Qualitative vs. quantitative software process simulation modelling: conversion and comparison

Software Process Simulation Modeling (SPSM) research has increased in the past two decades. However, most of these models are quantitative, which require detailed understanding and accurate measurement. As the continuous work to our previous studies in qualitative modeling of software process, this paper aims to investigate the structure equivalence and model conversion between quantitative and qualitative process modeling, and to compare the characteristics and performance of these two approaches by modeling and simulating a software evolution process. Following the model conversion scheme, the reference quantitative (SD) model and the corresponding qualitative model become comparable. The results present their different capabilities and interesting perspectives, and further the potential use of qualitative modeling in software process research.