What Makes a Good Data Model? A Framework for Evaluating and Improving the Quality of Entity Relationship Models

Abstract

The choice of an appropriate representation of data is one of the most crucial tasks in the entire systems development process. However in practice, there are few generally accepted guidelines for evaluating alternative models, and little agreement even among experts as to what makes a "good" data model. In the absence of agreed criteria, the choice of an appropriate representation is usually made in an ad hoc way, based on common sense and experience. As a result, data modelling has more of the characteristics of an art than an engineering discipline, and the quality of models produced is almost entirely dependent on the competence of the designer. This paper develops a framework for evalua..