  This paper describes an exploratory empirical study of the effect of named
ranges on spreadsheet debugging performance. Named ranges are advocated in both
academia and industry, yet no experimental evidence has been cited to back up
these recommendations. This paper describes an exploratory experiment involving
21 participants that assesses the performance of novices debugging a
spreadsheet containing named ranges. The results are compared with the
performance of a different set of novices debugging the same spreadsheet
without named ranges. The findings suggest that novice users debug on average
significantly fewer errors if the spreadsheet contains named ranges. The
purpose of the investigative study is to derive a detailed and coherent set of
research questions regarding the impact of range names on the debugging
performance and behaviour of spreadsheet users. These will be answered through
future controlled experiments.
