Semantic Structuring in Analyst Acquisition and Representation of Facts in Requirements Analysis

• Authors: George M. Marakas;Joyce J. Elam
• Venue: Information Systems Research
• Year: 1998

The determination of information requirements is one of the most crucial stages in the software design and development process (Montezemi 1988). It is during this stage that the greatest degree of interaction occurs between the analyst and the user (Lauer et al. 1992). Despite the system development method employed, the functional success of many aspects of requirements determination ultimately rests on how well the user(s) and analyst(s) communicate (Holtzblatt and Beyer 1995). The purpose of this paper is to report the results obtain from a laboratory experiment that investigated the effects of a semantic structuring process of inquiry on the process of interview-derived information acquisition and the subsequent overall correctness of the logical representation of the facts obtained. The study focused on the specific question types used by systems analysts and the role their semantic construction pla yed in representing the information flows in a business system. Three underlying semantic patterns of questions emerged from the analysis. The results showed that certain question types were associated with increased accuracy of logical representations re gardless of analyst experience level. Further, the semantic and process patterns that emerged were also directly related to accurate representation of facts and demonstrated an experience-level independence. The results indicate that disciplined questioning strategies are not necessarily learned from practice and they can be improved via structured training. Each of the patterns provide insight into the questioning process employed and the effectiveness of different strategies of inquiry. Implications for both the practitioner and the academic research communities with regard to analyst interview behavior are discussed.