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On the Ontological Quality and Logical Quality of Conceptual-Modeling Grammars: The Need for a Dual Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Roger Clarke

    (School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1PB, United Kingdom)

  • Andrew Burton-Jones

    (UQ Business School, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia)

  • Ron Weber

    (UQ Business School, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; and Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia)

Abstract

A core activity in information systems development involves building a conceptual model of the domain that an information system is intended to support. Such models are created using a conceptual-modeling (CM) grammar. Just as high-quality conceptual models facilitate high-quality systems development, high-quality CM grammars facilitate high-quality CM. This paper provides a new perspective on ways to improve the quality of the semantics of CM grammars. For many years, the leading approach to this topic has relied on ontological theory. We show, however, that the ontological approach captures only half the story; it needs to be coupled with a logical approach. We explain how the ontological and logical qualities of CM grammars interrelate. Furthermore, we outline three contributions of a logical approach to evaluating the quality of CM grammars: a means of seeing some familiar CM problems in simpler ways, illumination of new problems, and proving the benefit of modifying existing CM grammars in particular ways. We demonstrate these benefits in the context of the Entity-Relationship grammar. More generally, our paper opens a new area of research with many opportunities for future research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Roger Clarke & Andrew Burton-Jones & Ron Weber, 2016. "On the Ontological Quality and Logical Quality of Conceptual-Modeling Grammars: The Need for a Dual Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 365-382, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:27:y:2016:i:2:p:365-382
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2016.0631
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. François Bodart & Arvind Patel & Marc Sim & Ron Weber, 2001. "Should Optional Properties Be Used in Conceptual Modelling? A Theory and Three Empirical Tests," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 384-405, December.
    2. Frederico Fonseca, 2007. "The double role of ontologies in information science research," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 58(6), pages 786-793, April.
    3. Palash Bera & Andrew Burton-Jones & Yair Wand, 2014. "Research Note ---How Semantics and Pragmatics Interact in Understanding Conceptual Models," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 401-419, June.
    4. Faiz Currim & Sudha Ram, 2012. "Modeling Spatial and Temporal Set-Based Constraints During Conceptual Database Design," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 109-128, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hemant Jain & Balaji Padmanabhan & Paul A. Pavlou & T. S. Raghu, 2021. "Editorial for the Special Section on Humans, Algorithms, and Augmented Intelligence: The Future of Work, Organizations, and Society," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 675-687, September.
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