Search

Copyright of BMS: Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique (Sage Publications Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The MESOC Toolkit is a free and open-access online service used to aid the measurement of the societal value and impact of culture, currently under development as part of the MESOC (Measuring the Social Dimension of Culture) project. The goal of establishing transition variables that serve as impact measurement indicators is aided by an online document repository system of thematic publications (i.e., a collection of documents on the societal value and impact of cultural policies). It allows the users to input, manage, and search extensive document data based on the relevant criteria. The paper at hand paper describes the rationale behind the online document repository of the MESOC Toolkit, its implementation, and main functionalities. Furthermore, it offers an empirical evaluation of the benefits that such a system offers over non-automated procedures of document search and analysis. The results of the evaluation give way to the conclusion that there are time-saving and quality benefits for the users of the repository: efficiency in dealing with a large number of documents and quality in searching the documents using multiple criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics is the property of Universidade de Vigo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Epidemics and emerging infectious diseases are becoming an increasing threat to global populations—challenging public health practitioners, decision makers and researchers to plan, prepare, identify and respond to outbreaks in near real-timeframes. The aim of this research is to evaluate the range of public domain and freely available software epidemic modelling tools. Twenty freely utilisable software tools underwent assessment of software usability, utility and key functionalities. Stochastic and agent based tools were found to be highly flexible, adaptable, had high utility and many features, but low usability. Deterministic tools were highly usable with average to good levels of utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale and Objectives: This study aims to compare the speed and accuracy of three different software packages in segmenting the liver and the spleen.Materials and Methods: The three software packages are Advantage Workstation Solutions (AWS), Claron Technology (Claron) Liver Segmentor, and Vitrea Core Fx (Vitrea). The dataset consisted of abdominal computed tomography scans of 30 patients obtained from the portal venous phase. All but two of the patients had a cancer diagnosis. The livers of 14 patients and the spleens of 24 patients were reported as normal; the remaining livers and spleens contained one or more abnormalities. The initial segmentation times and volumes were recorded in Claron and Vitrea as these created automatic segmentations. The total segmentation times and volumes following corrections were recorded. The livers and spleens were segmented separately by two radiologists who used all three packages. Accuracy was assessed by comparing volumes measured using fully manual segmentation on the AWS.Results: Claron could not segment the spleen in four subjects for the first reader and in two subjects for the second reader. The final mean segmentation times for the liver for both readers were 6.5 and 5.5 minutes for AWS, 4.4 and 3.6 minutes for Claron, and 5.1 and 4.2 minutes for Vitrea. The final mean segmentation times for the spleen were 2.7 and 2.1 minutes for AWS, 2.1 and 1.4 minutes for Claron, and 1.8 and 1.2 minutes for Vitrea. No statistically significant difference was found between the organ volumes measured by the two readers when using Vitrea. The mean differences between the initial and final segmentation volumes ranged from -1.2% to 0.4% for the liver and from -4.0% to 9.8% for the spleen. The mean differences between the automated liver segmentation volumes and the AWS volumes were 2.5%-2.9% for Claron and 4.9%-6.6% for Vitrea. The mean differences between the automated splenic segmentation volumes and the AWS volumes were 5.0%-6.2% for Claron and 10.6%-12.0% for Vitrea.Conclusions: Both automated packages (Claron and Vitrea) measured liver and spleen volumes that were accurate and quick before manual correction. Volumes for the liver were more accurate than those for the spleen, perhaps due to the much smaller splenic volumes compared to those of the liver. For both liver and spleen, manual corrections were time consuming and for most subjects did not significantly change the volume measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic software testing and evaluation are important software engineering subjects and can be used to improve reliability. In this paper, we propose a dynamic software testing and evaluation model based on the state space method. In this model, the run time features of software are quantified into one state vector; the program scale, difficulties, structures, and development expenses are quantified into one input vector; the total software complexity is quantified into one output vector; and the software testing and evaluation process is regarded as a feedback control process. Dynamic software testing and evaluation with the state space method can adaptively regulate the critical factors that drastically affect software reliability. Experimental results show that the proposed method is useful for reducing costs, shortening developing time, and improving reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on a study regarding the analysis of heuristic evaluation tools which are required for financial analysis of data on websites. It reports that the study is aimed at providing guidelines for online software tools which encompass website content and online software quality. It informs about two software tools including interactive online retirement and tax planning, which can be used for demonstrating the evaluation tool methodology.

