Showing papers on "Formality published in 1999"

Specifications are not (necessarily) executable

Abstract: Specifications can be written in languages which have formal semantics. Their very formality, and the similarities with some aspects of implementation languages, invites the idea that specifications might be executed. This paper presents a number of arguments against that idea. The aim is to warn of the dangers of limiting specification languages to the point where all of their constructs can be executed. While conceding the difficulties of relating specifications to an understanding of the ‘requirements’ for a system, it is argued that other solutions should be sought than ‘executable specification languages’.

Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity: Enactments of meaning

Abstract: The complex relationship between the self-referential and the canonical streams of ritual's messages is best approached through further exploration of the relationship between saying and doing. After a preliminary discussion of general principles of efficacy we will consider a crucial indexical message, intrinsic to ritual's very form, alluded to at the end of the second chapter, in the absence of which the canon would be inconsequential. We approach here what I understand to be ritual's fundamental office and will discuss in this light the establishment of convention in ritual and the social contract and morality that inheres in it. These observations provide grounds for taking ritual to be humanity's basic social act. At the end of the last chapter I argued that participation in rituals might not only indicate aspects of performers' contemporary states but impose transforming decisions on those states. A clumsy bit of sleight-of-hand may seem to be poorly hidden in that argument. To claim on the one hand that supercision, for example, indicates the achievement of a certain stage in a boy's maturation and, on the other, that it imposes a dichotomous decision on that process, may seem either ingenuously confused or disingenuously confusing. To indicate a condition would be one thing, to transform it another. The two, however, are not being confused. They are being conflated. Some, if not most, of the self-referential messages occurring in ritual do not merely “say something” about the state of the performer.

Formality of Language: definition, measurement and behavioral determinants

Abstract: A new concept of formality of linguistic expressions is introduced and argued to be the most important dimension of variation between styles or registers. Formality is subdivided into "deep" formality and "surface" formality. Deep formality is defined as avoidance of ambiguity by minimizing the context-dependence and fuzziness of expressions. This is achieved by explicit and precise description of the elements of the context needed to disambiguate the expression. A formal style is characterized by detachment, accuracy, rigidity and heaviness; an informal style is more flexible, direct, implicit, and involved, but less informative. An empirical measure of formality, the F-score, is proposed, based on the frequencies of different word classes in the corpus. Nouns, adjectives, articles and prepositions are more frequent in formal styles; pronouns, adverbs, verbs and interjections are more frequent in informal styles. It is shown that this measure, though coarse-grained, adequately distinguishes more from less formal genres of language production, for some available corpora in Dutch, French, Italian, and English. A factor similar to the F-score automatically emerges as the most important one from factor analyses applied to extensive data in 7 different languages. Different situational and personality factors are examined which determine the degree of formality in linguistic expression. It is proposed that formality becomes larger when the distance in space, time or background between the interlocutors increases, and when the speaker is male, introverted or academically educated. Some empirical evidence and a preliminary theoretical explanation for these propositions is discussed. Short Abstract: The concept of "deep" formality is proposed as the most important dimension of variation between language registers or styles. It is defined as avoidance of ambiguity by minimizing the context-dependence and fuzziness of expressions. An empirical measure, the F-score, is proposed, based on the frequencies of different word classes. This measure adequately distinguishes different genres of language production using data for Dutch, French, Italian, and English. Factor analyses applied to data in 7 different languages produce a similar factor as the most important one. Both the data and the theoretical model suggest that formality increases when the distance in space,

The informal sector, firm dynamics, and institutional participation

Abstract: The high informality and mortality and apparent stagnation of developing country microfirms are often thought to result from government-induced distortions in labor or product markets. A new approach assumes that these informal firms have dynamics similar to firms in industrial countries, and that formality can be thought of as the decision to participate in societal institutions. This leads to a substantially different vision of the relationship between formality and the nature of the small firm that emphasizes the informal firm first as a normal enterprise and second as informal. The informal microfirm sector is believed to be large, accounting for 20-40 percent of employment in many developing countries. The literature tends to view the sector as the disadvantaged sector of a segmented labor market, as existing to evade government regulations, or as constrained by lack of access to government services. Levenson and Maloney offer a unique theoretical framework to analyze informality and microfirm growth behavior-one that emphasizes the entrepreneurial nature of informal firms and sees informality as a secondary characteristic. First, they assume that informal firms in developing countries have dynamics similar to firms in industrial countries: entrepreneurs have unobserved, differing cost structures that determine their long-run size and survival-structures that they can only discover by going into business. Second, informality can be thought of as a decision to participate in societal institutions. Access to mechanisms that ensure property rights, pool risk, or enforce contracts become more important as a firm grows, and the entrepreneur will be willing to pay for them through "taxes" in a way that was not the case as a small firm. The combination of these assumptions generates several of the stylized facts emerging from cross-sectional data and identified in existing models-informal firms tend to remain small and have high rates of mortality, and lower productivity-without recourse to government-induced distortions in labor or product markets. Further, the framework predicts that firms whose cost structures dictate that they should expand will make the transition to formality as they grow. Using detailed observations from Mexico, Levenson and Maloney find their view consistent with patterns of formality and growth of microfirms. This paper-a product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region-is part of a larger effort in the region to understand the structure of labor markets in developing countries. William Maloney may be contacted at wmaloney@worldbank.org.

Evaluating Service Encounters: A Cross-Cultural and Cross-Industry Exploration

Abstract: Do consumers in different countries and industries want the same thing from a service provider? This paper explores the relative importance to consumer satisfaction of eight service encounter dimensions in two different countries and industries Empirical research with students in two countries examines specific hypotheses Formality is found to be more important in statusconscious societies than in egalitarian and personalization is more important in individualistic countries than in collectivist Authenticity is more important for professional services, while courtesy and promptness are more important for generic services Caring and courtesy receive the overall highest ratings as most important to satisfaction with service encounters

Formalizing Organizational Meaning

Abstract: Formality indexes interactional closure: it limits the possibilities for the renegotiation of agreements and decisions. In this article the focus is on how formality is constructed in organizational settings. The article proposes that organizational formalization is achieved on the strength of the recontextualization of meaning from one discourse or practice to another. Importantly, organizational processes of recontextualization tend to increasingly technologize meanings with respect to both what they signify and their materialization. This means that discursive practices will mobilize, aside from human or embodied modes of meaning making, increasingly disembodied or exosomatic modes of meaning making, such as electronic kinds of communication, as well as other kinds of inscription of meaning (infrastructure, architecture, and so on).

Advantages and limitations of formal expression

Abstract: Testing the validity of knowledge requires formal expression of that knowledge. Formality of an expression is defined as the invariance, under changes of context, of the expression's meaning, i.e. the distinction which the expression represents. This encompasses both mathematical formalism and operational determination. The main advantages of formal expression are storability, universal communicability, and testability. They provide a selective edge in the Darwinian competition between ideas. However, formality can never be complete, as the context cannot be eliminated. Primitive terms, observation set-ups, and background conditions are inescapable parts of formal or operational definitions, that all refer to a context beyond the formal system. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Godel's Theorem provide special cases of this more universal limitation principle. Context-dependent expressions, on the other hand, have the benefit of being more flexible, intuitive and direct, and putting less strain on memory. It is concluded that formality is not an absolute property, but a context-dependent one: different people will apply different amounts of formality in different situations or for different purposes. Some recent computational and empirical studies of formality and contexts illustrate the emerging scientific investigation of this dependence.

Formality conjecture for chains

Abstract: We state the analogs of Kontsevich's formality conjecture for Hochschild and cyclic chains, as well as their

The Future of Scholarly Skywriting

Abstract: Skywriting offers a hybrid possibility, not quite like anything that came before it: much closer to the live interactive tempo of spontaneous on-line speech (and hence on-line thought), yet retaining all the virtues of the written medium (formality, discipline, objectivity, publicity, corrigibility permanence).

On applying formal techniques to the development of hybrid services: challenges and directions

Abstract: We are primarily interested in formal techniques and how they are applied to the development of hybrid services in particular. We analyze the peculiarities of such services, look at the use of formal techniques for communication services in the industry, and highlight some of the major concerns for the application of formality in an industrial environment. It is argued that with the introduction of hybrid services, more pragmatism is required in applying formal techniques. We describe an ongoing joint collaboration of Alcatel, Swisscom, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in which formal techniques are applied to the specification and testing of hybrid services.

A Comparative Study of the Ritual of Ordination as Found in Leviticus 8 and Emar 369

Abstract: A Comparative Study of the Ritual of Ordination as Found in Leviticus 8 and Emar 369, by Gerald A. Klingbeil. Lewiston, NY/Queenston, ON/Lampeter, UK: Mellen, 1998. Pp. xiv + 679. N.P. The present work grows out of Klingbeil's dissertation (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, 1995). The author has three goals (pp. 7-8). First, he seeks to develop a model of ritual analysis that describes various elements of rituals, locates them in their cultural and religious contexts, and explains their meanings within those contexts (pp. 5-52). Second, he applies the model to the ordination ritual of Leviticus 8 (introductory matters, pp. 53-115, exegetical analysis, pp. 117-323). Third, he applies the method to the ordination ritual of the NIN.DINGER of ^ sup d^IM from Emar (pp. 325-545). A comparative analysis of the two rituals is included (pp. 547-69; he discusses the comparative method on pp. 325-40). He concludes the study with a summary and suggestions for future study (pp. 571-77). Klingbeil is keenly aware of the methodological problems facing any effort to understand both biblical and nonbiblical ritual texts. He seeks to create a unified method by bringing together three primary levels of analysis. First, he employs what he terms a "cognitive social function approach" (p. 19) that seeks to understand the cultural world within which rituals take place and the ways in which the "view of the world" helps generate the meaning of ritual acts. Second, he locates his analysis within a phenomenological tradition that seeks to understand the ways in which intentional acts are culturally and socially meaningful (pp. 43-44). Finally, he employs what he terms a "detailed descriptive exegesis" (p. 46) in which he gives close attention "to key words and obscure words and the relations of specific individual acts to one another in constituting the relevant complex symbolic act" (p. 46). In approaching ritual texts, he concentrates on nine categories of analysis: the structure of the ritual; the formality, order, and sequence of the ritual; the situation and context of the ritual; ritual space; ritual time; objects used in the ritual; ritual roles; ritual actions; ritual sound and language (pp. 4852). Klingbeil does not sufficiently address a central question: What is the relationship between ritual language, ritual texts, and actual ritual enactments? Do these texts seek to provide instructions for and/or descriptions of ritual enactments, or are they better understood as efforts to "write ritual" in such a way that the writing and reading of ritual texts are understood as "ritual acts" (for discussions that move in this direction, see, e.g., G. A. Anderson, "Sacrifice and Sacrificial Offerings [OT]," ABD 5.882-86; E. S. Gerstenberger, Leviticus [OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1996] 1-17). The question of the relationship of "ritual texts" and "ritual enactments" raises in pointed fashion the need for theoretical precision in defining the nature and function of this genre of text. …

