27,312 research outputs found
Naming the Pain in Requirements Engineering: A Design for a Global Family of Surveys and First Results from Germany
For many years, we have observed industry struggling in defining a high
quality requirements engineering (RE) and researchers trying to understand
industrial expectations and problems. Although we are investigating the
discipline with a plethora of empirical studies, they still do not allow for
empirical generalisations. To lay an empirical and externally valid foundation
about the state of the practice in RE, we aim at a series of open and
reproducible surveys that allow us to steer future research in a problem-driven
manner. We designed a globally distributed family of surveys in joint
collaborations with different researchers and completed the first run in
Germany. The instrument is based on a theory in the form of a set of hypotheses
inferred from our experiences and available studies. We test each hypothesis in
our theory and identify further candidates to extend the theory by correlation
and Grounded Theory analysis. In this article, we report on the design of the
family of surveys, its underlying theory, and the full results obtained from
Germany with participants from 58 companies. The results reveal, for example, a
tendency to improve RE via internally defined qualitative methods rather than
relying on normative approaches like CMMI. We also discovered various RE
problems that are statistically significant in practice. For instance, we could
corroborate communication flaws or moving targets as problems in practice. Our
results are not yet fully representative but already give first insights into
current practices and problems in RE, and they allow us to draw lessons learnt
for future replications. Our results obtained from this first run in Germany
make us confident that the survey design and instrument are well-suited to be
replicated and, thereby, to create a generalisable empirical basis of RE in
practice
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OntoEng: A design method for ontology engineering in information systems
This paper addresses the design problem relating to ontology engineering in the discipline of information systems. Ontology engineering is a realm that covers issues related to ontology development and use throughout its life span. Nowadays, ontology as a new innovation promises to improve the design, semantic integration, and utilization of information systems. Ontologies are the backbone of knowledge-based systems. In addition, they establish sharable and reusable common understanding of specific domains amongst people, information systems, and software agents. Notwithstanding, the ontology engineering literature does not provide adequate guidance on how to build, evaluate, and maintain ontologies. On the basis of the
gathered experience during the development of V4 Telecoms Business Model Ontology as well as the conducted integration of the related literature from the design science paradigm, this paper introduces OntoEng and its application as a novel systematic design
method for ontology engineering
Web Services: A Process Algebra Approach
It is now well-admitted that formal methods are helpful for many issues
raised in the Web service area. In this paper we present a framework for the
design and verification of WSs using process algebras and their tools. We
define a two-way mapping between abstract specifications written using these
calculi and executable Web services written in BPEL4WS. Several choices are
available: design and correct errors in BPEL4WS, using process algebra
verification tools, or design and correct in process algebra and automatically
obtaining the corresponding BPEL4WS code. The approaches can be combined.
Process algebra are not useful only for temporal logic verification: we remark
the use of simulation/bisimulation both for verification and for the
hierarchical refinement design method. It is worth noting that our approach
allows the use of any process algebra depending on the needs of the user at
different levels (expressiveness, existence of reasoning tools, user
expertise)
A Conceptual Model for Scholarly Research Activity
This paper presents a conceptual model for scholarly research
activity, developed as part of the conceptual modelling work
within the ???Preparing DARIAH??? European e-Infrastructures
project. It is inspired by cultural-historical activity theory,
and is expressed in terms of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference
Model, extending its notion of activity so as to also
account, apart from historical practice, for scholarly research
planning. It is intended as a framework for structuring and
analyzing the results of empirical research on scholarly practice
and information requirements, encompassing the full
research lifecycle of information work and involving both
primary evidence and scholarly objects; also, as a framework
for producing clear and pertinent information requirements,
and specifications of digital infrastructures, tools and services
for scholarly research. We plan to use the model to tag interview
transcripts from an empirical study on scholarly information
work, and thus validate its soundness and fitness for
purpose
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