University of Missouri - St. Louis
INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
Data Modeling for System Analysis
IS 6840
By: Varuni Mallikaarachchi
Data Modelin;
A data model is a description of how data should be used to meet the requirements given by the end user (Ponniah). Data modeling.
helps to understand the information requirements. Data modeling differs according to the type of the business, because the business
processes or each sector is different, and it needs to be identified in the modeling stage. Initial step is the analyzing the situation, gather
Gata, Data modeling process starts with requirement gatherings. When developing the proper data model it is important to communicate
with the stakcholders about the requirements. Data modeling is the act of exploring data oriented structures. This ean be used for variety
cof purposes. One of the important functions of data modeling is tha, it helps to understand the information requirements. Especially this
makes both developers and end users lives easier, As mentioned above, data modeling helps the end users to define their requirements,
and the developers are able to develop a system to meet those specified requirements,
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Figure 3-1. The Systems Engineering Process
Figure 1: The Systems Engineering Process - [7]
Data model isa conceptual representation of data structures required fora database and is very powerful in expressing and
communicating the business requirements (Learn Data Modeling). It visually represents the nature of data, business rules that are
applicable to data, and how it willbe organized inthe database. Thee are three main design forthe data model, namely conceptual
design, logical design and the physical desi (tl Education Solutions Limited). Data mode! is used by both functional team andthe
technical team ina project. Functional tcam consists of the business analysts and the end users, and the technical tam consists of the
developers and the programmers. There are data modelers who are responsible for designing the data model which mects the expectations of the Functional team, and provide requirements for the technical team (Chuck Ballard, Dirk Herreman, Don Schau,
Rhonda Bell, 1998).
Levels of Data Models
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Figure 2: Levels of Data Models [22]
History of Data Models
In 1970s, Peter Chen invented and introduced the entity-relationship modeling technique. In 1980s the object modeling techniques
started applying to representing information requirements of an organization. Then the unified modeling language (UML) was
introduced to replace the object modeling methods. (Hay, Requirements Analysis; From Business Views to Architecture)
Data Modeling Process
Data modeling process starts with analyzing the situation, Here the analysts are able to gather requirements, when designing a proper
data model it's important to communicate with the stakeholders about the requirements, Data modeling is the act of exploring data
oriented structures, which can be used for multiple purposes. Mainly data modeling is a communication tool among users, which
considers as the blue print of the database system. (Merson, Paulo F.)
Data Analysis
The techniques of data analysis can impact the type of data model selected and its content, For example, i the intent is simply to provide
query and reporting. capability, a data model that structures the data in more of a normalized fashion would probably provide the fastest
and easiest access to the data. Query and reporting capability primarily consists of selecting associated data elements, perhaps
summarizing them and grouping them by some category, and presenting the results. Executing this type of capability typically might
Iead to the use of more direct table scans. For this type of capability, perhaps an ER model with a normalized and/or denormalized data
structure would be most appropriate, Figure 3: Several methods of data analysis [5]
A data model consists of three different phases. (West)Those are:
‘Structural part - Consisting a set of rules
Manipulating part ~ Types of operations allowed, such as updating, retrieving, and changing the database
Integrity part - which validates the accuracy of data,
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Figure 4: West & Fowler has identified many benefits of a data model. Above figure depics the details of these benefits of using a
data model. [25]
‘There are four types of data models identified:
‘+ Conceptual Data Models — Highest-Ievel relationships between different entities
+ Enterprise Data Models ~ Addresses unique requirements of a specific business. However this is similar to conceptual data,
modeling,
‘+ Logical Data Modeling - Ilustrates the specific entities, attributes, and relationships involved in a business function. This serves
as the basis forthe creation of the physical data model.
‘+ Physical Data Modeling - Represent an application and database-specific implementation of a logical data model.
