ISSN:1350-1917    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2575.1992.tb00068.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.This paper sets out to demonstrate that critical systems thinking can provide the necessary theoretical background for the development of an integrated approach to critical thinking in information systems research. Critical systems thinking is itself a relatively new development in management science. By about 1990, however, it had established itself on the basis of five commitments; to critical awareness, to social awareness, to complementarism at the level of methodology, to complementarism at the level of theory, and to human well‐being and emancipation. The paper discusses these critical systems commitments and shows that each of them has, at one time or another, received attention in the literature on information systems. Addressing them as a whole, as in critical systems thinking, can yield an integrated programme for critical thinking in information systems researc

ISSN:1350-1917    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2575.1992.tb00069.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.Although entity‐relationship modelling is the most popular means of specifying the conceptual schema for the data perspective of an information system, an alternative design approach known as fact‐oriented modelling appears to offer advantages. This paper provides an overview of fact‐oriented modelling, including some recent revisions and an evaluation of how the method has coped with large‐scale practical applications. One distinguishing feature of the approach is its emphasis on natural verbalization of information examples in terms of elementary facts. This notion of elementarity is clarified to cater for a problematic case involving compositely identified object types. Finally, the algorithm for mapping a conceptual to a relational schema is revised to cater for lazy objec

ISSN:1350-1917    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2575.1992.tb00070.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.There appears to be a general consensus within the information systems literature that formal specification of software systems is an inappropriate response to the perceived general failure of information systems to meet user requirements. Such views would seem to be based primarily on the difficulty of constructing formal specifications – and on the difficulty of understanding such specifications once constructed. Research into the applicability of formal methods has therefore tended to concentrate on the needs and the context of software developers specializing in critical and extremely complex software such as operating systems, transaction processing monitors, or nuclear reactor protection. More recently, however, formal methods have been applied successfully in more conventional and commercial areas, such as the development of a CASE tool, indicating that many of the perceived disadvantages of formal methods are merely myths.This paper discusses the differing research directions of the information systems and software engineering disciplines and suggests that significant beneflts may result from a synthesis of the two approaches. We further suggest that there is a serious danger that approaches which have been shown to have value in one of the two domains are automatically being ignored in the other as being ‘irrelevant’. While each of the two areas ignores the contribution of the other, software systems will continue to be sub‐optimal (in terms of relevance, as well as quality). We argue the relevance of formal specifications to the information systems discipline, illustrating the argument with a case study based within the IS

ISSN:1350-1917    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2575.1992.tb00071.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:1350-1917    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2575.1992.tb00072.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY