= Peter Pin-Shan Chen
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<Peter Pin-Shan Chen> proposed the <entity-relationship model> in his 1976 paper. It represents the application world through <entity-relationship model>[entities], <entity-relationship model>[relationships] and <database attribute>[attributes], together with a diagrammatic method for database design. The model aims to preserve semantic distinctions before translating them into a particular database representation.<The Entity-Relationship Model-Toward a Unified View of Data by Peter Pin-Shan Chen>[abstract and §§1–2]{ref}
For example, a relationship between an employee and a project can carry an hours-worked <database attribute>[attribute]. That quantity belongs to the participation relationship, not to the employee or project alone. Making its placement explicit helps avoid duplicating or misinterpreting facts when designing a <relational schema>.
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