Abstract
[Context and motivation] Ambiguity has long been pictured as one of the worst enemies of the specifier, especially with reference to ambiguity in natural language (NL) requirements specifications. [Question/problem] In this paper, we investigate the nature of ambiguity, and [Principal ideas/result] advocate that the simplistic view of ambiguity as merely a “defect” that has to be avoided at all costs does not do justice to the complexity of this phenomenon. We also provide a finer classification of several types of ambiguities, distinguishing their different causes and effects in the development process. [Contribution] This better understanding can help in the analysis of practical experiences and in the design of more effective methods to detect, mark and handle ambiguity.
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© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Gervasi, V., Zowghi, D. (2010). On the Role of Ambiguity in RE. In: Wieringa, R., Persson, A. (eds) Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality. REFSQ 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6182. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14192-8_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14192-8_22
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14191-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14192-8
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