Research Summaries

Back The Science of Test: Advanced Test and Evaluation in Support of the DOD Test and Evaluation Enterprise

Fiscal Year 2011
Division Graduate School of Operational & Information Sciences
Department Operations Research
Investigator(s) Silvestrini, Rachel T.
Sponsor Air Force Institute of Technology (Air Force)
Summary The Department of Defense (DOD) Test Enterprise is responsible for test and evaluation policy, planning, execution, and analysis of test results. Additionally, this community is responsible for resource allocation, and test workforce development. Each of the Services plays a critical role both internally with respect to service unique test requirements as well as collaboratively on joint test concerns. The Service Operational Test Agency (OT A) Commanders and the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT &E) are dependent on credible test methodology and analysis to provide critical information and program assessment data during program evaluation within the test phases of acquisition.
The overall goal of this research is to support the integration of advanced statistical rigor and mathematical foundations into the test domain. The increased technical capabilities are designed to improve the 'science of test' across the DOD and leverage academic research to provide solutions to challenging problems facing the test communities. The research can be conducted in collaboration with service test organizations to ensure applicability of test design and methodologies to DOD systems being developed within the acquisition process. These systems could benefit from research on applying advancement test design methodology to their test plans and processes.
The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) have partnered with Arizona State University and Virginia Tech to form a consortium to support graduate research in the area of test science, specifically related to areas of experimental design and the statistical analysis of those designs and the area of live, virtual, constructive test integration into test and evaluation. This team has been specifically designed and developed to address the research challenges facing the DOD Test Enterprise in leveraging the scientific capabilities that exist and can be developed to support the defense test community.
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Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal