Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ambiguity in Requirements Specification

  • Chapter
Perspectives on Software Requirements

Part of the book series: The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science ((SECS,volume 753))

Abstract

This chapter identifies the problem of ambiguity in natural language requirements specifications. After observing that ambiguity in natural language specifications is inescapable when producing computer-based system specifications, a dictionary, linguistic, and software engineering definitions of ambiguity are given. The chapter describes a full range of techniques and tools for avoiding and detecting ambiguity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1998. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

  2. Allen, J. Natural Language Understanding, Second Edition. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1995.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Bach, K. “Ambiguity”. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E. Craig and L. Floridi, eds. London, UK: Routledge, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Basili, V., Caldiera, G., Lanubile, F., and Shull, F. Studies in Reading Techniques. Proceedings of the 21st Annual Software Engineering Workshop; 1996 December; Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. Software Engineering Laboratory Series, SEL-96–002, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ben Achour, C. Guiding Scenario Authoring. Proceedings of the 8th European-Japanese Conference on Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases; 1998 May 25–29; Vamala, Finland. IOS Press, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Berry, D.M. The Importance of Ignorance in Requirements Engineering. Journal of Systems and Software 1995; 28(2): 179–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Boehm, B.W. Software Engineering Economics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  8. Bostrom, R.P. Successful Application of Communication Techniques to Improve the Systems Development Process. Information & Management 1989; 16: 279–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Buley, E.R., Moore, L.J., and Owess, M.F. B5 (SRS/IRS) Specification Guidelines. Technical Report M88-57, ESD-TR-88-337, MITRE, Bedford, MA, USA, December 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cruse, D.A. Lexical Semantics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Dart, S.A. Spectrum of Functionality in Configuration Management Systems. Technical Report CMU/SEI-90-TR-11, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, December 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Davis, A. Software Requirements: Objects, Functions, and States. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  13. Denger, C. High Quality Requirements Specifications for Embedded Systems through Authoring Rules and Language Patterns. M.Sc. Dissertation, Fachbereich Informatik, Universität Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Easterbrook, S. and Nuseibeh, B. Managing Inconsistencies in an Evolving Specification. Proceedings of the Second IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering; 1995 March 27–29; York, UK. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Easterbrook, S. and Nuseibeh, B. Using ViewPoints for Inconsistency Management. Software Engineering Journal 1996; 11(1): 31–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Easterbrook, S.M. and Callahan, J.R. Formal Methods for Verification and Validation of Partial Specifications: A Case Study. Journal Systems and Software 1998; 40(3): 199–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Fabbrini, F., Fusani, M., Gnesi, G., and Lami, G. An Automatic Quality Evaluation for Natural Language Requirements. Proceedings of REFSQ’2001, Seventh International Workshop on RE: Foundation for Software Quality; 2001 June 4–5; Interlaken, Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Fellbaum, C. WordNet, An Electronic Lexical Database. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. Fowler, H.W. A Dictionary of Modem English Usage, Second Edition. Oxford University, Oxford, UK, 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Freedman, D.P. and Weinberg, G.M. Handbook of Walkthroughs, Inspections, and Technical Reviews: Evaluating Programs, Projects, and Products. New York, NY: Dorset House, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Fuchs, N.E. and Schwitter, R.:Attempto Controlled English (ACE). Proceedings of CLAW’96, First International Workshop on Controlled Language Applications; 1996 March; Belgium.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Fuchs, N.E., Schwertel, U., and Schwitter, R. Attempto Controlled English (ACE) Language Manual Version 3.0. Technical Report Nr. 99.03, Institut für Informatik der Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Garigliano, R., Urbanowicz, A., and Nettleton, D.J. Description of the LOLITA System as Used in MUC-7. Proceedings of MUC-7, Message Understanding Conference; 1998; University of Durham.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Gause, D.C. and Weinberg, G.M. Exploring Requirements: Quality Before Design. New York, NY: Dorset House, 1989.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  25. Gause, D.C. User DRIVEN Design—The Luxury that has Become a Necessity, A Workshop in Full Life-Cycle Requirements Management. Tutorial T7 in ICRE 2000, Fourth IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering; 2000 June 19–23; Schaumberg, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Gervasi, V. Environment Support for Requirements Writing and Analysis. Ph.D. Dissertation, TD-3/00, Dipartamento di Informatica, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Gervasi, V. and Nuseibeh, B. Lightweight Validation of Natural Language Requirements. Proceedings of ICRE’2000, Fourth IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering; 2000 June 19–23; Schaumburg, IL. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Goguen, J. A. “Requirements Engineering as the Reconciliation of Technical and Social Issues.” In Requirements Engineering: Social and Technical Issues, J.A. Goguen and M. Jirotka, eds. London, UK: Academic Press, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Gotel, O.C.Z. and Finkelstein, A.C.W. An Analysis of the Requirements Traceability Problem. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering; 1994; Colorado Springs, CO. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Gray, J. Collection of Ambiguous or Inconsistent/Incomplete Statements. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University, 2000. http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/~jgray/ambig.html

