81,648 research outputs found
A framework for the simulation of structural software evolution
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2008 ACM.As functionality is added to an aging piece of software, its original design and structure will tend to erode. This can lead to high coupling, low cohesion and other undesirable effects associated with spaghetti architectures. The underlying forces that cause such degradation have been the subject of much research. However, progress in this field is slow, as its complexity makes it difficult to isolate the causal flows leading to these effects. This is further complicated by the difficulty of generating enough empirical data, in sufficient quantity, and attributing such data to specific points in the causal chain. This article describes a framework for simulating the structural evolution of software. A complete simulation model is built by incrementally adding modules to the framework, each of which contributes an individual evolutionary effect. These effects are then combined to form a multifaceted simulation that evolves a fictitious code base in a manner approximating real-world behavior. We describe the underlying principles and structures of our framework from a theoretical and user perspective; a validation of a simple set of evolutionary parameters is then provided and three empirical software studies generated from open-source software (OSS) are used to support claims and generated results. The research illustrates how simulation can be used to investigate a complex and under-researched area of the development cycle. It also shows the value of incorporating certain human traits into a simulation—factors that, in real-world system development, can significantly influence evolutionary structures
Multilingual investigation of theory-based intervention for program comprehension
This thesis is the continuation of an experiment called “Eye-movement Modeling Examples in
Source Code Comprehension: A Classroom Study”. This first experiment studies how effective is
showing novice programmers how experts read code with a video with the expert’s gaze guided
by a verbal explanation. Therefore, this thesis studies, using a similar experiment, whether only
verbal explanation and visual stimuli without the expert’s gaze could be also helpful for the
programming novices.Grado en IngenierĂa Informática de Servicios y Aplicacione
Toward a document evaluation methodology: What does research tell us about the validity and reliability of evaluation methods?
Although the usefulness of evaluating documents has become generally accepted among communication professionals, the supporting research that puts evaluation practices empirically to the test is only beginning to emerge. This article presents an overview of the available research on troubleshooting evaluation methods. Four lines of research are distinguished concerning the validity of evaluation methods, sample composition, sample size, and the implementation of evaluation results during revisio
Mentoring Entrepreneurial Networks : mapping conceptions of participants in technological-based business incubators in Brazil
La agenda de la investigaciĂłn reciente sobre emprendedores incluye el análisis de las estructuras cognitivas de los empresarios de Ă©xito, revelándose como una herramienta importante a la hora de examinar una trayectoria emprendedora. Mediante tĂ©cnicas de mapas cognitivos, este estudio explora los conceptos de una trayectoria de Ă©xito y la red en sĂ misma como un todo, para el desarrollo de esta carrera. Fueron estudiados 53 empresarios en siete viveros tecnolĂłgicos de la ciudad de Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. El objetivo especĂfico de este estudio era situar los significados comunes de los emprendedores del vivero teniendo en cuenta las redes de apoyo informal. Este tipo de redes ofrecen apoyo a la carrera empresarial, y el presente estudio examina tanto las caracterĂsticas como el modelo conceptual que subyace bajo Ă©stas. La recolecciĂłn de datos fue realizada por medio de entrevistas a travĂ©s de la tĂ©cnica de evocaciĂłn libre. Los significados comunes indican la existencia de categorĂas de pensamiento inherentes que fomentan el contexto de la red en el entorno del vivero, especialmente en las redes-mentor. Los resultados refuerzan la interpretaciĂłn de un modelo mentor informal que emerge de las evocaciones predominantes respecto a una carrera de Ă©xito y de la red en sĂ misma como promotora de su desarrollo.The recent entrepreneurship research agenda includes the analysis of cognitive structures of successful entrepreneurs, revealing an important tool for the examination of an entrepreneurial career. Using techniques of cognitive maps, this study explores the concepts of a successful career and the network itself, as a whole, for career development. Fifty-three entrepreneurs were studied, in seven technological incubators in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Specifically, this study aimed to map the shared meanings of the incubated entrepreneurs regarding informal support networks. Such networks support the entrepreneurial career and the present study explores the characteristics and the conceptual model that underlies the networks. The data collection was achieved through interviews through a free evocation technique. The shared meanings indicate the existence of inherent thought categories that support network context in the incubator environment, mainly the mentoring networks. The results endorse the interpretation of an informal mentoring model emerging from the dominant evocations concerning a successful career and of the network itself as promoter of career development
Action! suspense! culture! insight! : reading stories in the classroom
Running title: Reading stories in the classroomAt head of title: Center for the Study of Reading.Bibliography: leaves 32-39Supported in part by the National Institute of Education under contract no. US-HEW-C-400-81-003
Vocabulary and reading comprehension : instructional effects
Bibliography: leaves 32-34Supported by the National Institute of Educatio
What can developmental disorders tell us about the neurocomputational constraints that shape development? the case of Williams syndrome
The uneven cognitive phenotype in the adult outcome of Williams syndrome has led some researchers to make strong claims about the modularity of the brain and the purported genetically determined, innate specification of cognitive modules. Such arguments have particularly been marshaled with respect to language. We challenge this direct generalization from adult phenotypic outcomes to genetic specification and consider instead how genetic disorders provide clues to the constraints on plasticity that shape the outcome of development. We specifically examine behavioral studies, brain imaging, and computational modeling of language in Williams syndrome but contend that our theoretical arguments apply equally to other cognitive domains and other developmental disorders. While acknowledging that selective deficits in normal adult patients might justify claims about cognitive modularity, we question whether similar, seemingly selective deficits found in genetic disorders can be used to argue that such cognitive modules are prespecified in infant brains. Cognitive modules are, in our view, the outcome of development, not its starting point. We note that most work on genetic disorders ignores one vital factor, the actual process of ontogenetic development, and argue that it is vital to view genetic disorders as proceeding under different neurocomputational constraints, not as demonstrations of static modularity
The Use of Marketing Knowledge in Formulating and Enforcing Consumer Protection Policy
The purpose of this first chapter of the handbook is to discuss how the findings and approaches offered by the marketing discipline are used in consumer protection policy
- …