PPIG 2001 - 13th Annual Workshop
The Model Matters: Constructing and Reasoning with Heterarchical Structural Models
Dan Diaper
Abstract: An office pool scenario is used to evaluate construction and reasoning with two types of tree diagram, a table and Simplified Set Theory for System Modelling (SST4SM). SST4SM is a formal method that has been designed for non-mathematicians. The scenario requires a non-hierarchical, i.e. heterarchical, structural model. The four approaches are ranked on various construction and reasoning tasks and the rankings’ rationale is described. Overall, the tree diagrams, for all their ubiquity, are shown to be harder to construct and reason with than either the table or SST4SM.