Information Preserving Processing of Noisy Handwritten Document Images

Many pre-processing techniques that normalize artifacts and clean noise induce anomalies due to discretization of the document image. Important information that could be used at later stages may be lost. A proposed composite-model framework takes into account pre-printed information, user-added data, and digitization characteristics. Its benefits are demonstrated by experiments with statistically significant results. Separating pre-printed ruling lines from user-added handwriting shows how ruling lines impact people\u27s handwriting and how they can be exploited for identifying writers. Ruling line detection based on multi-line linear regression reduces the mean error of counting them from 0.10 to 0.03, 6.70 to 0.06, and 0.13 to 0.02, com- pared to an HMM-based approach on three standard test datasets, thereby reducing human correction time by 50%, 83%, and 72% on average. On 61 page images from 16 rule-form templates, the precision and recall of form cell recognition are increased by 2.7% and 3.7%, compared to a cross-matrix approach. Compensating for and exploiting ruling lines during feature extraction rather than pre-processing raises the writer identification accuracy from 61.2% to 67.7% on a 61-writer noisy Arabic dataset. Similarly, counteracting page-wise skew by subtracting it or transforming contours in a continuous coordinate system during feature extraction improves the writer identification accuracy. An implementation study of contour-hinge features reveals that utilizing the full probabilistic probability distribution function matrix improves the writer identification accuracy from 74.9% to 79.5%

Rational Decision-Making in Business Organizations

Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 8, 1978decision making;

Synthetic aperture radar/LANDSAT MSS image registration

Algorithms and procedures necessary to merge aircraft synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) imagery were determined. The design of a SAR/LANDSAT data merging system was developed. Aircraft SAR images were registered to the corresponding LANDSAT MSS scenes and were the subject of experimental investigations. Results indicate that the registration of SAR imagery with LANDSAT MSS imagery is feasible from a technical viewpoint, and useful from an information-content viewpoint

Development of the Writing Attitudes and Strategies Self-Report Inventory

Several self-report inventories assess specific aspects of writing. However, skilled writing is a multidimensional process requiring a comprehensive measure that assesses writing attitudes, self-efficacy, and strategy use. The Writing Attitudes and Strategies Self-Report Inventory (WASSI) is designed to fulfill this need. Currently in its second iteration, the WASSI-2 displays superior reliability and validity evidence when compared to other measures. The seven subscales all exceeded minimum standards for Cronbach\u27s alpha. Additionally, the underlying factor structure that best represents the data mirrors the intended seven-factor design. Validity evidence based on external relations was yielded from correlating the WASSI-2 scores with the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test, the Children\u27s Social Desirability Scale, and expert scores on student essays; all but one of the correlations were in the expected direction and of appropriate magnitude. This evidence indicates that the WASSI may potentially be a useful assessment tool for educators and researchers

Writing, Collaborating, and Cultivating: Building Writing Self-efficacy and Skills Through a Student-centric, Student-led Writing Center

This quantitative study examined the effectiveness that a peer-tutoring model facilitated through a writing center has on student writing self-efficacy and writing skills. Students completed a pre-survey of beliefs and attitudes towards writing and a pre-assessment of writing before embarking on a unit of study that required students to utilize the writing process, including extensive revision. During the writer\u27s workshop class time, students in the experiment group were assigned to attend three peer-tutoring sessions with a trained writing center tutor. After completing the writing task assigned, all students completed the post-survey of beliefs and attitude towards writing. The post-survey and the polished writing task were compared with the pre-survey and pre-assessment to assess the effectiveness of the peer-tutoring model. Findings suggest that the model does increase writing self-efficacy and writing skills. Further expansion of the research population into a wide variety of instructional settings as well as an examination into the effect of a writing center peer-tutoring model on varied demographics might allow schools to examine the secondary school writing center model as an efficient way in which to promote a student body’s growth in writing literacy

Community-Based Production of Open Source Software: What Do We Know About the Developers Who Participate?

This paper seeks to close an empirical gap regarding the motivations, personal attributes and behavioral patterns among free/libre and open source (FLOSS) developers, especially those involved in community-based production, and its findings on the existing literature and the future directions for research. Respondents to an extensive web-survey’s (FLOSS-US 2003) questions about their reasons for work on FLOSS are classified according to their distinct “motivational profiles” by hierarchical cluster analysis. Over half of them also are matched to projects of known membership sizes, revealing that although some members from each of the clusters are present in the small, medium and large ranges of the distribution of project sizes, the mixing fractions for the large and the very small project ranges are statistically different. Among developers who changed projects, there is a discernable flow from the bottom toward the very small towards to large projects, some of which is motivated by individuals seeking to improve their programming skills. It is found that the profile of early motivation, along with other individual attributes, significantly affects individual developers’ selections of projects from different regions of the size range.Open source software, FLOSS project, community-based peer production, population heterogeneity, micro-motives, motivational profiles, web-cast surveys, hierarchical cluster analysis

The Coroner in England and Wales; Coronial Decision-Making and Local Variation in Case Outcomes

The investigation and classification of deaths in England and Wales relies upon the application by medical practitioners of diverse reporting standards set locally by coroners and thereafter upon the effectively unconstrained decision process of those same coroners. This research, using extensive analysis of Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, presents comprehensive analysis of local variation in coronial outcomes across the three decision-making stages of whether to report the death, to advance to inquest, and the choice of inquest conclusion. Substantial local variation was found in reporting rates to the coroner over time (12-87%) and in rates of advancing reports of death to an inquest (6-29%). The profiles of inquest verdicts varied widely between coroner areas with some verdicts more prone to varied levels of use. Individual coroner areas were consistent over time in their rates of reporting, advancing to inquest and use of verdicts. The gender of the deceased was a major factor with all coroner areas reporting proportionately fewer female deaths than male, and female deaths being overall half as likely as that of a male to proceed to an inquest. Once at inquest, a woman’s death was more likely to yield a verdict of natural causes than that of a man. Coroners seemed prima facie to be ‘gendered’ in their approach to verdicts; that is, they were consistently more likely to favour a particular verdict when dealing with a death, according to the gender of the deceased. Decision Board Analysis (DBA), comprising three typical coroner case scenarios, was utilised to analyse the decision-making style of incumbent coroners. The DBA allowed for an examination of the way in which available case information was managed prior to coming to a conclusion, and free text respondent comments were captured. Coroners were found to vary widely in their choices of outcomes yet they managed the available information in a similar way, reading concordant amounts of information and agreeing on the relative salience of the available information. Coroners sometimes robustly defended chosen outcomes against alternatives with dichotomous positions being taken. Variation in coronial outcome could not be explained by any variation in decision-making style. Further analysis of coroners’ local practices and their determinants seems necessary

Fact or Fiction: Media's Tale of an Ideologically and Affectively Polarized Society

Honors (Bachelor's)Political ScienceUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112130/1/merinb.pd

Psychometrics in Practice at RCEC

A broad range of topics is dealt with in this volume: from combining the psychometric generalizability and item response theories to the ideas for an integrated formative use of data-driven decision making, assessment for learning and diagnostic testing. A number of chapters pay attention to computerized (adaptive) and classification testing. Other chapters treat the quality of testing in a general sense, but for topics like maintaining standards or the testing of writing ability, the quality of testing is dealt with more specifically.\ud All authors are connected to RCEC as researchers. They present one of their current research topics and provide some insight into the focus of RCEC. The selection of the topics and the editing intends that the book should be of special interest to educational researchers, psychometricians and practitioners in educational assessment