DEPENDENCIES BETWEEN REQUIREMENTS ELICITATION TECHNIQUES: A SURVEY STUDY IN UKRAINIAN COMPANIES

Abstract

The subject of research in the article is requirements elicitation practices in IT projects. The goal of the work is to define how project context influences requirement elicitation technique selection and identify dependencies between requirement elicitation techniques. The following tasks are solved in the article: examine the industrial standards and experience of business analysts and requirements engineers in requirements acquisition activities, create and conduct a survey on practices in requirement elicitation activities in IT projects, define practitioners’ preferences regarding elicitation techniques, and define how project context influences requirement elicitation technique selection, identify dependencies between requirement elicitation techniques. The following methods are used: a survey was performed among business analysts and requirement engineers in Ukraine regarding their use of requirement elicitation techniques and the context of using them. The Chi-Square test of independence and Cramer’s V effect size measure were applied to define statistically significant dependencies between project context and elicitation techniques, as well as dependencies between techniques. The following results were obtained: Top elicitation techniques were identified and compared with other comprehensive studies. Twenty statistically significant associations for pairs "project context – elicitation technique" and "elicitation technique – elicitation technique" were found (based on the p-value and Cramer’s V effect size measure). Conclusion: It is concluded that project context influences particular elicitation technique selection in IT projects. There are also dependencies between requirements elicitation techniques. These dependencies can guide the selection of an initial set of techniques or adjust a set of used elicitation techniques during business analysis planning and monitoring activities.

Keywords

• requirements elicitation techniques
• IT project
• requirements engineering
• Chi-Square test
• Cramer’s V