    Google Scholar 

  31. Gunter, C.A., Gunter, E.L., Jackson, M., and Zave, P. A Reference Model for Requirements and Specifications. IEEE Software 2000; 17(3): 37–43,

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Hadad, G., Kaplan, G., Oliveros, A., and Leite, J.C.S.P. Integración de Escenarios con el Léxico Extendido del Lenguaje en la Elicitación de Requerimientos: Aplicación a un Caso Real. Revista de Informática Teórica e Aplicada (RITA) 2000, Brazil; 6(1): 77–104

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  33. Harwell, R., Aslaksen, E., Hooks, I., Mengot, R., and Ptack, K. What is a Requirement? Proceedings of NCOSE, Third Annual International Symposium, National Council of Systems Engineers; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Heitmeyer, C.L., Jeffords, R.D., and Labaw, B.G. Automated Consistency Checking of Requirements Specifications. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 1996; 5(3): 231–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Hirst, G. Semantic Interpretation and the Resolution of Ambiguity. Studies in Natural Language Processing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  36. Hutchins, W.J. and Somers, H.L. An Introduction to Machine Translation. London: Academic Press, 1992.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  37. IEEE. IEEE Recommended Practice for Software Requirements Specifications. ANSI/IEEE Standard 830–1993. New York, NY: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Ishihara, Y., Seki, H., and Kasami, T. A Translation Method from Natural Language Specifications into Formal Specifications Using Contextual Dependencies. Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering; 1993 January 4–6; San Diego, CA. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Jackson, M. and Zave, P. Domain Descriptions. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Requirements Engineering; 1993 January 4–6; San Diego, CA. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Jackson, M. Software Requirements & Specifications: A Lexicon of Practice, Principles, and Prejudices. London, UK: Addison-Wesley, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Jackson, M.A. The Role of Architecture in Requirements Engineering. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering; 1994 April 18–22; Colorado Springs, CO. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Jackson, M.A. Problems and Requirements. Proceedings of the Second IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering; 1995 March; York, UK. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Jarke, M., Rolland, C., Sutcliffe, A., and Dömges, R. The NATURE of Requirements Engineering. Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Kamsties, E., Berry, D.M., and Paech, B. Detecting Ambiguities in Requirements Documents Using Inspections. Proceedings of WISE’01, First Workshop on Inspection in Software Engineering; 2001 July 23; Paris, France.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Kamsties, E., von Knethen, A., Philipps, J., and Schaetz, B. An Empirical Investigation of the Defect Detection Capabilities of Requirements Specification Techniques. Proceedings of EMMSAD’01, Sixth CAiSE/IFIP8.1 International Workshop on Evaluation of Modelling Methods in Systems Analysis and Design; 2001 June; Interlaken, CH.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Kamsties, E. Surfacing Ambiguity in Natural Language Requirements, Ph.D. Dissertation, Fachbereich Informatik, Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany, also Volume 5 of Ph.D. Theses in Experimental Software Engineering. Fraunhofer IRB, Stuttgart, Germany: Verlag, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Kaplan, G., Hadad, G., Oliveros, A., and Leite, J.C.S.P. Construcción de Escenarios a partir del Léxico Extendido del Lenguaje. Proceedings of SoST’97, Simposio en Tecnología de Software, 26 Jornadas Argentinas de Informática y Investigación Operativa - SADIO.; 1997 August; Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Kovitz, B.L. Practical Software Requirements: A Manual of Content and Style. Greenwich, CT: Manning, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Leite, J.C.S.P. and Franco, A.P.M. A Strategy for Conceptual Model Acquisition. Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering; 1993 January; San Diego, CA. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Levinson, S. Pragmatics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Lyons, J. Semantics I and II. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Maarek, Y.S. and Berry, D.M. The Use of Lexical Affinities in Requirements Extraction. Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Software Specification and Design; 1989 May 19–20; Pittsburgh, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Mich, L., Franch, M. and Novi Inverardi, P. Requirements Analysis using linguistic tools: Results of an On-line Survey. Technical Report 66, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, Unversità di Trento, Trento, Italy, 2003. http://eprints.biblio.unitn.it/view/department/informaticas.html

