Showing papers on "Viewpoints published in 2001"

A framework for multi-valued reasoning over inconsistent viewpoints

Abstract: In requirements elicitation, different stakeholders often hold different views of how a proposed system should behave, resulting in inconsistencies between their descriptions. Consensus may not be needed for every detail, but it can be hard to determine whether a particular disagreement affects the critical properties of the system. In this paper, we describe the Xbel framework for merging and reasoning about multiple, inconsistent state machine models. Xbel permits the analyst to choose how to combine information from the multiple viewpoints, where each viewpoint is described using an underlying multi-valued logic. The different values of our logics typically represent different levels of agreement. Our multi-valued model checker, Xchek, allows us to check the merged model against properties expressed in a temporal logic. The resulting framework can be used as an exploration tool to support requirements negotiation, by determining what properties are preserved for various combinations of inconsistent viewpoints.

Service Users’ Knowledges and the Social Construction of Social Work:

Abstract: • Summary: This article considers the implications for social work and social care education, policy and practice of including the viewpoints and knowledges of service users. The development of pol...

Attitudes towards Homosexuality in 29 Nations

Abstract: This paper investigates public attitudes towards homosexuality using data from the 1999/2000 International Social Science Survey/Australia, which obtained the views of a large random sample of Australian citizens. It also gives past statistics taken in percentage format to give the exact picture of the viewpoints of people.

An Analysis of the Recent IS Security Development Approaches: Descriptive and Prescriptive Implications

Abstract: Recently, several Information Systems Security (ISS) development approaches that support modeling have been presented. This chapter analyzes and compares the recent approaches for the development of secure ISs. The comparison and analysis will be carried out from the viewpoints of a conceptual meta-model for IS; research methods used; the organizational roles of IS security; the objectives of the research; selected philosophical foundations (underlying epistemology, philosophy of science) and applicability. This contribution of the chapter can be divided into descriptive (assumptions that researchers should be aware of) and prescriptive implications (the direction of future research).

Structured Planning in Design: Information-Age Tools for Product Development

Abstract: Introduction Thoughtful designers have long recognized that the attitudes, viewpoints, skills, and ways of working we call design have great value for industry and institutions. The problem always has been that design's best value has been obscured by lesser values more visible and accessible. The miracle is that, in spite of trivialization as styling and fashion, design has continued to be taught and practiced as the full conceptual process it is. There is a difference today. Overseas competition has done what decades of reasoning could not; design is being recognized as a major strategy for competitive success. Businesses and business schools are making genuine efforts to learn more about design, and to incorporate more sophisticated design thinking into their operations. Less visibly, but with as much long-term impact, a variety of governmental organizations, institutions, and NGOs (non-governmental/non-commercial organizations) also are discovering the value of design thinking. In universities around the world, design educators and design researchers now find themselves with new audiences and new opportunities for leadership. A major challenge for all is to find new means-theories, processes and organizational models-that can permanently infuse design's values and benefits throughout commercial, governmental, and non-governmental organizations.

Two Times Four Integrative Levels of Analysis: A Framework

Abstract: Walsham (2000) urged Information Systems researchers to truly cover all levels of analysis from the individual to the societal in their research agenda. In this paper, we accept his challenge by proposing a research framework offour integrative levels of analysis: individual, group/activity, organizational, and societal. Each level is divided into two viewpoints: intra (single case) and inter (multiple cases, relational, comparative). In addition, the temporal/historical dimension should be applied on all levels and viewpoints. We argue that although all of the levels and viewpoints of the “2 × 4 + history” framework cannot be thoroughly covered in any single study, researchers should always identify their specific research scope and context on all four levels, allowing other researchers to assess the peculiarity or wider applicability of the study. All of the levels and viewpoints are relevant to practical IS development in certain situations.

Analysing viewpoints in design through the argumentation process

Abstract: We present an empirical study aimed at analysing the use of viewpoints in an industrial Concurrent Engineering context. Our focus is on the viewpoints expressed in the argumentative process taking place in evaluation meetings. Our results show that arguments enabling a viewpoint or proposal to be defended are often characterized by the use of constraints. Firstly, we show that, even if some constraints are apparently identically used by the different specialists involved in meetings, various meanings and weightings are associated with these constraints by these different specialists. Secondly, we show that the implicit or explicit nature of constraints depends on several interlocutive factors. Thirdly, we show that an argument often covers not only one constraint but a network of constraints. The type of combination reflects viewpoints which have specific status in the meeting. Then, we will propose a first model of the dynamics of viewpoints confrontation/integration.

Sharing viewpoints in collaborative virtual environments

Abstract: We explore to what degree shared viewpoints in three-dimensional collaborative virtual environments enable effective collaboration. We apply research on shared viewpoints and telepointers to 3D environments. A lightweight Java-based tool for creating collaborative virtual environments was developed and used in the study. The system is realized as an application framework that can be customized to develop new applications. We conducted a series of experiments to assess the effectiveness of shared viewpoints on two simple tasks. Control groups were provided with telepointers. Experimental groups were provided with telepointers and shared views. The results indicate that for participants with access to both tools, shared views are preferred over telepointers for tasks involving joint exploration of either the environment or some object of common interest.

