Classification of Spreadsheet Errors

This paper describes a framework for a systematic classification of spreadsheet errors. This classification or taxonomy of errors is aimed at facilitating analysis and comprehension of the different types of spreadsheet errors. The taxonomy is an outcome of an investigation of the widespread problem of spreadsheet errors and an analysis of specific types of these errors. This paper contains a description of the various elements and categories of the classification and is supported by appropriate examples.Comment: 9 Pages, 6 Figure

Does an awareness of differing types of spreadsheet errors aid end-users in identifying spreadsheets errors?

The research presented in this paper establishes a valid, and simplified, revision of previous spreadsheet error classifications. This investigation is concerned with the results of a web survey and two web-based gender and domain-knowledge free spreadsheet error identification exercises. The participants of the survey and exercises were a test group of professionals (all of whom regularly use spreadsheets) and a control group of students from the University of Greenwich (UK). The findings show that over 85% of users are also the spreadsheet's developer, supporting the revised spreadsheet error classification. The findings also show that spreadsheet error identification ability is directly affected both by spreadsheet experience and by error-type awareness. In particular, that spreadsheet error-type awareness significantly improves the user's ability to identify, the more surreptitious, qualitative error.Comment: 20 Pages, 14 Tables and Figures, many in colou

Investigating Effects of Common Spreadsheet Design Practices on Correctness and Maintainability

Spreadsheets are software programs which are typically created by end-users and often used for business-critical tasks. Many studies indicate that errors in spreadsheets are very common. Thus, a number of vendors offer auditing tools which promise to detect errors by checking spreadsheets against so-called Best Practices such as "Don't put constants in fomulae". Unfortunately, it is largely unknown which Best Practices have which actual effects on which spreadsheet quality aspects in which settings. We have conducted a controlled experiment with 42 subjects to investigate the question whether observance of three commonly suggested Best Practices is correlated with desired positive effects regarding correctness and maintainability: "Do not put constants in formulae", "keep formula complexity low" and "refer to the left and above". The experiment was carried out in two phases which covered the creation of new and the modification of existing spreadsheets. It was evaluated using a novel construction kit for spreadsheet auditing tools called Spreadsheet Inspection Framework. The experiment produced a small sample of directly comparable spreadsheets which all try to solve the same task. Our analysis of the obtained spreadsheets indicates that the correctness of "bottom-line" results is not affected by the observance of the three Best Practices. However, initially correct spreadsheets with high observance of these Best Practices tend to be the ones whose later modifications yield the most correct results.Comment: 16 Pages, 5 Colour Figures; Proc. European Spreadsheet Risks Int. Grp. (EuSpRIG) 2012, ISBN: 978-0-9569258-6-

EuSpRIG TEAM work:Tools, Education, Audit, Management

Research on spreadsheet errors began over fifteen years ago. During that time, there has been ample evidence demonstrating that spreadsheet errors are common and nontrivial. Quite simply, spreadsheet error rates are comparable to error rates in other human cognitive activities and are caused by fundamental limitations in human cognition, not mere sloppiness. Nor does ordinary "being careful" eliminate errors or reduce them to acceptable levels.Comment: 7 Pages, 1 Figur

Training Gamble leads to Corporate Grumble?

Fifteen years of research studies have concluded unanimously that spreadsheet errors are both common and non-trivial. Now we must seek ways to reduce spreadsheet errors. Several approaches have been suggested, some of which are promising and others, while appealing because they are easy to do, are not likely to be effective. To date, only one technique, cell-by-cell code inspection, has been demonstrated to be effective. We need to conduct further research to determine the degree to which other techniques can reduce spreadsheet errors.Comment: 8 Pages, 4 Figure

Interpretation as a factor in understanding flawed spreadsheets

The spreadsheet has been used by the business community for many years and yet still raises a number of significant concerns. As educators our concern is to try to develop the students skills in both the development of spreadsheets and in taking a critical view of their potential defects. In this paper we consider both the problems of mechanical production and the problems of translation of problem to spreadsheet representation.Comment: 9 pages incuding reference

Asheetoxy: A Taxonomy for Classifying Negative Spreadsheet-related Phenomena

Spreadsheets (sometimes also called Excel programs) are powerful tools which play a business-critical role in many organizations. However, due to faulty spreadsheets many bad decisions have been taken in recent years. Since then, a number of researchers have been studying spreadsheet errors. However, one issue that hinders discussion among researchers and professionals is the lack of a commonly accepted taxonomy. Albeit a number of taxonomies for spreadsheet errors have been proposed in previous work, a major issue is that they use the term error that itself is already ambiguous. Furthermore, to apply most existing taxonomies, detailed knowledge about the underlying process and knowledge about the "brain state" of the acting spreadsheet users is required. Due to these limitations, known error-like phenomena in freely available spreadsheet corpora cannot be classified with these taxonomies. We propose Asheetoxy, a simple and phenomenon-oriented taxonomy that avoids the problematic term error altogether. An initial study with 7 participants indicates that even non-spreadsheet researchers similarly classify real-world spreadsheet phenomena using Asheetoxy.Comment: In Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Software Engineering Methods in Spreadsheets (arXiv:1808.09174

Categorisation of Spreadsheet Use within Organisations, Incorporating Risk: A Progress Report

There has been a significant amount of research into spreadsheets over the last two decades. Errors in spreadsheets are well documented. Once used mainly for simple functions such as logging, tracking and totalling information, spreadsheets with enhanced formulas are being used for complex calculative models. There are many software packages and tools which assist in detecting errors within spreadsheets. There has been very little evidence of investigation into the spreadsheet risks associated with the main stream operations within an organisation. This study is a part of the investigation into the means of mitigating risks associated with spreadsheet use within organisations. In this paper the authors present and analyse three proposed models for categorisation of spreadsheet use and the level of risks involved. The models are analysed in the light of current knowledge and the general risks associated with organisations.Comment: 10 page

Considering Functional Spreadsheet Operator Usage Suggests the Value of Example Driven Modelling for Decision Support Systems

Most spreadsheet surveys both for reporting use and error focus on the practical application of the spreadsheet in a particular industry. Typically these studies will illustrate that a particular percentage of spreadsheets are used for optimisation and a further percentage are used for 'What if' analysis. Much less common is examining the classes of function, as defined by the vendor, used by modellers to build their spreadsheet models. This alternative analysis allows further insight into the programming nature of spreadsheets and may assist researchers in targeting particular structures in spreadsheet software for further investigation. Further, understanding the functional make-up of spreadsheets allows effective evaluation of novel approaches from a programming point of view. It allows greater insight into studies that report what spreadsheets are used for since it is explicit which functional structures are in use in spreadsheets. We conclude that a deeper understanding of the use of operators and the operator's relationship to error would provide fresh insight into the spreadsheet error problem. Considering functional spreadsheet operator usage suggests the value of Example Driven Modelling for Decision Support SystemsComment: 12 Pages, 6 Figures, 3 Table

An Evaluation of a Structured Spreadsheet Development Methodology

This paper presents the results of an empirical evaluation of the quality of a structured methodology for the development of spreadsheet models, proposed in numerous previous papers by Rajalingham K, Knight B and Chadwick D et al. This paper also describes an improved version of their methodology, supported by appropriate examples. The principal objective of a structured and disciplined methodology for the construction of spreadsheet models is to reduce the occurrence of user-generated errors in the models. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the methodology has been carried out based on a number of real-life experiments. The results of these experiments demonstrate the methodology's potential for improved integrity control and enhanced comprehensibility of spreadsheet models.Comment: 17 pages including reference