Metamodel

A Metamodel is a model that can be used to define other more constrained models.

Context:
- It can be defined as a Modeling Language.
- It can be created by a Metamodel Creation Task(Metamodeling).
- It can range from being an Informal Metamodel to being a Formal Metamodel.
- it must contain one or more free Model Parameters.
Example(s):
- a Metadata Model.
- a Process Metamodel.
- an Equation-based Metamodel.
- a Probabilistic Network Metamodel (for probabilistic network model).
- …
Counter-Example(s):
- a Data Model.
- a Function Family.
See: Abstract Entity.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamodeling
- 'Metamodeling, or meta-modeling in software engineering and systems engineering among other disciplines, is the analysis, construction and development of the frames, rules, constraints, models and theories applicable and useful for modeling a predefined class of problems. As its name implies, this concept applies the notions of meta- and modeling.
  "Metamodeling" is the construction of a collection of "concepts" (things, terms, etc.) within a certain domain. A model is an abstraction of phenomena in the real world; a metamodel is yet another abstraction, highlighting properties of the model itself. A model conforms to its metamodel in the way that a computer program conforms to the grammar of the programming language in which it is written.

(Amatriain, 2004) ⇒ Xavier Amatriain. (2004). “An Object-Oriented Metamodel for Digital Signal Processing with a focus on Audio and Music." PhD Thesis.
- http://www.iua.upf.es/~xamat/Thesis/html/node2.html
- Model: A model can be understood as the formal abstract representation of a given system. A single system can be represented through different models, depending on the level of abstraction required and foreseen use.
  Metamodel: A model that explains a set of related model[s.

(Baird, 1974) ⇒ Yonathan Bard. (1974). “Nonlinear Parameter Estimation." Academic Press. ISBN:0120782502
- QUOTE: We refer to the relations which supposedly describe a certain physical situation, as a model. Typically, a model consists of one or more equations. The quantities appearing in the equations we classify into variables and parameters. The distinction between these is not always clear cut, and it frequently depends on the context in which the variables appear. Usually a model is designed to explain the relationships that exist among quantities which can be measured independently in an experiment; these are the variables of the model. To formulate these relationships, however, one frequently introduces “constants" which stand for inherent properties of nature (or of the materials and equipment used in a given experiment). These are the parameters.