Outcome metrics, or response variables, measure the result of your test, and are ultimately how you will assess the test objective(s). Certain qualities make some response variables better than others: good response variables provide a meaningful measure of system performance, provide adequate data to evaluate requirements, and lend themselves well to experimental design. More than one response variable is often necessary to completely evaluate the test objective. Additionally, continuous response variables are better than binary response variables in terms of the amount of information they provide. This lesson will discuss all of the aforementioned qualities and provide an intuitive example demonstrating why binary responses are less useful than continuous responses.

References

1. Montgomery, D. C. (2017). Design and analysis of experiments (Ninth ed.): Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2. Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (2010). Guidance on the use of Design of Experiments (DOE) in Operational Test and Evaluation.
3. Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (2013). Best Practices for Assessing the Statistical Adequacy of Experimental Designs Used in Operational Test and Evaluation.
4. Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation, Action Officer Training (2016). Testing Planning Foundations. https://www.dote.osd.mil/Publications/Training/
5. Freeman, L. J., Johnson, T., Avery, M., Lillard, V. B., & Clutter, J. (2018). Testing Defense Systems. Analytic Methods in Systems and Software Testing, 441.