Authors: J. Parsons
Tags: 2002, conceptual modeling
Mucb research in conceptual data modeling has focused on developing techniques for view integration, or combining local conceptual schetnas into a global schema. Local schemas are argued to be important in verifying conceptual data re- quirements before proceeding to database design. View integration is claimed to ful- fill two purposes. First, a global conceptual schema is a prerequisite to logical design and implementation. Second, global schemas are thought to be useful in improving organizational communication among diverse user groups witb different perspec- tives and information needs. However, performing view integration is difficult. More- over, there is no empirical evidence tbat global schemas either impede local verification or support communication. Drawing on classification research, this paper develops and tests claims about the impact of schema structure (local versus global) on verifi- cation and communication. Local schemas are hypothesized to better support verifi- cation than global schemas. When different local views contain conflicting structure, local schemas are expected to be superior in supporting communication. However, when local views contain complementary structure, global schemas are expected to be superior in supporting communication. A laboratory experiment was conducted to test these predictions. The results support the hypotheses. Implications for Ihe prac- tice of database design and for further research are considered.Read the full paper here: https://www.jmis-web.org/issues
