Entity-analysis and View-integration Database Design Methodologies: a Comparative Study

An experiment was conducted to compare the effectiveness of the entity-analysis and view-integration database design methodologies. In the experiment, students in a database design course were divided into two groups. Each group received training in one of the design methodologies. Then the students were given identical database design problems and instructed to solve the problem using the methodology in which they were trained. Students using the entity-analysis database design methodology produced poorer designs and took longer on the average than students using the view-integrated methodology but the differences were not statistically significant. Students using the entity-analysis approach were more likely to make certain types of errors than those using the view-integrated approach. Finally, differences were noted in which steps in the design process each group considered hardest and easiest. Because the sample size was small, definitive conclusions cannot be reached.