Giancarlo%20Guizzardi%20Ontological%20Foundations%20for%20Structural%20Conceptual%20Models

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Giancarlo GuizzardiOntological Foundations for
Structural Conceptual Models

• Kapitel 13, vorgestellt von Steffen Zschaler
• am 08.11.2006

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Motivation

• Conceptual Modelling Languages
• For representing reality
• Human users
• To promote communication and common understanding
• When is reality represented adequately?
• Systematic approach is needed
• Current approaches Focused on specific domains
• Here Focus on general principles of conceptual
  models

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Objectives
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Representation Adequacy

• Two aspects
• Domain Appropriateness
• Measure of the suitability of a language for
  modelling phenomena of a domain
• Truthfulness to the domain
• Comprehensibility Appropriateness
• Measure of ease of comprehension and communication

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Domain Appropriateness

• Specification S should be as close to Model M as
  possible.
• Ideally Isomorphisms
• Homomorphisms will do
• Four properties to characterise an isomorphism
• Lucidity/Construct Overload
• Soundness/Construct Excess
• Laconicity/Construct Redundancy
• Completeness

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Lucidity/Construct Overload

• Every element in S relates to at most one element
  in M.
• Contrast Construct Overload (Language Level)
• Some grammatical constructs relate to more than
  one ontological construct
• No implication of non-lucidity or vice-versa

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Soundness/Construct Excess

• Every element in S relates to at least one
  element in M.
• Contrast Construct Excess (Language Level)
• Some grammatical constructs relate to no
  ontological construct

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Laconicity/Construct Redundancy

• Every element in M is represented by at most one
  element in S.
• Contrast Construct Redundancy (Language Level)
• More than one grammatical constructs relates to
  the same ontological construct
• No implication of non-laconicity or vice-versa

M
S
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Completeness

• Every element in M is represented by at least one
  element in S.
• Related to Completeness (Language Level)
• Every domain concept is represented by at least
  one grammatical construct

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Comparing Modelling Languages and
Conceptualisations
Domain Ontology
Conceptualisation
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Ontologies

• Lots of history on use of ontologies in
  philosophy and computer science
• Formalisations of Conceptualisation, Logical
  Model, Ontological Commitment
• I have no clue, what is the core contribution of
  this chapter!