Dimensional Data Models versus Entity Relationship Models: Does it Make a Difference to End-Users?
Karen Dowling, David Schuff, Robert D. St. Louis · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 2001
The more closely structures approximate the way people think, the easier they are for people to understand, remember, and use.This paper explores whether a dimensional data model is easier to remember than an entity-relationship model of similar size and complexity.A laboratory experiment is conducted to determine which modeling method results in more accurate recall.The results show that users are able to recall the elements of a dimensional data model much more accurately than they are able to recall the elements of an entity-relationship model.Further research is needed to determine whether easier recall translates into easier use.