ABSTRACT

Conceptual modeling is a crucial stage of the simulation modeling process, and yet it is poorly understood. Brooks and Robinson (2001) defined a conceptual model is “a software independent description of the model that is to be constructed.” Conceptual modeling therefore involves deciding the way in which the virtual world of the simulation model should work (Section 2.1). The conceptual model may be documented fully, such as in an annotated system process flowchart, or it may only be documented partially, or even not documented at all. In the absence of documentation, conceptual modeling still takes places and the conceptual model comprises the combined decisions of the project team in determining the way the model should work. Conceptual modeling is a separate stage to model coding, which consists of writing the computer code for the model (often using a simulation software package). One aspect of conceptual modeling is deciding how much detail to include in the model and Law (1991) considered that for simulation projects

CONTENTS

3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 57 3.2 Study Objective ............................................................................................ 59 3.3 Data Collection ............................................................................................. 59

3.3.1 Expert Project Data Collection ....................................................... 59 3.3.2 Novice Projects Data Collection ....................................................60