how frequently is it generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
57. Is there a documentation usage profile generated for software maintenance?
Yes No Don't know
58. If so, how frequently is it generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
59. Is there a mechanism in place to feed back improvements to documentation
practices or standards?
Yes No Don't know
60. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
61. Is training provided about documentation practices and standards?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
62. Is training provided about the documentation process?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
63. Is there a mechanism in place to foster the incorporation of advances
in
documentation technology across the organization?
Yes No Don't know
64. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
65. Does management have a policy (not necessarily written) supporting
the importance
of software documentation?
Yes No Don't know
66. Does the project leader have a policy (not necessarily written)
supporting the
importance of software documentation?
Yes No Don't know
67. Does management view software documentation as of major importance
and have
written policies to this effect?
Yes No Don't know
Questionnaire
1. Are software documents other than code created during development?
Yes No Don't know
2. Are software requirements specifications (including prototyping documents) generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
3. Are software design documents (including prototyping documents) generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
4. Are test case design documents generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
5. Are test/quality plan documents generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
6. Are test cases generated for testing recorded in a document?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
7. Does your group have a documentation policy that for each phase of development describes what documents are to be generated?
Yes No Don't know
8. Does the documentation policy include a list of software documents that must be created?
Yes No Don't know
9. Does the documentation policy include a clear statement or description of what information must be included in each document?
Yes No Don't know
10. Is there a mechanism such as check-off list for determining that the required software documents have been created?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
11 Is there a rigorous or well defined procedure, or mechanism in place for verifying that all software documents contain the information specified in the documentation policy?
Yes No Don't know
12. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
13. Is there a written procedure (based on the policy or standards) for creating each software document?
Yes No Don't know
14. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
15. Is there a mechanism to monitor adherence to this written procedure?
Yes No Don't know
16. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
17. Is there adequate time to carry out this written procedure?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
18. Is training provided about this written procedure?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
19. For this software project, is there a person or group responsible for collecting the documentation?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
20. For this software project, is there a person or group responsible for maintaining the documentation?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
21. After a change has been made to the code, is there a mechanism for verifying that all related documentation is updated?
Yes No Don't know
22. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
23. After a change has been made to the design, is there a mechanism for verifying that all related documentation is updated?
Yes No Don't know
24. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
25. After a change has been made to the requirements, is there a mechanism for verifying that all related documentation is updated?
Yes No Don't know
26. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
27. Is there a mechanism established to control changes to documentation?
Yes No Don't know
28. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
29. Is there a mechanism in place to monitor the completeness and accuracy of the documentation?
Yes No Don't know
30. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
31. Is there a mechanism in place used for ensuring traceability between software design and the requirements documents?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
32. Is there a mechanism in place used for ensuring traceability between the code and the design documents?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
33. Is there a mechanism in place used for ensuring traceability between quality/test plan and the requirements documents?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
34. Is there a person or group responsible for assessing the quality of the documentation generated in a project?
Yes No Don't know
35. Is there a written statement or policy defining the measures that will be used in assessing documentation quality?
Yes No Don't know
36. Is there a written statement or policy defining which documentation
quality measures must be collected for each document?
Yes No Don't know
37. Are measures of documentation quality collected?
Yes No Don't know
38. If so, how frequently are they collected?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
39. Are measures of documentation quality analyzed?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
40. Are the results from documentation quality analysis used for generating recommendations?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
41. Are documentation errors and trouble reports tracked to solutions?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
42. Is documentation error data for software projects recorded in a database?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
43. Are statistics gathered on documentation errors?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
44. Is there a mechanism to analyze documentation error data to determine distribution and characteristics of errors?
Yes No Don't know
45. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
46. Is there a mechanism in place to determine documentation error root causes?
Yes No Don't know
47. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
48. Are recommendations generated from documentation error root causes?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
49. Is there a mechanism in place to feed back improvements to documentation quality?
Yes No Don't know
50. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
51. Are software documents generated during one phase used in later phases? (Requirements documents used in design, design documents used in coding, etc.)
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
52. Are there some software documents that are generated but not used?
Yes No Don't know
53. When software documents are not used, is it because they are unreliable, incomplete, or out of date?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
54. When software documents are not used, is it because they are not conveniently accessible?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
55. Are there some software documents that would be useful but are not generated?
Yes No Don't know
56. Are software documents other than code used during maintenance?
Yes No Don't know
57. Is there a mechanism in place to assess the usability of the documentation generated in a project?
Yes No Don't know
58. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
59. Is there a written statement or policy defining or describing the measures that will be used in assessing documentation usability?
Yes No Don't know
60. Is there a written statement or policy defining which documentation usability measures must be collected for each document?
Yes No Don't know
61. Are measures of documentation usability collected?
Yes No Don't know
62. If so, how frequently are they collected?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
63. Are documentation usability measurements analyzed?
Yes No Don't know
64. If so, are the results from the usability analysis used for generating recommendations?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
65. Is there a documentation usage profile generated for software development?
Yes No Don't know
66. If so, how frequently is it generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
67. Is there a documentation usage profile generated for software maintenance?
Yes No Don't know
68. If so, how frequently is it generated?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
69. Is there a mechanism in place to feed back improvements to documentation usability?
Yes No Don't know
70. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
71. Is there a mechanism in place to feed back improvements to documentation process (policies, standards, practices, tools, etc)?
Yes No Don't know
72. If so, how frequently is it used?
1 2 3 4 5 Don't know
73. Does management view software documentation as of major importance?
Yes No Don't know
74. Does the project leader view software documentation as of major importance?
Yes No Don't know
75. Does management have written policies about the importance of software documentation?
Yes No Don't know