All the data-directed activities for the analysis and design of new computers systems are covered. The book begins by defining data analysis and fitting it in to the software development life cycle. The close relationship between data analysis and systems analysis is then examined, and the impact of prior partial automation is not forgotten. Entity-relationship models are discussed and compared with structured models, just before the major part of the book on “building the real-world entity model.”

The chapters on entity analysis and relationship analysis are the strongest part of the book, as they should be. I also enjoyed the section on data element analysis, a topic that is unfortunately ignored by too many titles on data modeling--an omission that working analysts cannot understand. Modell clearly works with real analysts as well as with real data.

The book is apparently intended as a professional reference and not a text, as it contains no end-of-chapter exercises or questions. Also lacking are a bibliography and footnotes, a major omission for any technical volume these days. For that reason alone, I have trouble recommending this title. The discussion of implementation modifications is also weak, and is confined to the last chapter (about 16 pages). If you need a decent summary of data analysis, however, and do not care about following through to other sources, Modell’s book will do the job.