Query Expansion for Survey Question Retrieval in the Social Sciences

In recent years, the importance of research data and the need to archive and to share it in the scientific community have increased enormously. This introduces a whole new set of challenges for digital libraries. In the social sciences typical research data sets consist of surveys and questionnaires. In this paper we focus on the use case of social science survey question reuse and on mechanisms to support users in the query formulation for data sets. We describe and evaluate thesaurus- and co-occurrence-based approaches for query expansion to improve retrieval quality in digital libraries and research data archives. The challenge here is to translate the information need and the underlying sociological phenomena into proper queries. As we can show retrieval quality can be improved by adding related terms to the queries. In a direct comparison automatically expanded queries using extracted co-occurring terms can provide better results than queries manually reformulated by a domain expert and better results than a keyword-based BM25 baseline.Comment: to appear in Proceedings of 19th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries 2015 (TPDL 2015

Searching Data: A Review of Observational Data Retrieval Practices in Selected Disciplines

A cross-disciplinary examination of the user behaviours involved in seeking and evaluating data is surprisingly absent from the research data discussion. This review explores the data retrieval literature to identify commonalities in how users search for and evaluate observational research data. Two analytical frameworks rooted in information retrieval and science technology studies are used to identify key similarities in practices as a first step toward developing a model describing data retrieval

A Digital Library for Research Data and Related Information in the Social Sciences

In the social sciences, researchers search for information on the Web, but this is most often distributed on different websites, search portals, digital libraries, data archives, and databases. In this work, we present an integrated search system for social science information that allows finding information around research data in a single digital library. Users can search for research data sets, publications, survey variables, questions from questionnaires, survey instruments, and tools. Information items are linked to each other so that users can see, for example, which publications contain data citations to research data. The integration and linking of different kinds of information increase their visibility so that it is easier for researchers to find information for re-use. In a log-based usage study, we found that users search across different information types, that search sessions contain a high rate of positive signals and that link information is often explored

Understanding Data Search as a Socio-technical Practice

Open research data are heralded as having the potential to increase effectiveness, productivity, and reproducibility in science, but little is known about the actual practices involved in data search. The socio-technical problem of locating data for reuse is often reduced to the technological dimension of designing data search systems. We combine a bibliometric study of the current academic discourse around data search with interviews with data seekers. In this article, we explore how adopting a contextual, socio-technical perspective can help to understand user practices and behavior and ultimately help to improve the design of data discovery systems.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, 7 table

Hubungan antara amalan operasi perkhidmatan dengan prestasi Tentera Darat Malaysia (TDM) : gaya kepimpinan sebagai moderasi

A study on delivery of services in the public sector in general and army in particular is insufficient. This study focuses on the level of service operations practices adopted by Malaysian Army and its relationship with performance. It aims to determine the relationship between the practice of service operations with the performance of the Malaysian Army in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, this study also aims to identify whether leadership style acts as a moderator in the relationship between the practice of service operations with the performance of the Malaysian Army. Research method carried out was in the form of field study in which questionnaires were used as instrument. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, multiple regression and hierarchical regression analysis. 800 sets of questionnaires were sent to a unit in the organization of the Army of Malaysia with a return rate of 244 sets (30.5%). Data collected through questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS).The findings show a significant relationship between the dimensions of the practice of some service operations such as leadership practice, relationship oriented, the process of delivering a uniform, customer participation with the performance of the Malaysian Army. In addition, variables moderation leadership style namely transformational leadership style and transactional leadership style also affect the relationship between the practice of service operations with the performance of the Malaysian Army. The results of this study may contribute to the development of theory and knowledge in influencing the performance of the Malaysian Army to the proliferation of knowledge related to the field of operations management, especially help the Malaysian Army in the implementation of the operational management more efficiently and effectively