A Simple Abstraction for Data Modeling

TL;DR

This paper proposes a simplified approach to data modeling by focusing on the meaning of foreign keys, aiming to make relational data models more accessible and intuitive for scientists with limited data management resources.

Contribution

It introduces a new abstraction for foreign keys based on referencing entities or repeating attributes, enhancing understanding and normalization in data modeling.

Findings

Simplifies understanding of foreign key relationships.

Promotes intuitive data normalization.

Facilitates accessible data modeling for scientists.

Abstract

The problems that scientists face in creating well designed databases intersect with the concerns of data curation. Entity-relationship modeling and its variants have been the basis of most relational data modeling for decades. However, these abstractions and the relational model itself are intricate and have proved not to be very accessible among scientists with limited resources for data management. This paper explores one aspect of relational data models, the meaning of foreign key relationships. We observe that a foreign key produces a table relationship that generally references either an entity or repeating attributes. This paper proposes constructing foreign keys based on these two cases, and suggests that the method promotes intuitive data modeling and normalization.