Wow! This community has really opened my eyes to a Tester’s attention to details. No one response hit on the two “bugs” I implanted into the survey, but a number of you hit on the right questions, and many of you found or “created” your own bugs. There may have been a bit of “over analysis” on a number of the questions but some of the findings were well thought out. Thank you for the great response to the survey!
The two “bugs” I purposely put in were question 2 and 4. In question 2, proper survey methodology would have required an all of the above. In question 4, none of the answers apply to the actual question. The 5 winners and one bonus winner are: Kurt Zoellner, Craig Freeman, Yelena Zimin, Pedro Sandoval, and Dawn Haynes. I added a “bonus” winner for the most “bugs” pointed out, and that was Sherri Blaszkiewicz. Thank you to all!! I will be contacting the winners directly.
I have provided the results below for your review. I am planning a comprehensive research survey to be launched in May that will attempt to take a snapshot of our community in a number of different areas; Process, Tools & Automation, Metrics & Measurement, Reporting, Delivery & Management, and Career & Salary. I hope you will participate. Based on the “bugs” you have found in this simple 5 question survey, I have my work cut out for me!
Here are the final results of the “Test the Tester” survey:
Do you believe that Software Testing is a profession?
- Yes – 91%
- No – 6%
- Other 3%
Please choose the phrase that best describes the role of a tester?
- Problem finder – 18%
- Bug finder – 3%
- Assist in delivering Quality Software – 77%
- Annoy the developer – 2%
Do you believe that professional associations assist in building up professional respect within an industry?
- Yes they help increase respect in an industry – 74%
- No there is no need for an association to build respect in an industry – 6%
- I don’t know I have never belonged to a professional association – 15%
- Other – 5%
Do you think surveys are a good way to gather information?
- I hate filling out surveys – 31%
- I love filling out surveys – 12%
- I fill out surveys whenever I am asked – 52
- I would never fill out a survey – 5% (But they did? Hmmm!)
Have you ever belonged to a professional association?
- Yes in another career (If yes please tell us which association you belonged to) -51%
- No I have never belonged to an association – 36%
- Associations are for old people – 1%
- Other – 12%