~ In 1988 and 1998, two surveys were conducted to assess the state of the art in software cost estimation in the Netherlands. One of the questions concerned the various stakeholders involved in developing a cost estimate.

The resulting percentages were as follows:

1988 1998 Management 48.9 75.8 Staff department 22.8 37.4 Development team 22.6 23.6 Project manager 36.7 42.3 Customer 15.4 15.9 Other 8.9 8.2 Average # of parties involved 1.55 2.03 It was concluded that the situation had improved. In 1998, the average number of parties involved had increased and this was felt to be a good sign.

For each individual category, the percentage had gone up as well.

Can you think of a possibly negative conclusion from this same set of data, i.e. that the situation has become worse since 1988?