Implementing a technology intelligence system: key issues

Abstract: Technologies are playing an important role in today's business. Having precise and comprehensive information about "what's going on outside the company" to support technology-related decision-making may be crucial to gain competitive advantage. Technology intelligence (TI) is a systematic program for gathering, analyzing and disseminating information about the technical environment, in order to find new opportunities. The successful implementation of a technology intelligence system (TIS) depends on several key-factors which should be well discussed before any efforts are taking place. This paper presents a discussion of the most important key-factors comparing theoretical viewpoints with practical experience made during a TIS-implementation project in a mid-sized Swiss MedTech company.

Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Educational Psychology

Abstract: This debate-style reader is designed to introduce students to controversies in educational psychology. The readings, which represent the arguments of leading educators, psychologists, and social commentators, reflect a variety of viewpoints, and have been selected for their liveliness and substance, and because of their value in a debate framework.

Reflections on the Women's Movement in South Africa

Abstract: The author offers some exploratory viewpoints of the women's movement in South Africa against the background of social movement theory.

The TAB Book Club Approach: Talking (T) About (A) Books (B) in Content Area Classrooms.

Abstract: The TAB Book Club Approach allows the merging of literature with content area instruction to motivate students to develop different viewpoints as the curriculum comes alive

Is Electronic Publishing Being Used in the Best Interests of Science? The Scientist’s View

Abstract: The term "the best interests of science" must be interpreted from the viewpoints both of the scientists inside the enterprise and of the supporters and "users" affected by society's using the results of scientific research. This presentation will try to interpret the material presented throughout the Conference [1] in terms of both these viewpoints, but all within the context of this presenter's perspective, as a scientist, regarding "Why should we have science?" This presentation will be an overview and summary of many ideas that emerged in discussions in the Conference, with no attempt to attribute those ideas to individuals because so many of them were said by several participants, here and elsewhere. Furthermore, the perspective here is certainly that of the scientist, not of the publisher.

Strategies for integrating multiple viewpoints and levels of detail

Abstract: Automated design requires explicit representation of strategic knowledge. This paper focuses on strategic knowledge needed to reason with and about viewpoints during the design of a software agent. Reasoning with and about viewpoints entails not only deciding which viewpoint to consider when and in which context, but also at which level of detail. In this paper an information retrieval agent is used to illustrate how these types of knowledge can be used to design software agents.

Naming Nursing: Evidence-Based Nursing

Abstract: Viewpoint provides a forum for scholarly discussion about the theoretical, philosophical, and practical issues related to nursing language and classification systems. The sometimes controversial views are intended to stimulate reader comments and perspectives. We welcome brief, informal responses to published viewpoints. If you have a viewpoint you want to submit or if you want to discuss it beforehand, contact the column editor: judithwilkins@att.net

Participatory assessment of the environment from children's viewpoints: development of a method and its trial.

Abstract: To understand the actual viewpoints of children about daily life and the environment, the authors, adopting a participatory strategy, visited 21 classes of Japanese school children, improved in a stepwise process their ways of question-asking, and developed “WIFY"(what is important for you); a set of interactive questions composed of a basic question and three accompanying instructions. In applying WIFY, 59 fourth graders, 22 in Nagasaki, Japan and 37 in Beijing, China, reported their viewpoints in each of classroom settings. In both settings, when children were allowed to communicate with each other by the use of WIFY answering sheet, spontaneous exchanges arose and continued. WIFY itself is supposed to bring out and enhance mutual collaboration and spontaneous networking. In this instance, WIFY functioned as a communication tool. When answering sheets were collected and obtained responses were analyzed as cases, a rather materialistic view was suggested among Japanese children and a more disciplined view, which put much value on school and home, was suggested among Chinese children. Further studies are needed to confirm the changing environmental views of children from the collaborative research framework.

Physical-virtual knowledge work environments —f irst steps

Abstract: By examining the common distinction between “physical” and “virtual”, from different viewpoints such as users’ view and designers’ view, and by briefly discussing some development of theoretical and practical tools for integrating the physical with the virtual, this paper presents our first steps towards the goal of designing better knowledge work environments where physical and virtual activities could be performed jointly and with minimal overhead with regard to the gap between the two worlds. Some general problem areas, to be included in the future research agenda, are also identified and briefly discussed.

Social science political counseling: The good, the bad and the enticed

Abstract: A major task for Renn's “social science political counseling” is to address non-ideal behavior by actors, who are often entangled in systems of subliminal enticement. Procedural checks and balances are crucial, as is ethos. How experts combine inputs from various contexts requires special attention, particularly to how expert claims are validated. We should not simply assume one common rationality, but use this framework of subliminal enticement to look for a better understanding of the reasons and circumstances that make viewpoints differ. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Third-party logistics: key to rail freight development in china.

Abstract: In light of today’s trends in logistics, this article analyzes the special role and functions of logistics from both microand macro-economic viewpoints, pointing out that third-party logistics is the key to future development of rail freight in China. It examines the feasibility of and necessity for outsourcing China’s rail freight, and outlines a concrete plan. Before the 1970s, the term ‘logistics’ was hardly ever used in economic studies in China. Research on logistics did not start until the early 1980s when the concept was imported from Japan. After 20 years of research and implementation, logistics has become a pivotal element in China’s economic development, not to mention a valuable source of corporate profits.

New concepts of building energy conservation in a time of knowledge economy

Abstract: In the article, the authors state knowledge economy opens up a new approach for sustainable development The viewpoints that the key for building energy conservation is to set up creative system in ideas, technology and management are proposed. Based on those viewpoints, some suggestion on building energy conservation in our country is presented