    Google Scholar 

  54. Mich, L. and Garigliano, R. Ambiguity Measures in Requirements Engineering. Proceedings of ICS2000, International Conference on Software Theory and Practice, Sixteenth IFIP World Computer Conference; 2000 August 21–24; Beijing, China. House of Electronics Industry, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Mich, L. On the use of Ambiguity Measures in Requirements Analysis. Proceedings of NLDB’01, Applications of Natural Language to Information Systems, Sixth International Workshop; 2001 June 28–29; Madrid, Spain. Bonn: Springer, Lecture Notes in Informatics, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  56. Mullery, G. The Perfect Requirements Myth. Requirements Engineering Journal 1996; 1(2): 132–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Oriel, J. Guide for Specification Writing for U.S. Government Engineers. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD), Orlando, FL, 1999. http://www.ntsc.navy.mil/Resources/Library/Acqguide/spec.htm

    Google Scholar 

  58. Pamas, D.L., Asmis, G.J.K., and Madey, J. Assessment of Safety-Critical Software in Nuclear Power Plants. Nuclear Safety 1991; 32(2): 189–198.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Pamas, D.L. Personal communication via electronic mail about bug-free programs, November 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Reubenstein, H.B. and Waters, R.C. The Requirements Apprentice: Automated Assistance for Requirements Acquisition. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 1991; 17(3): 226–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Robertson, S. and Robertson, J. Mastering the Requirements Process. Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Rolland, C. and Proix, C. A Natural Language Approach for Requirements Engineering. Proceedings of CAiSE 1992, Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering; 1992 May 12–15; Manchester, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  63. Rupp, C. and Goetz, R. Linguistic Methods of Requirements-Engineering (NLP). Proceedings of EuroSPI, European Software Process Improvement Conference; 2000 November; Denmark.

    Google Scholar 

  64. Ryser, J., Berner, S., and Glinz, M. SCENT Scenario Authoring Guidelines. Technical Report, University of Zuerich, Zuerich, Switzerland, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  65. Schneider, G.M., Martin, J., and Tsai, W.T. An Experimental Study of Fault Detection in User Requirements Documents. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 1992; 1(2): 188–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Sommerville, I. and Sawyer, P. Requirements Engineering, A Good Practice Guide. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 1997.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  67. Sorensen, R. Sharp Boundaries for Blobs. Philosophical Studies 1998; 91(3): 275–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Strunk, W. and White, E.B. The Elements of Style, Third Edition. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  69. Walton, D. Fallacies Arising from Ambiguity. Applied Logic Series, Dordrecht, NL: Kluwer Academic, 1996.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  70. Wilson, W.M., Rosenberg, L.H., and Hyatt, L.E. Automated Analysis of Requirements Specifications. Proceedings of International Conference on Software Engineering, 1997 May 17–23; Boston, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  71. Wing, J.M. A Study of 12 Specifications of the Library Problem. IEEE Software 1988; 5(4): 66–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Daniel M. Berry

  2. Software Systems Engineering, University of Essen, D-45117, Essen, Germany

    Erik Kamsties

Authors
  1. Daniel M. Berry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Erik Kamsties
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Potificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Julio Cesar Sampaio do Prado Leite

  2. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Jorge Horacio Doorn

  3. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Argentina

    Jorge Horacio Doorn

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Berry, D.M., Kamsties, E. (2004). Ambiguity in Requirements Specification. In: do Prado Leite, J.C.S., Doorn, J.H. (eds) Perspectives on Software Requirements. The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science, vol 753. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0465-8_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0465-8_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5090-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0465-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation