Using ontologies with case studies: an end-user perspective on OWL
J. Gary Polhill and Gina Ziervogel
J. Gary Polhill
Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, AB14 0PR.
Gina Ziervogel
Department of Environmental & Geographical Science,
University of Cape town, Private Bag x3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
Email address of corresponding author: g.polhill@macaulay.ac.uk
This document describes work undertaken to develop an OWL ontology of a case study of farmers in South Africa. This work was done with a view to seeing whether or not such an ontology would be of use in working with qualitative and/or quantitative case study data. For example, could the ontology be used to check whether the data were being interpreted consistently? We describe the process by which the ontology was developed and offer some reflections on tools and utilities that would make this easier and the strengths and weaknesses of OWL for representing concepts in a real-world sociological case study.
