47 research outputs found

    Assuming Data Integrity and Empirical Evidence to The Contrary

    Get PDF
    Background: Not all respondents to surveys apply their minds or understand the posed questions, and as such provide answers which lack coherence, and this threatens the integrity of the research. Casual inspection and limited research of the 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), included in the dataset of the World Values Survey (WVS), suggested that random responses may be common. Objective: To specify the percentage of cases in the BRI-10 which include incoherent or contradictory responses and to test the extent to which the removal of these cases will improve the quality of the dataset. Method: The WVS data on the BFI-10, measuring the Big Five Personality (B5P), in South Africa (N=3 531), was used. Incoherent or contradictory responses were removed. Then the cases from the cleaned-up dataset were analysed for their theoretical validity. Results: Only 1 612 (45.7%) cases were identified as not including incoherent or contradictory responses. The cleaned-up data did not mirror the B5P- structure, as was envisaged. The test for common method bias was negative. Conclusion: In most cases the responses were incoherent. Cleaning up the data did not improve the psychometric properties of the BFI-10. This raises concerns about the quality of the WVS data, the BFI-10, and the universality of B5P-theory. Given these results, it would be unwise to use the BFI-10 in South Africa. Researchers are alerted to do a proper assessment of the psychometric properties of instruments before they use it, particularly in a cross-cultural setting

    Leading Towards Voice and Innovation: The Role of Psychological Contract

    Get PDF
    Background: Empirical evidence generally suggests that psychological contract breach (PCB) leads to negative outcomes. However, some literature argues that, occasionally, PCB leads to positive outcomes. Aim: To empirically determine when these positive outcomes occur, focusing on the role of psychological contract (PC) and leadership style (LS), and outcomes such as employ voice (EV) and innovative work behaviour (IWB). Method: A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, using reputable questionnaires on PC, PCB, EV, IWB, and leadership styles. Correlation analyses were used to test direct links within the model, while regression analyses were used to test for the moderation effects. Results: Data with acceptable psychometric properties were collected from 11 organisations (N=620). The results revealed that PCB does not lead to substantial changes in IWB. PCB correlated positively with prohibitive EV, but did not influence promotive EV, which was a significant driver of IWB. Leadership styles were weak predictors of EV and IWB, and LS only partially moderated the PCB-EV relationship. Conclusion: PCB did not lead to positive outcomes. Neither did LS influencing the relationships between PCB and EV or IWB. Further, LS only partially influenced the relationships between variables, and not in a manner which positively influence IWB

    On the application of artificial intelligence and human computation to the automation of agile software task effort estimation

    Get PDF
    Software effort estimation (SEE), as part of the wider project planning and product road mapping process, occurs throughout a software development life cycle. A variety of effort estimation methods have been proposed in the literature, including algorithmic methods, expert based methods, and more recently, methods based on techniques drawn from machine learning and natural language processing. In general, the consensus in the literature is that expert-based methods such as Planning Poker are more reliable than automated effort estimation. However, these methods are labour intensive and difficult to scale to large-scale projects. To address this limitation, this thesis investigates the feasibility of using human computation techniques to coordinate crowds of inexpert workers to predict expert-comparable effort estimates for a given software development task. The research followed an empirical methodology and used four different methods: literature review, replication, a series of laboratory experiments, and ethnography. The literature uncovered the lack of suitable datasets that include the attributes of descriptive text (corpus), actual cost, and expert estimates for a given software development task. Thus, a new dataset was developed to meet the necessary requirements. Next, effort estimation based on recent natural language processing advancements was evaluated and compared with expert estimates. The results suggest that there was no significant improvement, and the automated approach was still outperformed by expert estimates. Therefore, the feasibility of scaling the Planning Poker effort estimation method by using human computation in a micro-task crowdsourcing environment was explored. A series of pilot experiments were conducted to find the proper design for adapting Planning Poker to a crowd environment. This resulted in designing a new estimation method called Crowd Planning Poker (CPP). The pilot experiments revealed that a significant proportion of the crowd submitted poor quality assignments. Therefore, an approach to actively managing the quality of SEE work was proposed and evaluated before being integrated into the CPP method. A substantial overall evaluation was then conducted. The results demonstrated that crowd workers were able to discriminate between tasks of varying complexity and produce estimates that were comparable with those of experts and at substantially reduced cost compared with small teams of domain experts. It was further noted in the experiments that crowd workers provide useful insights as to the resolution of the task. Therefore, as a final step, fine-grained details about crowd workers’ behaviour, including actions taken and artifacts reviewed, were used in an ethnographic study to understand how crowd effort estimation takes place in a crowd. Four persona archetypes were developed to describe the crowd behaviours, and the results of the behaviour analysis were confirmed by surveying the crowd workers

    XXIII Edición del Workshop de Investigadores en Ciencias de la Computación : Libro de actas

    Get PDF
    Compilación de las ponencias presentadas en el XXIII Workshop de Investigadores en Ciencias de la Computación (WICC), llevado a cabo en Chilecito (La Rioja) en abril de 2021.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

    XX Workshop de Investigadores en Ciencias de la Computación - WICC 2018 : Libro de actas

    Get PDF
    Actas del XX Workshop de Investigadores en Ciencias de la Computación (WICC 2018), realizado en Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, los dìas 26 y 27 de abril de 2018.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

    Catalog 2018-2019

    Get PDF

    The institution of linguistic dissidence in the Balearic Islands: Ideological dynamics of Catalan standardisation

