What Do I Get from Modeling? An Empirical Study on Using Structural Conceptual Models

In the context of enterprises, a wide range of models is developed and used for diverse purposes. Due to the investments involved in modeling, these models should ideally be used in projects in which their benefits outweigh their costs. The analysis of modeling benefits and costs requires an in-depth understanding of the goals of modeling and the properties of models that influence their achievement. This is an issue that has not been sufficiently investigated in the literature. Therefore, we conducted an empirical study to identify and understand the goals modelers aim to achieve through their models, the properties of the models that can aid in the achievement of these goals, and how they assess this achievement. In this study, we focus on a subset of these models, namely structural conceptual models. We found empirical evidence to state that modelers usually achieve more than one goal that can vary among six types of functional goals of modeling and four types of quality goals of modeling. Moreover, according to them, there are six properties of structural conceptual models that can aid in satisfying these goals. Finally, the analysis presented insights into why modelers only subjectively assess the satisfaction of their modeling goals.