IFPUG-COSMIC Statistical Conversion

One of the main issues faced within the Functional Size Measurement (FSM) community is the convertibility issue between FSM methods. A particular attention during last years was devoted to find a mathematical function for converting IFPUG functional size units to the newer COSMIC ones. Moving from the data sets and experiences described in previous studies, some attention points about cost and quality from the data gathering process emerge. This paper analyzes the data gathering process issue and proposes a solution for overcoming such difficulties. From an application of a repeteable and verifiable procedure, performed in a university course on Software Engineering with the support of an experienced measurer, two new data sets were derived. Finally an analysis of all datasets was done, presenting a possible interval for the conversion between IFPUG-COSMIC fsu.