Combined Use of Conceptual Models in Practice: An Exploratory Study

Conceptual models are fundamental to system analysis and design. However, the actual usage of conceptual models remains poorly understood, in particular, how and why practitioners would use multiple models in combination when doing their work. In this paper, the authors explore the reported use of multiple conceptual models for system analysis and design to determine the circumstances that lead professionals to use multiple models. They uncover both semantic and pragmatic reasons that influence the choice and selection of different models for system analysis and design tasks. Contrasting these findings to existing ontological theories, the authors find that the extent and type of multiple model use is determined by not only ontological factors but also contextual factors that can override ontological qualities and in so doing bring forth desired qualities for users. The authors offer several novel propositions about the implications of ontological theory that will be worth exploring in future research.