New initiatives call for new approaches. With the advent of generative AI, new advances in Software Security, and deployments in fields like IoT, research has taken a lead once more after a while. Research is assisted by testing, as an integral part of deriving insights and taking the right course of action. Let’s look at the role of Software Testing in research in this blog.
There has been always discussions about the placement of testing in the software development life cycle. Irrespective of how it is done and who does it, we cannot deny the fact that testing is important for making judgements on whether the software is achieving the objectives that it is supposed to. When it comes to research, trials are integral part of the development. The one difference between testing in a development environment and testing in a research environment is the exposure to the end-user. In the research space, the researched product is mostly judged by the internal team whether it satisfies the hypothesis or the end-result. Thus testing is closely knit with the research team more than a software development team.
Areas of Software Testing Importance in Research
Custom Research Software
When custom research software is being developed to aid the research, testing of the custom software is crucial to make sure that the software is doing the right things and doing things right. If the research is dependent on the quality of the custom software, it is important to thoroughly test that software. Failures in the custom software will adversely affect the research, which is not desirable.
Data Analysis Tools
Research usually involves a lot of data analysis. For doing the data analysis, tools are used. These tools need be tested if they are functioning properly. Also, the integration of the data analysis tools to the software platform, as well as whether the right data is being ingested should also be tested.
Unplanned scenarios
There tend to be always surprises when the research software integrates with data and/or the environment in which it is being used. While designing, these surprises are sometimes not palpable, but testing can expose such scenarios such that they can be taken care.
Limitations of research software
Research design is usually accompanied by research software. While research could be ambitious, and its design yearning to test the limits of what is possible, the research software that helps or simulates the design will have their limitations. It is best to identify these limitations early on through testing so that we know what is possible and what is not in the research software. This due diligence will help in the long run to either upgrade the research software or to live with its limitations and look for answers elsewhere while doing the research. Efficiency and accuracy of the research software is also of importance.
Usability Testing of research software
Apart from the limitations in the research software, the usability of the research software need to be assessed based on the experience of the research personnel. Yesterday I wrote about the challenges in usability testing. They need to be considered while doing the usability testing of the research software that are used in research.
Data integrity and validity
The research software has the potential to corrupt the data. Thorough testing makes sure that such things don’t happen. It is possible that data analytics tools could corrupt the data too. It is important to pay attention to how the data is handled and test the data access well.
Reproducibility of results
Research depends a lot on reproducible results. Consistency is key in drawing conclusions and moving forward in research. It is important that testing is done to make sure that the results are consistent. This is especially a concern in generative AI based research software.
Conclusion
We discussed various areas of importance in software testing for research in this blog. Hope that gives you a comprehensive strategy on hows and whys for Software Testing in Research. For requirements related to software testing in research in your organisation, please feel free to reach out to me. Glad to help!