Abstract: There has been substantial growth in Data Linkage (DL) activities in recent years. This reflects growth in both the demand for, and the supply of, linked or linkable data. Increased utilisation of DL “services” has brought with it increased need for impartial information about the suitability and performance capabilities of DL software programs and packages. Although evaluations of DL software exist; most have been restricted to the comparison of two or three packages. Evaluations of a large number of packages are rare because of the time and resource burden placed on the evaluators and the need for a suitable “gold standard” evaluation dataset. In this paper we present an evaluation methodology that overcomes a number of these difficulties. Our approach involves the generation and use of representative synthetic data; the execution of a series of linkages using a pre-defined linkage strategy; and the use of standard linkage quality metrics to assess performance. The methodology is both transparent and transportable, producing genuinely comparable results. The methodology was used by the Centre for Data Linkage (CDL) at Curtin University in an evaluation of ten DL software packages. It is also being used to evaluate larger linkage systems (not just packages). The methodology provides a unique opportunity to benchmark the quality of linkages in different operational environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although many teacher training programs and school districts offer courses and workshops on technology integration in instruction, research shows that teachers still face major challenges especially as it relates to selecting and using developmentally appropriate technology to meet the needs of diverse learners. The current study examines the selection criteria used by early childhood teachers in a mid-western school district. The results of the study suggest that most teachers have a general idea of what constitutes developmentally appropriate technology. However, barriers such as the availability of time to learn the software, lack of funding for purchasing software, lack of teacher understanding of the connection between the technology and the curriculum, lack of technical support, limited age appropriate software, and an inability to access and try available material continue to inhibit teachers from selecting such technology for the teaching and learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces constructivist views of learning as a theoretical background to inform the design, implementation and evaluation of quality interactive multimedia educational software. It reviews various constructivist views of learning and also constructivist technology-mediated learning. It proposes an approach to design and evaluation of constructivist educational software, which is based on research in students' ideas, and comprises three stages: a) initial research into students' existing ideas, conceptions, conceptual difficulties and needs, b) design of the software based on students' conceptions and conceptual needs, and formative evaluation of it, and c) software implementation and evaluation within a constructivist learning environment, based on students' conceptual change and construction of appropriate knowledge by them. This research-based approach is compared to other existing models of design educational software environments. In order to illustrate this approach, two examples of Greek constructivist educational software with science content are briefly presented: "Interaction between Objects", which aims at promoting knowledge construction about mechanical interaction and Newton's laws through interactive simulations of real-life situations and cognitive conflict processes, and "M.A.TH.I.M.A.", aiming at promoting construction of multiple, linked appropriate representations about several science topics (free-fall phenomenon, geometrical optics, heat and temperature, electric circuits, molecules and atoms). The proposed approach intends to enhance collaboration between software designers, content education research specialists, teachers and learners, in order to improve the quality of educational software to better respond to students' learning with understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ESL/EFL students need to enhance writing skills to pass various language tests. To help teachers reduce their teaching load and to give students faster feedback, several commercial AWE (automated writing evaluation) tools are available. Although these innovative tools have become popular, few empirical studies have examined the quality of feedback generated by these systems. There is a pressing need to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of these widely used AWE systems. In this paper, we examined the grammar feedback provided by two well-known systems, Vantage My Access and ETS Criterion. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the feedback provided by these two systems. Automated feedback messages on 269 student essays were collected and analyzed. The results showed that these two systems can provide about 30 different types of feedback messages. However, My Access provided many false alarm messages. Criterion performed much better than My Access, but it still failed to deal with several common errors related to word order, modals, tenses, collocations, conjuncts, word choice, and pronouns. It is clear that the two AWE systems do not provide satisfactory help to ESL students. Teachers and students who use these new tools should be aware of these problems and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital video recorder software is increasingly common given the burgeoning popularity of the surveillance market. The proposed model includes the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine the weights of evaluation. Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) is then performed to rank the digital video recorder software. The AHP and GRA-based decision-making method can provide decision makers or buyers with a valuable reference for evaluating software quality. A case study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Importantly, the proposed scheme can assist decision makers in assessing the feasibility of digital video recorder software, making it highly applicable for academic and commercial purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security systems using a digital video recorder (DVR) are an increasingly popular security product in the surveillance systems market. These DVR-based security systems include software and hardware and generally have six modules, including one each for the input signal channel, the recording function, the playback and display functions, communication and remote transmission, system control, and system security modules. Software and hardware are continuously changing and evolving. Accordingly, purchasers have difficulty in discriminating between new technologies and in determining which DVR-based security system is best suited to their surveillance and security needs, or both. In this study, gray situation decision-making (GSDM) is used to evaluate DVR-based security systems based on several quality performance characteristics. Finally, a case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed GSDM method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]