compute_mcc

Computes the Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) from confusion
matrix counts, as recommended for evaluating the performance of large language models
for screening literature in systematic reviews by Madeyski, Kitchenham and Shepperd
(2026). The MCC is the standard, unrescaled coefficient in the range \([-1, 1]\);
it is chance-anchored, so a value of 0 indicates random-level performance. The
function is vectorised: <code>TP</code>, <code>FP</code>, <code>FN</code>, <code>TN</code> may be scalars or
equal-length vectors.

Includes data analysis and meta-analysis functions (e.g., to
calculate effect sizes and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) on Standardised
Effect Sizes (d) for AB/BA cross-over repeated-measures experimental
designs), data presentation functions (e.g., density curve overlaid on
histogram),and the data sets analyzed in different research papers in
software engineering (e.g., related to software defect prediction or multi-
site experiment concerning the extent to which structured abstracts were
clearer and more complete than conventional abstracts) to streamline
reproducible research in software engineering.

Lech Madeyski

reproducer

Reproduce Statistical Analyses and Meta-Analyses

Barbara Kitchenham

Tomasz Lewowski

Marian Jureczko

David Budgen

Pearl Brereton

Jacky Keung

Stuart Charters

Shirley Gibbs

Amnart Pohthong

Giuseppe Scanniello

Carmine Gravino

compute_mcc function

<dl><dt>TP</dt>
<dd>the number of true positives (scalar or vector).</dd>
<dt>FP</dt>
<dd>the number of false positives (scalar or vector).</dd>
<dt>FN</dt>
<dd>the number of false negatives (scalar or vector).</dd>
<dt>TN</dt>
<dd>the number of true negatives (scalar or vector).</dd></dl>

Arguments

Author

compute_mcc — compute_mcc

<dl>

<dt>TP</dt>
<dd>the number of true positives (scalar or vector).</dd>


<dt>FP</dt>
<dd>the number of false positives (scalar or vector).</dd>


<dt>FN</dt>
<dd>the number of false negatives (scalar or vector).</dd>


<dt>TN</dt>
<dd>the number of true negatives (scalar or vector).</dd>

</dl>

compute_mcc: compute_mcc

Description

Usage

Value

Arguments

Author

References

Examples