A Cross-National Comparison of Corporate Web-Site Communications; An Examination of the Services Sector

Despite the trend toward increased marketing in the electronic medium, there is still a lack of comprehensive research. Especially noteworthy is the lack of research on equivalence of electronic information across both industries and national boundaries. The literature is replete with findings from studies surrounding consumer and B2B goods advertising promoted through print and TV mediums however, this study suggests that previous findings and methods may not be directly transferrable to service advertisers in an electronic medium. The specific design characteristics inherent with the web medium combined with the inherent limitations surrounding cultural indices suggest that new methods and measures are required. This study proposes that a newly developed one-dimensional construct that incorporates socioeconomic, media, and technology variables can be applied to better evaluate differences in web-based information content. It is suggested that this new indicator can support a clearer and more systematic procedure for use in cross-national communication studies than previously used method

Variations and Application Conditions Of the Data Type »Image« - The Foundation of Computational Visualistics

Few years ago, the department of computer science of the University Magdeburg invented a completely new diploma programme called 'computational visualistics', a curriculum dealing with all aspects of computational pictures. Only isolated aspects had been studied so far in computer science, particularly in the independent domains of computer graphics, image processing, information visualization, and computer vision. So is there indeed a coherent domain of research behind such a curriculum? The answer to that question depends crucially on a data structure that acts as a mediator between general visualistics and computer science: the data structure "image". The present text investigates that data structure, its components, and its application conditions, and thus elaborates the very foundations of computational visualistics as a unique and homogenous field of research. Before concentrating on that data structure, the theory of pictures in general and the definition of pictures as perceptoid signs in particular are closely examined. This includes an act-theoretic consideration about resemblance as the crucial link between image and object, the communicative function of context building as the central concept for comparing pictures and language, and several modes of reflection underlying the relation between image and image user. In the main chapter, the data structure "image" is extendedly analyzed under the perspectives of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. While syntactic aspects mostly concern image processing, semantic questions form the core of computer graphics and computer vision. Pragmatic considerations are particularly involved with interactive pictures but also extend to the field of information visualization and even to computer art. Four case studies provide practical applications of various aspects of the analysis

A Study of Ethnogeological Knowledge and Other Traditional Scientific Knowledge in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic

abstract: Ethnogeology is the scientific study of human relationships with the Earth as a system, typically conducted within the context of a specific culture. Indigenous or historically resident people may perceive local places differently from outside observers trained in the Western tradition. Ethnogeologic knowledge includes traditional indigenous knowledge (alternatively referred to as traditional ecological knowledge or TEK), which exceeds the boundaries of non-Indigenous ideas of physical characteristics of the world, tends to be more holistic, and is culturally framed. In this ethnogeological study, I have implemented several methods of participatory rapid assessment (PRA) from the discipline of field ethnography to collect culturally framed geological knowledge, as well to measure the authenticity of the knowledge collected. I constructed a cultural consensus model (CCM) about karst as a domain of knowledge. The study area is located in the karst physiographic region of the Caribbean countries of the Dominican Republic (DR) and Puerto Rico (PR). Ethnogeological data collected and analyzed using CCM satisfied the requirements of a model where I have found statistically significance among participant’s agreement and competence values. Analysis of the competence means in the population of DR and PR results in p < 0.05 validating the methods adapted for this study. I discuss the CCM for the domain of karst (in its majority) that is shared among consultants in the countries of PR and the DR that is in the form of metaphors and other forms of culturally framed descriptions. This work continuing insufficient representation of minority groups such as Indigenous people, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Hispanic/Latinxs in the Earth Sciences.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 201

A Cross-National Comparison of Corporate Web-Site Communications; An Examination of the Services Sector

Despite the trend toward increased marketing in the electronic medium, there is still a lack of comprehensive research. Especially noteworthy is the lack of research on equivalence of electronic information across both industries and national boundaries. The literature is replete with findings from studies surrounding consumer and B2B goods advertising promoted through print and TV mediums however, this study suggests that previous findings and methods may not be directly transferrable to service advertisers in an electronic medium. The specific design characteristics inherent with the web medium combined with the inherent limitations surrounding cultural indices suggest that new methods and measures are required. This study proposes that a newly developed one-dimensional construct that incorporates socioeconomic, media, and technology variables can be applied to better evaluate differences in web-based information content. It is suggested that this new indicator can support a clearer and more systematic procedure for use in cross-national communication studies than previously used method