The use and abuse of singular and plural address forms in Estonian

Abstract: This article gives an overview of the Estonian usage ofpronouns and verb endings as address forms in the case of a single addressee. A t present, competence in Estonian involves the ability to use two options: Singular and plural. They mainly indicate the degree of social distance and situational formality but there is much Variation in the usage since several biological, social, and contextual parameters have to be taken into consideration. Furthermore, the choice of the form may even define the whole relationship or activity at hand. Because of the loaded meaning of these address forms there is sometimes a pressure to find an alternative, resulting in what are described as avoidance strategies in thispaper. On the other hand, ifused in a marked way, the pronominal or suffixal address forms may express Insult, sarcasm, irony, etc.; they may degrade the interlocutor, or merely be used for a comic effect. In other words, the Singular jplural dichotomy endows the Speakers with a range of Strategie opportunities. The data for the present study come from a questionnaire, carried out during 1995-1996 among children and adolescents in different parts of Estonia.

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict, Situational Formality, and Personality as Causes of Interpersonal Equivocation.

Abstract: This study explores the causes of a widespread and important communication phenomenon, interpersonal equivocation. Literature is reviewed which shows clearly that a sufficient cause of interpersonal equivocation is situational avoidance-avoidance conflict, but also which suggests the possibility of additional situational (formality of social setting) and trait (self-monitoring) precursors of equivocation. Using a questionnaire technique, participants were asked to imagine themselves in three different interpersonal situations, which were manipulated to vary the level of situational formality. In addition, in each situation, they were asked to respond to a question from their hypothetical conversational partner. These questions were designed to manipulate the other key situational variable, presence or absence of avoidanceavoidance conflict. Participants' responses, consisting of how likely they were to use each of several possible answers previously scaled for degree of equivocation, resulted in equivocation scores for each situation and an overall score. Participants also completed the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale. As expected, results supported a strong role for avoidance-avoidance conflict as an influence upon equivocation, and also suggested that formality level and avoidance-avoidance conflict interact to influence the degree of equivocation. However, none of

Exploiting Formality in Software Engineering

Abstract: There is undoubtedly a huge gap between the level of formality currently in use in mainstream software engineering and the "best practise" advocated by academics and practised by a small sector of industry involved in critical applications. This paper presents some results of recent research which are building bridges between these two approaches: on the one hand, developing formal methods which are useful to mainstream developers; and on the other, underpinning mainstream methods with formal foundations.

A database on English lexicology : The formal-informal English language database (field)

Abstract: Corpus linguistics is being used for a wide range of research tasks. A database on English lexicology was compiled on the basis of the semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic information found in the stylistically marked lexical items of the COBUILD 1987. It offers linguistic information on 7981 units annotated as "formal" or "informal" in the COBUILD 1987. This database may be used for quantitative and qualitative analysis and for a critical evaluation of the classifications used in the COBUILD dictionary. The aim of this paper is basically descriptive: (i) some information is given on the linguistic information stored; (ii) some tentative conclusions are drawn. For example, if the COBUILD formality labels were assigned rigorously, it might be concluded that (i) "formality" is a skew system; (ii) that the "formal/informal" scale has an equi distribution; (iii) that emphasising informal adverbs are so numerous because they illustrate a tendency to exaggeration observed in informal, relaxed situations, in which interactants usually struggle for controlling the message.

Formality in Specification and Modeling: Developments in Software Engineering Practice

Abstract: Formal methods have been a controversial subject among software engineering practitioners for twenty years However, advances in the technology supporting formal methods, coupled with a realistic view of their potential for commercial application, have brought about marked improvements in the ease with which formal techniques can be integrated into industrial software development This paper reviews the use of formal techniques for modeling systems in the commercial software development context The basic ideas of formality and formal methods are introduced The characteristics of formal models are introduced via a small example based on a commercial application Reports of experiences in applying formal techniques in industrial contexts lead to a discussion of the promises and challenges facing formal methods in industry today