3 ms·
The datasets are not even data in the first place. If you want to understand estimations and projects, you have to study them. This is a social science project
by satisfice 3y ago
The datasets are not even data in the first place.
If you want to understand estimations and projects, you have to study them. This is a social science project. It's not a math game. It's not a problem that you can solve by collecting oversimplified numbers from dubious sources based on incoherent definitions of the units of measurement.
If somebody reports that they spent x days developing a component, what does that mean? What were they doing during those days? How do we know what they were doing? We don't know unless a researcher was right there in the room taking notes in real-time. There are so many confounding variables involved, even if your data collection is perfect, that analysis of the data is a process fraught with opportunities for accidental overfitting or researcher bias.
- readthenotes1 3y agoThe one bit of project estimation research that I actually believed was that project estimates are closely affected by timeline desires of major finders/"stakeholders". Anecdata: I once asked a VP of a major telecom why the project deadline was Sept 30 and not Oct 1 or Sept 28, and he replied "because my quarterly bonus depends on it"