Toward a Social Ontology for Conceptual Modeling

Abstract

Conceptual modeling is fundamental to information systems requirements engineering. Systems analysts and designers use the constructs and methods of a conceptual modeling formalism to represent, communicate, and validate the contents, capabilities, and constraints of an envisioned information system within its organizational context. The value of such a representation is measured by the degree to which it facilitates a shared understanding among all stakeholders of (1) the organizational information requirements and (2) the ability of the envisioned information system to meet them [Wand and Weber, 2002]. We propose using the social ontology developed by John Searle [1995, 2006, 2010] as the basis for conceptual modeling and present a meta-model based on that ontology.

Declarations of significance: Exploring the pragmatic nature of information models

“…For example, the theorisation proposed is deliberately limited in scope currently and does not do full justice to certain developments within the philosophy of language that have a direct bearing upon information modelling. My approach needs ways of handling the practices by which institutions constrain or enable action through the exercise of certain status functions more explicitly (Bergholtz, Eriksson, & Johannesson, 2013;March & Allen, 2014). He argues that any speech event is framed by a "structure of absence" (the words that are left unsaid due to contextual constraints) and by "iterability" (the constraints on what can be said, given by what is said in the past).…”

“…and negative power (obligations, duties, and responsibilities) (Searle, 2005). My approach needs ways of handling the practices by which institutions constrain or enable action through the exercise of certain status functions more explicitly (Bergholtz, Eriksson, & Johannesson, 2013;March & Allen, 2014).…”

“…I also represent the sequencing of such acts in a pattern and do this to explicitly document the communicative context appropriate for an information model. Finally, like March and Allen (2014), I see much benefit in both the later and the early work of Searle. March and Allen provide a cogent critique of the tenets of conventional information modelling in terms of the social ontology of Searle.…”

Conceptual modeling principles for crowdsourcing

“…Ontology, a branch of philosophy that studies what exists in reality, is actively used in conceptual modeling research to establish a substantive basis for creating a shared understanding among parties involved in conceptual modeling [40,41]. To illustrate an ontological approach, we use the general ontology of Mario Bunge [42] that specifies fundamental elements of existence assumed to be observer independent [43, p. 4].…”

Institutional ontology for Conceptual Modeling

“…A fundamental question in conceptual modeling is the one stated by Wand and Weber (2002), who asked ''How can we model the world to better facilitate our developing, implementing, using, and maintaining more valuable information systems?'' This question has been addressed in the research literature using a variety of approaches and research methods, including languages for conceptual modeling (e.g., Bubenko, 2007;Halpin, 2007), methods for conceptual modeling (e.g., Bera et al, 2010;March and Allen, 2014), model evaluation (e.g., Milton et al, 2012;Shanks et al, 2003), and ontological analysis of conceptual modeling (e.g., Wand et al, 1999). A first step toward answering this question is to investigate how the notion of ''the world'' can be conceived, and how the world relates to information systems.…”