(ScarchDataManagement.com Definitions)
Conceptual Data Models
According to Hoffer etal. Conceptual data model isa representation of organizational data. The purpose of a conceptual data model is to
show as many rules about the meaning and interrelationships among data as are possible. Conceptual data modeling is typically done in
pparallel with other requirement analysis and structuring steps during system analysis. This is carried out throughout the systems
development process. This is useful for both planning and analysis phases in the systems development life cycle (Valacich). Conceptual
data model contains about10 - 20 entities and relevant relationships known as group entities. Conceptual data modeling is the most
crucial stage in the database design process, Peter Chen states entity relationship model as a “Pure Representation of reality” Urey
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Figure 5: Conceptual Data Modeling Process
According to Jarrar, Demey, and Rober, identifies two main differences of conceptual data schemes and ontologies which should be
taken into consideration when reusing the conceptual data modeling techniques for building ontologies. Paper further discusses that the
successful conceptual data modeling approaches, such as ORM (object role modeling) or FER (Enhanced entity relationship model)
‘became well known because of the methodological guidance in building conceptual models of information systems, (M Jarrar)
Enterprise Data Model (External Data Model
‘An Enterprise Data Model isan integrated view of the data produced and consumed across an entire organization, It incorporates an
appropriate industry perspective. An Enterprise Data Model (EDM) represents a single integrated definition of data, unbiased of any
system or application, It is independent of “how” the data is physically sourced, stored, processed or accessed. The model unites,
formalizes and represents the things important to an organization, as well as the rules governing them. (Ponniah) (Noreen Kendle)
Enterprise Data Model
Figure 6: Enterprise Data Modeling Structure [19]
Logical Data Model
‘The logical data model is an evolution of the conceptual data model towards a data management technology such as relational databases.
Actual implementation of the conceptual model is called a logical data model. To implement one conceptual data model may require
‘multiple logical data models, Data modeling defines the relationships between data clements and structures Enterprise Logical Data Model
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Figure 7: Logical Data Model
Physical Data Model
Physical data model is representation of a data design which takes into account the facilities and constraints of @ given database
‘management system, Physical data model represents how the model will be builtin the database. A physical database model shows all
table structures, including column name, column data type, column constraints, primary key, foreign key, and relationships between
tables.
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Figure 8: Physical Data Model
Multidimensional data modeling
Multidimensional structure is defined as “a variation of the relational model that uses multidimensional structures to organize data and.
express the relationships between data. According to Jensen ct al. multidimensional models view a central data element for the given
domain, which uniquely defined by a combination of dimension values (Christian $. Jensen)
‘Newspeak — Tower of Babel Dilemma in Data Modeling
‘This is the fundamental design problem for information systems. Creating a standard model for the whole company with different data
interpretation of an organization, this is known as the Newspeak solution. Allowing multiple and incompatible models to coexist ean
lead to Tower of Babel problem. Because of the conflicts the system designers can either create an enterprise wide data model or create
‘multiple models to meet each requirement (Federico Fonseca), Problems can arise due to miscommunication, and when the information
system is not working the way it was designed.
Agent based model An agent-based model (ABM) (also sometimes related to the term multi-agent system or multi-agent simulation) is a lass of
computational models for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual and collective entities such as
organizations or groups) with a view to assessing their effects on the system as a whole. It combines elements of game theory, complex
systems, emergence, computational sociology, multi-agent systems, and evolutionary programming. Monte Carlo Methods are used to
introduce randomness. ABM's are also called individual-based models. Nigel Gilbert has defined Agent-based Modeling as a new
analytical method for social sciences which is quickly becoming popular. Further, agent based modeling is a computational method that
enables a researcher to create, analyze, and experiment with models composed of agents that interact within an environment.
‘There ate nine techniques will help to model a agent based system, these techniques include,
Preciseness, accessibility, expressiveness, modularity, complexity management, excitability, refinability, analyzability, and
openness (Gilber)
In the paper by Osinga, states how an agent-based model has used as a modeling method to investigate the relationship between system.
level and agent level behavior.
‘There are three business modeling types:
‘+ Business Process Modeling
+ Process Flow modeling
+ Data Flow modeling
Agile Modeling and Analysis Techni
Agile Modeling: Agile modeling is a collection of values, principles, and practices for modeling software that ean be applied on
software development project in an effective manner, Agile modeling includes creating several models in applying right artifacts for the
situation, and continue to move forward.
Best Practices of Agile Modeling
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ternational joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent syst (2002): 1-2
ian S. Jensen, Augustas Kligys, Torben Bach Pedersen, and Igor Timko. "Multidimentional data modeling for location based.
services." The VLDB Journal (2004): 1-21
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International Technical Support Organization ,8 -138,
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8. Federico Fonseca, and James Martin. " "Play as the way out of the Newspeak-Tower of Babel Dilemma in data modeling"
‘Twenty sixth intemational conference on information systems: (2010): 315-324,
9, Fowler, Matthew West and Julian, "Developing High Quality Data Models.” (1999): 1-62.
Gilber, G. Nigel. Agent-based models . Sage Publications, Inc, 2007
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fiom the ER, ODBASE, and LNCS (2003): 185 - 207.
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