An empirical investigation of entity-based and object-oriented data modeling: a development life cycle approach

This paper examines end-user performance with conceptual and logical data models in the context of the database development life cycle. Both entity-based and object-oriented modeling methods were examined in a within-subjects study using 19 graduate students as subjects. The first method employed the extended entityrelationship (EER) model and relational data model (RDM), while the second method employed the objectoriented diagram (OOD) and object-oriented text (OOT) models. The models were assessed on the accuracy of modeling entities/classes and attributes, association relationships, and generalization relationships. Conceptual models (EER and OOD) were more effective than logical models (RDM and OOT) for representing all types of constructs. Further, the OOD model was superior to the EER model for representing entities/classes and attributes, while the OOT model was superior to the RDM for representing generalization relationships. Finally, mapping from conceptual to logical design proved to be more effective using the OOD-OOT method than the EER-RDM method.