Final Thesis: Developing a Domain Analysis Procedure based on Grounded Theory Method

Abstract: Domain analysis is the process of analyzing and modelling the domain in which a future software system is supposed to operate. It is an essential step in requirements engineering (RE) and therefore critical for the success of software development projects. However, common methods for deriving a domain model from natural language descriptions do not address the difficulties of abstracting a complex domain sufficiently and depend on the analyst’s experience and expertise. Grounded theory method (GTM) offers a techniques for breaking up and abstracting qualitative data by developing and relating concepts. Its use can therefore improve the procedure of extracting the important entities of a domain and their relationships, while ensuring traceability between the data and the derived domain model. This thesis shows how GTM has to be adapted for its successful utilization in RE. For this purpose, we applied GTM to a domain analysis example and derived a systematic procedure for domain analysis.

Keywords: Domain Analysis, Domain Model, Requirements Engineering, Qualitative Data Analysis, Grounded Theory Method

PDFs: Master Thesis, Work Description

Reference: Katharina Kunz. Developing a Domain Analysis Procedure based on Grounded Theory Method. Master Thesis, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg: 2015.