Why is the most common job title "Software Engineer" at the top, but "Software Developer" is listed as the first job analyzed? Were they grouped together?
Oops, yea, typo there. For the sake of this analysis we have treated developer and engineer (and programmer - although a very uncommon term in our dataset) as interchangeable. It could be another interesting study to look at the differences between people who align themselves as an engineer or a developer.
Here at UT Austin there's a pretty big difference between the two (including pay - Engineer is higher). The Developer maintains the programs whereas the Engineer is the one who initial creates them.
They're state awarded titles, so it may be different in the private sector.
I saw a post recently about the difference between Engineer and Developer (I think on HN). It is definitely a contentious issue for some programmers.
There are places in the world (like here in Quebec, Canada) where the term "Engineer" is restricted. To call yourself an engineer, you have to be a member of the "Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec".