Serial Experimentation for the Management and Evaluation of Communications Systems

When there is a decision to mount a demonstration of new communications systems in the field, controversy about the role of evaluation often results. Those who have operational responsibility for the system become its advocates, believing it to be sufficiently robust to succeed. They resent research that would divert resources from the central purpose of demonstrating success. In contrast, evaluators anticipate the chance of failure. They maintain that it is essential to construct systematic and rigorous research on a project so that future projects can learn from past experiences.