Evaluating the SPICE rating scale with regard to the internal consistency of capability measures
Ho‐Won Jung, Robin B. Hunter · Software Process Improvement and Practice · 2003
Abstract The international SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination) project mounted a series of trials to validate the emerging international standard ISO/IEC 15504 against the goals and requirements defined at the start of the project and to verify the consistency and usability of its component parts. This study aims to evaluate the SPICE rating scale with regard to the internal consistency (reliability) of capability measures. For this purpose, this study analyzed 691 process instances assessed during the Phase 2 SPICE Trials (between September 1996 and June 1998). Our findings indicate that the current four‐category rating scale gave a higher internal consistency of capability level than two‐ or three‐category rating scales. Since the current version of ISO/IEC 15504, due to become an International Standard scheduled for publication (Part 2) in 2003, still uses the four‐category rating scale, the results in this article are still valid for the current version. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.