Survey & Experiment
The work mentioned on this page was originally designed to support my dissertation project for the award of a Master of Science Degree in Information Systems Management from Liverpool University. However, although my dissertation project was completed on 28 August 2008, the experiment remains open for anyone who chooses to participate because more contributors will help to improve the statistical significance of the results.
Is ORM more effective than other methods? Many people claim that ORM is more effective than other methods. However, to the best of my knowledge, until now, there has never been a scientific investigation into this claim. So this experiment is designed to test the hypothesis that "ORM is at least 25% more effective than ER and UML"
5 September 2008: The initial experiment was completed in August 2008 and the results were included as part of my MSc Dissertation document. However, the briefing packages remain active and anyone with appropriate skills is invited to contribute.
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The Experiment aims to provide data to test the hypothesis that ORM is at least 25% more effective than approaches based on either ER or UML. The experiment is managed via this website but the experiment itself is conducted by volunteers with appropriate expertise.
The experiment provides a standard input text that uses just 331 words to describe some of the functions in an imaginary airline. The idea of the experiment is for each participant to convert the 331 words into a UML "data only" class diagram using just one of the three methods described in the briefing packages.
All three experimental packages require that the person who does the experiment has sufficient UML skill to create a UML "data only" class model. The differences between the packages are explained below.
UML briefing package: This package is for people who have UML skills. This procedure asks that you use the "standard UML approach" defined at
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/5383.html . This approach requires that you begin by creating UML use case(s) and then use the UML use cases to create a UML "data only" class model.
Click for the UML briefing package
ER briefing package: This package is for people with both ER and UML skills. This procedure asks that you use any ER technique to create an ER model and then convert the ER model to a UML "data only" class model.
Click for the ER briefing package
ORM briefing package: This package is for people with both ORM and UML skills. This procedure asks that you use one of three popular ORM tools (VisioModeler, VEA or NORMA) to create an object-role model and then convert the object-role model to a UML "data only" class model. The briefing document contains a summary of the ORM to UML conversion procedure that is explained on page 389 of Terry's "Big Brown Book" (Information Modeling and Relational Databases: Second Edition, Halpin & Morgan 2008). However, you can use any ORM-UML conversion method that you prefer.
Click for the ORM briefing package
Each of the foregoing procedures has a link to a separate online questionnaire that allows participants to post their results directly into an online database.
All results are anonymised. No personal details were revealed in my dissertation document or will be revealed to any third party.
14 November 2008: Dissertation Results
I submitted my dissertation document on 28 August 2008. Two independent assessors from Liverpool University graded my work. In early November 2008, my dissertation was graded "A" by the Liverpool University Board of Examiners and I received an overall distinction for my MSc work.
I would like to thank those persons who contributed to my experiment.
Ken Evans