IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v9y1998i1p37-63.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Semantic Structuring in Analyst Acquisition and Representation of Facts in Requirements Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • George M. Marakas

    (University of Maryland, Department of Information Systems, College Park, Maryland 20742)

  • Joyce J. Elam

    (Florida International University, Decision Sciences and Information Systems, Miami, Florida 33199)

Abstract

The determination of information requirements is one of the most crucial stages in the software design and development process (Montezemi 1988). It is during this stage that the greatest degree of interaction occurs between the analyst and the user (Lauer et al. 1992). Despite the system development method employed, the functional success of many aspects of requirements determination ultimately rests on how well the user(s) and analyst(s) communicate (Holtzblatt and Beyer 1995). The purpose of this paper is to report the results obtain from a laboratory experiment that investigated the effects of a semantic structuring process of inquiry on the process of interview-derived information acquisition and the subsequent overall correctness of the logical representation of the facts obtained. The study focused on the specific question types used by systems analysts and the role their semantic construction played in representing the information flows in a business system. Three underlying semantic patterns of questions emerged from the analysis. The results showed that certain question types were associated with increased accuracy of logical representations regardless of analyst experience level. Further, the semantic and process patterns that emerged were also directly related to accurate representation of facts and demonstrated an experience-level independence. The results indicate that disciplined questioning strategies are not necessarily learned from practice and they can be improved via structured training. Each of the patterns provide insight into the questioning process employed and the effectiveness of different strategies of inquiry. Implications for both the practitioner and the academic research communities with regard to analyst interview behavior are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • George M. Marakas & Joyce J. Elam, 1998. "Semantic Structuring in Analyst Acquisition and Representation of Facts in Requirements Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 9(1), pages 37-63, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:9:y:1998:i:1:p:37-63
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.9.1.37
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.9.1.37
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.9.1.37?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. C. W. Churchman & A. H. Schainblatt, 1965. "The Researcher and The Manager: A Dialectic of Implementation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 69-87, February.
    2. Russell L. Ackoff, 1967. "Management Misinformation Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(4), pages 147-156, December.
    3. Richard J. Boland, Jr., 1978. "The Process and Product of System Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(9), pages 887-898, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Browne, Glenn J. & Pitts, Mitzi G., 2004. "Stopping rule use during information search in design problems," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 208-224, November.
    2. Luis F. Luna‐Reyes & Laura J. Black & Anthony M. Cresswell & Theresa A. Pardo, 2008. "Knowledge sharing and trust in collaborative requirements analysis," System Dynamics Review, System Dynamics Society, vol. 24(3), pages 265-297, September.
    3. Cibej, Joze Andrej, 2002. "Operations research education for forgotten populations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 225-231, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John W. Boudreau, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: Organizational Behavior, Strategy, Performance, and Design in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(11), pages 1463-1476, November.
    2. C Martin & M Metcalfe & H Harris, 2009. "Developing an implementation capacity: justifications from prior research," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(6), pages 859-868, June.
    3. Imran Currim & Vijay Gurbaxani & James LaBelle & Jooseop Lim, 2006. "Perceptual structure of the desired functionality of internet-based health information systems," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 151-170, May.
    4. Rajiv D. Banker & Robert J. Kauffman, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Research on Information Systems: A Fiftieth-Year Survey of the Literature in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 281-298, March.
    5. McCown, R. L., 2002. "Changing systems for supporting farmers' decisions: problems, paradigms, and prospects," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 179-220, October.
    6. Mähring, Magnus, 2002. "IT Project Governance: A Process-Oriented Study of Organizational Control and Executive Involvement," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Business Administration 2002:15, Stockholm School of Economics.
    7. Sivadasan, Suja & Smart, Janet & Huaccho Huatuco, Luisa & Calinescu, Anisoara, 2013. "Reducing schedule instability by identifying and omitting complexity-adding information flows at the supplier–customer interface," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1), pages 253-262.
    8. Maurice W. Kirby, 2007. "Paradigm Change in Operations Research: Thirty Years of Debate," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 1-13, February.
    9. Samuel Y. Todd & Tamara A. Crook & Tony Lachowetz, 2013. "Agency Theory Explanations of Self-Serving Sales Forecast Inaccuracies," Business and Management Research, Business and Management Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 2(2), pages 13-21, June.
    10. Kleijnen, J.P.C., 1977. "Operations research and computers," Research Memorandum FEW 66, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Alex Richardson & Shirley Gregor & Richard Heaney, 2012. "Using decision support to manage the influence of cognitive abilities on share trading performance," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 37(3), pages 523-541, December.
    12. Ion Georgiou & Joaquim Heck & Andrej Mrvar, 2019. "The Analysis of Interconnected Decision Areas: A Computational Approach to Finding All Feasible Solutions," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 543-563, June.
    13. Rita Di Mascio, 2016. "Firms’ adoption of self-service technology: how managerial beliefs shape co-production decisions," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 6(1), pages 79-97, June.
    14. Ion Georgiou & Joaquim Heck, 2021. "The emergence of problem structuring methods, 1950s–1989: An atlas of the journal literature," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 756-796, November.
    15. Fogarty, Timothy J. & Campbell, Cory, 2024. "The big data crossroads: Accounting education and the challenge of 21st century technology," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Fred Y. Robinson, 2021. "Underestimation of Jingle Fallacy Influences on Systems Acquisitions," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 413-425, August.
    17. Spoor, E. & Boogaard, M., 1993. "Information systems flexibility : a conceptual framework," Serie Research Memoranda 0059, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    18. Qing Li & Shengqiao Wang & Nicky Shaw & Victor Shi, 2019. "Supply Chain Partner Communication in a Managed Programme in the UK Water Industry: A Case Study with Social Network Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-20, October.
    19. Bouwens, Jan & Abernethy, Margaret A., 2000. "The consequences of customization on management accounting system design," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 221-241, April.
    20. Arnold Reisman & Muhittin Oral, 2005. "Soft Systems Methodology: A Context Within a 50-Year Retrospective of OR/MS," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 164-178, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:9:y:1998:i:1:p:37-63. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.