A Cross-National Comparison of Corporate Web-Site Communications; An Examination of the Services Sector

Despite the trend toward increased marketing in the electronic medium, there is still a lack of comprehensive research. Especially noteworthy is the lack of research on equivalence of electronic information across both industries and national boundaries. The literature is replete with findings from studies surrounding consumer and B2B goods advertising promoted through print and TV mediums however, this study suggests that previous findings and methods may not be directly transferrable to service advertisers in an electronic medium. The specific design characteristics inherent with the web medium combined with the inherent limitations surrounding cultural indices suggest that new methods and measures are required. This study proposes that a newly developed one-dimensional construct that incorporates socioeconomic, media, and technology variables can be applied to better evaluate differences in web-based information content. It is suggested that this new indicator can support a clearer and more systematic procedure for use in cross-national communication studies than previously used method

Theoretical evaluation of XML retrieval

This thesis develops a theoretical framework to evaluate XML retrieval. XML retrieval deals with retrieving those document parts that specifically answer a query. It is concerned with using the document structure to improve the retrieval of information from documents by only delivering those parts of a document an information need is about. We define a theoretical evaluation methodology based on the idea of `aboutness' and apply it to XML retrieval models. Situation Theory is used to express the aboutness proprieties of XML retrieval models. We develop a dedicated methodology for the evaluation of XML retrieval and apply this methodology to five XML retrieval models and other XML retrieval topics such as evaluation methodologies, filters and experimental results

International viral marketing campaign planning and evaluation

Objective of the Study The objective of this study was to explore international viral marketing campaign (IVMC) planning and evaluation in order to help marketers develop better campaigns. The motivation for the study came primarily from a research gap in existing literature. This thesis set out to answer three research questions that deal with campaign planning, localization and evaluation. Research Method This thesis represents a qualitative single-case study. Semi-structured theme interviews were used for data collection. Five Nokia employees were interviewed for the study; all of whom work directly with viral marketing campaign planning and evaluation at the corporate headquarters in Espoo, Finland. Data collection and analysis were developed around the previously mentioned three themes and the study's theoretical framework. Findings The main findings of this thesis suggest that to ensure maximum persuasiveness and impact, companies creating IVMCs should: understand the character of viral marketing; set solid objectives for campaigns; promote them in owned, earned and bough media; and ensure that it integrates well with other marketing activities. According to the interviewees, viral marketing campaigns appear to work well in most markets where consumers have a way of accessing them, however, a single, global campaign may not work well across markets. The main challenge related to the localization process appears to be a lack of communication and cooperation between the head office and local country organizations. For measurement and evaluation, the use of a combination of metrics was recommended, with efficiency and effectiveness as two key points of evaluation. The study's most valuable contribution to marketers is that it provides a comprehensive roadmap for planning and evaluating viral marketing campaigns

Edge detection using neural network arbitration

A human observer is able to recognise and describe most parts of an object by its contour, if this is properly traced and reflects the shape of the object itself. With a machine vision system this recognition task has been approached using a similar technique. This prompted the development of many diverse edge detection algorithms. The work described in this thesis is based on the visual observation that edge maps produced by different algorithms, as the image degrades. Display different properties of the original image. Our proposed objective is to try and improve the edge map through the arbitration between edge maps produced by diverse (in nature, approach and performance) edge detection algorithms. As image processing tools are repetitively applied to similar images we believe the objective can be achieved by a learning process based on sample images. It is shown that such an approach is feasible, using an artificial neural network to perform the arbitration. This is taught from sets extracted from sample images. The arbitration system is implemented upon a parallel processing platform. The performance of the system is presented through examples of diverse types of image. Comparisons with a neural network edge detector (also developed within this thesis) and conventional edge detectors show that the proposed system presents significant advantages