R0007/2026-03-19/C004/SRC01
Multiple studies on programmer productivity variation (1968-2023)
Source
| Field |
Value |
| Title |
Multiple studies: Sackman et al. (1968), Construx analysis, Duarte de Oliveira et al. (2023) |
| Publisher |
Various (Communications of the ACM, Information and Software Technology) |
| Author(s) |
Sackman/Erikson/Grant; McConnell; Duarte de Oliveira et al. |
| Date |
1968-2023 |
| URL |
Multiple |
| Type |
Research papers and meta-analyses |
Summary
| Dimension |
Rating |
| Reliability |
High |
| Relevance |
High |
| Bias: Missing data |
Low risk |
| Bias: Measurement |
Some concerns |
| Bias: Selective reporting |
Low risk |
| Bias: Randomization |
N/A — not an RCT |
| Bias: Protocol deviation |
N/A — not an RCT |
| Bias: COI/Funding |
Low risk |
Rationale
| Dimension |
Rationale |
| Reliability |
Multiple independent studies across 55+ years. Well-established finding. |
| Relevance |
Directly addresses the claim about individual variation in software engineering. |
| Bias flags |
Measurement concerns: different studies use different productivity metrics (LOC, time, bugs). This is acknowledged in the literature. |
| Evidence ID |
Summary |
| SRC01-E01 |
Sackman 1968 findings on programmer variation |
| SRC01-E02 |
2023 study: 2.44x ratio, coefficient of variance 0.55 |