IMS5024 Lecture 2 Philosophical aspects of modelling information.

IMS5024 Lecture 2

Philosophical aspects of modelling information

Semester 2, 2002 IMS5024

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Contents

Individual Assignment Pitfalls What is information? Next weeks reading!


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Individual Assignment

Write a 2000 – 2500 word report on: What way did the development of applications

for the Internet change modelling? The report should include:

– Theory about modelling and methodologies)– How does it relate to the idea that information

systems development is social or technical?– What are the problems?


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Basic starting point for the individual assignment Avison, DE; Fitzgerald, G. (1995). Information

Systems development: Methodologies, Techniques and tools. Second edition. McGraw Hill UK.

Blum, B.I. (1994) A Taxonomy of software Development Methods. Communications of the ACM, Vol 37, No 11, pp. 82-94.

Rossi, M., Siau, K. (2001). Information modeling in the new millenium, Idea Group Publishing, USA.

Lecture 2 reading list (Mathiassen et al. and Hirschheim et al.)

Andrew Dixon from the library Proquest


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Teaching assistant

Bahar Jamshidi E-mail:

[email protected]

Available for tute session: Thursday 6 – 7 PM in B143


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Pitfalls

Plagiarism !!!!!

Not starting early

Role of synopsis


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The nature of information?

What is information?Commonly described as “data that is transformed into information by data processing”

What is data?– “Data are interpreted raw statements of fact”– “Data are the result of measurement or observation”– “A general term denoting all facts, numbers, letters and

symbols that refer to or describe an object, idea, condition, situation or other factors”

Information production process?


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The nature of information

Correct???

SourceTransformation

process Recipient

Data

Information


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The hermeneutic circle: Arriving at understanding

Text

Context


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The nature of information

Source

Recipient

Application

Context

BackgroundKnowledge

Information


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SOOO?? The transformation process does not create

information Information is created as the recipient

appropriates the data and gives it meaning by understanding the data in a particular context leading to insight and even to judgement and knowledge

To produce information we have to interpret what we experience and make explicit what we know

Information cannot exist independently from its producer or consumer – data can


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Does this help us with answering the following?Why do we need information?Do information systems really

provide information to managers or users?

Can information be managed?How does this view affect the way

in which systems are modelled?


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Making knowledge explicit

When we design an information system, we require knowledge about a human practice which the system should replace

This knowledge we need to make explicit in order to ‘feed’ into rational rules and algorithms

Can all knowledge be made explicit? Much of what we know is tacit and intuitive Therefore we are faced with a dilemma: we can only

formalise that which we can make explicit Information is therefore not a mechanistic concept


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Mechanistic worldview

Based on rational, objective thinking Very prevalent in modern (Western)

society Assumes world is orderly and

unchanging Leads to utopian thinking about

technology


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Romantic worldview

Reaction to extreme rationalism Reaction to technological determinism Technology seen as threat to culture Technology associated with a

calculative and analytical style of thinking

Technology seen as autonomous and no longer under human control


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Contrasting the two world views

Mechanistic worldview– Rational thinking about the world– Formal representation– Technology can be used to change society– Knowledge is power

Romantic worldview– World should be interpreted rather than understood– Researchers of social systems cannot be completely

objective– World is ‘chaotic’– Technology should be resisted


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A dialectic synthesis We live in a world of mechanistic rules and romantic

ideals Scientific understanding and romantic interpretation We need both concepts and have to reconcile them Implementation of information systems means

applying rational machines in chaotic environments We have to formalise in order to make computers

work We cannot formalise everything Challenge is to find appropriate degree of

formalisation


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Why do we develop information systems? Information the lifeblood of the

organisation Use of computers for processing

information Competitive edge Ect..


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ISD Comments

Development group

Objectives

Environment

Object system

ObjectsystemChange

process

Hirschheim et al see reading list


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History of ISD methodologiesGeneration Principle management and

organisational issues

Formal life-cycle approaches

Control of SDLC; guidance through standardization

Structured approaches

Productivity, better maintainable systems, control over analyst/programmer

Prototyping and evolutionary approaches

Speed and Flexibility, overcome communication gap, right kind of system instead of getting system right


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History of ISD methodologies(2)

Generation Principle management and organisational issues

Socio-technical, participatory approaches

Control of ISD by users through participation; conflict management; joint optimisation

Sense-making and problem formulation approaches

Multiple perspectives in problem framing; software development as social reality construction


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History of ISD methodologies(3)

Generation Principle management and organisational issues

Trade-Union led approaches

Labour/ management conflict; workers rights; industrial democracy

Emancipator

approaches

Improve communication; furthering emancipatory effects of ISD


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Summary

We live in a social world Information systems are socially

constructed Need to develop a system –

mechanistic Dilemma – Dialectics What have we seen up until now


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Reality of ISD

Conceptual models

Formal Models

Application domain

Implementation domain

Blum, I., 1994. A taxonomy of Software development Methods. Communications of the ACM, Vol37, No11


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Classification of methodsProblem oriented Product oriented

Concep-tual

Structured analysis

Entity relationship modelling

Logical construction of systems

Modern structured analysis

Object oriented analysis

Structured design

Object oriented design

Formal PSL/PSA

JSD

VDM

Levels of abstraction

Stepwise refinement

Proof of correctness

Data abstraction

JSP

Object oriented programming

Blum, I., 1994. A taxonomy of Software development Methods. Communications of the ACM, Vol37, No11


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Reading for next week

Hoffer, J.A; George, J.F; Valacich, J.S. (1999). Modern Systems analysis and design. Second Edition. Addison Wesley, USA. Chapter 8 and 9.

IMS5024 Lecture 2 Philosophical aspects of modelling information.

Documents

information modeling

data processingwhat

consumer data cansemester

development of applications

replacethis knowledge

ims5024the hermeneutic

idea group publishing

internet change modelling