    Get PDF
    Aquesta tesi descriu etnogràficament l'establiment recent de la dissidència lingüística a les illes Balears, entesa com l'assentament en el camp sociopolític de l'arxipèlag d'una creença que reivindica que el «balear», i no l'actual llengua catalana, ha de compartir oficialitat amb el castellà com a autèntica llengua pròpia. Tres associacions d'activistes lingüístics creades el 2013 són les responsables d'aquest moviment. Aquesta tesi analitza aproximadament dos anys d'activitat a les xarxes socials d'aquestes tres associacions, a més d'altres materials. L'anàlisi mostra com els activistes es van implicar en un afany per legitimar un estàndard alternatiu basat en ideologies d'autenticitat, el qual simultàniament afermava i potenciava el valor d'anonimat del castellà. Les xarxes socials van ser fonamentals per a aquests objectius, atès que van oferir als activistes un control representatiu per a articular discursos lingüístics i per a patrullar i avaluar pràctiques lingüístiques davant dels seus seguidors. Aquesta tesi també examina les implicacions d'aquests esdeveniments per a l'estandardització de la llengua catalana, mitjançant entrevistes a onze tècnics lingüístics de diferents institucions de les illes Balears i dos activistes favorables a la normalització del català. Les entrevistes van proporcionar perspectives sobre la manera com els agents institucionals controlen i practiquen la varietat estàndard. Un cop identificada una distribució vertical de les pràctiques de la varietat estàndard entre els actors institucionals, l'anàlisi se centra en l'ús de les xarxes socials que fa una tècnica lingüística que treballa en l'àmbit local. En resum, aquesta tesi presenta tres arguments: a) l'adopció estratègica d'un règim d'estàndard lingüístic pels activistes dissidents, b) l'existència d'una necessitat d'identificació en el mercat lingüístic balear, i c) la influència de la minorització sobre l'estandardització.Esta tesis describe etnográficamente el establecimiento reciente de la disidencia lingüística en las islas Balears, entendida como el asentamiento en el campo sociopolítico del archipiélago de una creencia que reivindica que el «balear», y no la actual lengua catalana, tiene que compartir oficialidad con el castellano como auténtica lengua propia. Tres asociaciones de activistas lingüísticos creadas en 2013 son las responsables de este movimiento. Esta tesis analiza aproximadamente dos años de actividad en las redes sociales de estas tres asociaciones, además de otros materiales. El análisis muestra cómo los activistas se implicaron en un afán por legitimar un estándar alternativo basado en ideologías de autenticidad, el cual simultáneamente aseguraba y potenciaba el valor de anonimidad del castellano. Las redes sociales fueron fundamentales para estos objetivos, dado que ofrecieron a los activistas un control representativo para articular discursos lingüísticos y para patrullar y evaluar prácticas lingüísticas ante sus seguidores. Esta tesis también examina las implicaciones de estos acontecimientos para la estandarización de la lengua catalana, mediante entrevistas a once técnicos lingüísticos de diferentes instituciones de las islas Baleares y dos activistas favorables a la normalización del catalán. Las entrevistas proporcionaron perspectivas sobre la forma en que los agentes institucionales controlan y practican la variedad estándar. Una vez identificada una distribución vertical de las prácticas de la variedad estándar entre los actores institucionales, el análisis se centra en el uso que hace de las redes sociales una técnica lingüística que trabaja en el ámbito local. En resumen, esta tesis presenta tres argumentos: a) la adopción estratégica de un régimen de estándar lingüístico por los activistas disidentes, b) la existencia de una necesidad de identificación en el mercado lingüístico balear, y c) la influencia de la minorización sobre la estandarización.This thesis comprises an ethnographic description of the recent development of linguistic dissidence on the Balearic Islands: the establishment of a belief within the archipelago’s socio-political sector claiming that ‘Balearic’, rather than Catalan, should share official status with Spanish as its authentic autochthonous language. Three associations of language activists created in 2013 are responsible for this development. This thesis analyses two years of these three associations’ social media activity, as well as other materials. Findings show that activists engaged in a struggle to legitimize an alternative standard revolving around ideologies of authenticity, while simultaneously ensuring and advancing the level of anonymity towards Spanish. Social media was instrumental for these purposes, as it provided activists representational control to spread discourse about language and to police language practices. This thesis also examines the implications that this development represented for Catalan standardization. I interviewed 11 language planners working at different institutions on the Balearic Islands and two Catalan language advocates. The interviews provided accounts on the ways institutional figures police the standard variety of Catalan. After finding a vertical distribution of standard practices among institutional figures, the analysis focused on a local planner’s social media practices. In all, this thesis advances three arguments regarding activists’ strategic adoption of the standard language regime, the existence of a need to identify in the Balearic linguistic market, and the role of minoritization on standardization

    The institution of linguistic dissidence in the Balearic Islands: ideological dynamics of Catalan standardisation

    Get PDF
    This thesis describes ethnographically the recent institution of linguistic dissidence in the Balearic Islands, understood as the establishment of a belief in the archipelago’s socio-political field that claims ‘Balearic’, and not the current Catalan, must share official status with Castilian as its authentic autochthonous language. Three associations of language activists created in 2013 are responsible for this development. This thesis analyses two years of social media activity of the three language activist associations, together with other materials. Findings show how activists engaged in a struggle for the legitimisation of an alternative standard that revolved around authenticity ideologies, while they simultaneously secured and advanced the anonymity value of Castilian. Social media was instrumental for these purposes, as it provided activists representational control to articulate discourses about language and to police language practices. This thesis also examines the implications that this development represented for Catalan standardisation. I interviewed 11 language planners working at different institutions in the Balearic Islands and two Catalan language advocates. The interviews provided accounts on the ways institutional actors police the standard variety. After finding a vertical distribution of standard practices among institutional actors, the analysis focuses on a local planner’s social media practices. In all, this thesis advances three arguments about the activists’ strategic adoption of the standard language regime, the existence of an identification need in the Balearic linguistic market, and the role of minoritisation on standardisation
    corecore