| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/J20234/01 |
| Title: |
COGNITIVE & ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES IN SOFTWARE ENG. METHODOLIGIES FOR SAFETY CRITICAL SYSTEMS- IED4/1/9320 |
| Principal Investigator: |
Loomes, Professor MJ |
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| Department: |
Computer Science |
| Organisation: |
University of Hertfordshire |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 January 1994 |
Ends: |
31 December 1996 |
Value (£): |
134,106
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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COPSE has antecedents in two different areas. The first of these is the widely acknowledged but unformalised deficiencies of the life-cycle model. The second is the influence of organisational influences on individual cognitive processing, group behaviour and management performance involved in the design and operation of safety critical systems. COPSE brings together these two separate stands in an evaluation of the impact of the life-cycle model on software design process for safety critical systems. The objectives of the project are to characterise the impact of organisational influences of various kinds on the performance of the life-cycle model, and the impact of the life-cycle model on individual and group planning activity in software engineering. Progress:(i) Deliverables shortly to be completed include a review of the literature, a safety culture assessment methodology, a case study and other related publications, a book chapter on organisational influences on the design process and a summary of findings from structured interviews with software engineers and other professional groups. (ii) Findings include: (a) The need for a dual culture of compliance and innovation in software design teams.(b) Formal methods and quality procedures that are over rigorous either inhibit the design process or cause a decoupling of quality systems and design activity. (c) Management of the design process is an activity that is under-addressed and undervalued. (d) Domain knowledge is frequently lacking in those responsible for coding and design of software. (e) Group processes destroy formal approaches to software design (e.g. the life-cycle model) because they are inappropriate for the type of activity, do not reflect normal working practices, lead to illusions or progress rather than actual progress. (f) Inter-organisational factors impair communication and also efficacious project implementation. (g) It appears that safety culture or safety awareness is often lacking in the software design teams for safety critical systems.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.herts.ac.uk |