Evaluating the quality of entity relationship models

Entity Relationship (E-R) models are at the core of logical database design. This paper describes the development of a model, associated metrics and methodology for assessing the quality of an E-R model. The model was developed by investigating into the causal relationships between ontological and behavioural factors influencing data quality. The methodology describes aggregation of the scores on various metrics to calculate an overall quality score for an E-R model, and use of the model to identify problem areas if the individual quality scores on different factors do not meet organizational standards. Further possible improvement of the model and future research issues are also discussed.