Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements

Requirements are the foundation of a software system. It is expected to be clear, precise, and non-ambiguous. Ambiguous requirements are the results of requirements that are gathered in natural language. Natural language is normally used while gathering requirements in verbal or non-verbal because i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sinpang, Jacline Sudah
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.utm.my/103056/1/JaclineSudahMSC2021.pdf.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my-utm-ep.103056
record_format uketd_dc
spelling my-utm-ep.1030562023-10-12T09:12:56Z Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements 2021 Sinpang, Jacline Sudah QA76 Computer software Requirements are the foundation of a software system. It is expected to be clear, precise, and non-ambiguous. Ambiguous requirements are the results of requirements that are gathered in natural language. Natural language is normally used while gathering requirements in verbal or non-verbal because it is easier for software engineers and stakeholders to understand each other. Vague requirements often stem from vague words in the requirements. A requirement that consists of a vague word depends on the individual interpretation and this will cause the requirements to be ambiguous. Vagueness is part of the ambiguity. This could lead to a wrong interpretation of what the system should be and should do. As requirements engineering is a crucial phase in software development, it is important to tackle the issue of vagueness to avoid the requirements to be ambiguous. This research proposes an approach known as Knowledge-based Requirements Analysis for Ambiguity Detection (KbReAD) that provides automatic detection of vague words in requirements using the rule-based reasoning technique which is a specific type of knowledge base. The knowledge base allows analysis of a large amount of data to be done in a small amount of time. It also does not depend on previous experience like how machine learning works. The knowledge base is also high in reliability. The initial expert knowledge for vagueness is captured using the rule-based technique into the KbReAD prototype tool that allows new knowledge to be added dynamically. From this knowledge, vagueness can be divided into six categories; vague subjects, vague adjectives, vague prepositions, vague verbs, vague phrases, and vague adverbs. Sets of raw requirements that are yet to be documented in Software Requirement Specification (SRS) are analyzed to evaluate the rule-based reasoning. The result from the analysis shows the proposed work is capable of predicting the actual number of vague requirements. The evaluation shows that the proposed approach is able to predict and detect vague words in the requirements accurately. 2021 Thesis http://eprints.utm.my/103056/ http://eprints.utm.my/103056/1/JaclineSudahMSC2021.pdf.pdf application/pdf en public http://dms.library.utm.my:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:150710 masters Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Faculty of Engineering - School of Computing
institution Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
collection UTM Institutional Repository
language English
topic QA76 Computer software
spellingShingle QA76 Computer software
Sinpang, Jacline Sudah
Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements
description Requirements are the foundation of a software system. It is expected to be clear, precise, and non-ambiguous. Ambiguous requirements are the results of requirements that are gathered in natural language. Natural language is normally used while gathering requirements in verbal or non-verbal because it is easier for software engineers and stakeholders to understand each other. Vague requirements often stem from vague words in the requirements. A requirement that consists of a vague word depends on the individual interpretation and this will cause the requirements to be ambiguous. Vagueness is part of the ambiguity. This could lead to a wrong interpretation of what the system should be and should do. As requirements engineering is a crucial phase in software development, it is important to tackle the issue of vagueness to avoid the requirements to be ambiguous. This research proposes an approach known as Knowledge-based Requirements Analysis for Ambiguity Detection (KbReAD) that provides automatic detection of vague words in requirements using the rule-based reasoning technique which is a specific type of knowledge base. The knowledge base allows analysis of a large amount of data to be done in a small amount of time. It also does not depend on previous experience like how machine learning works. The knowledge base is also high in reliability. The initial expert knowledge for vagueness is captured using the rule-based technique into the KbReAD prototype tool that allows new knowledge to be added dynamically. From this knowledge, vagueness can be divided into six categories; vague subjects, vague adjectives, vague prepositions, vague verbs, vague phrases, and vague adverbs. Sets of raw requirements that are yet to be documented in Software Requirement Specification (SRS) are analyzed to evaluate the rule-based reasoning. The result from the analysis shows the proposed work is capable of predicting the actual number of vague requirements. The evaluation shows that the proposed approach is able to predict and detect vague words in the requirements accurately.
format Thesis
qualification_level Master's degree
author Sinpang, Jacline Sudah
author_facet Sinpang, Jacline Sudah
author_sort Sinpang, Jacline Sudah
title Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements
title_short Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements
title_full Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements
title_fullStr Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements
title_sort knowledge-based ambiguity detection approach to eliminate vagueness in user requirements
granting_institution Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
granting_department Faculty of Engineering - School of Computing
publishDate 2021
url http://eprints.utm.my/103056/1/JaclineSudahMSC2021.pdf.pdf
_version_ 1794023463689650176