77 research outputs found
Social media analytics in business intelligence applications
Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-93).Social media is becoming increasingly important in society and culture, empowering consumers to group together on common interests and share opinions through the Internet. The social web shifts the originators of content from companies to users. Differences caused by this dynamic result in existing web analytic techniques being inadequate. Because people reveal their thoughts and preferences in social media, there are significant opportunities in business intelligence by analyzing social media. These opportunities include brand monitoring; trend recognition, and targeted advertising. The market for social media analytics in business intelligence is further validated by its direct application in the consumer research market. Challenges lie ahead for development and adoption of social media analytics. Technology used in these analytics, such as natural language processing and social network analysis, need to mature to improve accuracy, performance, and scalability. Nevertheless, social media continues to grow at a rapid pace, and organizations should form strategies to incorporate social media analytics into their business intelligence frameworks.by Bobby Lo.M.Eng
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Visual preferences in an ageing population : design, theory, practice, education & critical reflection
Formative periods represent early phases in life when we are particularly sensitive to experiences that influence later choices. This investigation hypothesised that the design of products associated with formative periods continues to influence preference throughout life. In design for an ageing population these preferences are important because designers often wrongly assume a decline in interest in design and physical ability. If these assumptions are prioritised there can be a detrimental effect on the visual sensitivity and emotional value products convey.
In the United Kingdom a significant proportion of the ageing population is financially independent, physically healthy and resistant to traditionally negative associations of ageing. However, limited interrogation of the design process, or of the products produced, leaves a largely youth orientated design industry ill- equipped to challenge these associations and design for consumers whose experiences differ from their own. This investigation interviewed leading design professionals to test these assumptions and to inform an innovative questionnaire to identify visual preference.
The questionnaire incorporated images of domestic products from 1930 to 1990 and asked for rapid responses reflecting intuitive preferences. A fifty five percent , response rate was achieved from 5,000 questionnaires posted to respondents aged fifty to seventy five years. Analysis of the findings identified two associations. Firstly, a statistically small association between age and visual preference, older respondents preferred older products, although the association was marginal and insufficient to support the hypothesis. Secondly, visual analysis revealed a strong preference for the most familiar form of the product, proposed as representing the 'contemporary essence'. These findings challenge assumptions that ageing is accompanied by a decline in design interest. Rather, the economic and social cost of establishing a design environment reduces the flexibility of future choices. These issues are age neutral. To address these issues, a critically reflective design approach is proposed as a positive response to an ageing population in an inclusive society
Located Lexicon: a project that explores how user generated content describes place
This extended conference paper explores the use and potential of location data in social media contexts. The research involved a series of experiments undertaken to assess the extent to which location information is present in exchanges, directly or indirectly. A prototype application was designed to exploit the insight obtained from the data-gathering experiments. This enabled us to develop a method and toolkit for searching, extracting and visualising mass-generated data for open source use. Ultimately, we were able to generate insights into data quality and ‘scale of query’ for emerging pedagogical research in learning swarms and distributed learners
Designing authentic online community of learning experiences for higher education
A key challenge for university professionals is to identify how to construct more interactive, engaging and student-centred environments that promote key learning skills and encourage self-directed learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an online professional development course that would enable higher education practitioners to design more interactive and engaging online courses.
An extensive review of the literature identified principles of online learning that informed the development of an authentic community of learning framework that was used to guide the design and implementation of the professional development course. Key principles encompassed in the framework include: 21st century learning skills, authentic learning elements, Community of Inquiry components—social, cognitive and teaching presence, meaningful learning with technology and using open educational resources. The learning environment comprised a Moodle learning management system (LMS) and an open Google Sites website.
Specifically, the research sought to investigate which elements of the framework higher educational practitioners found to be most effective in helping create an interactive and engaging online learning experience, and whether the authentic community of learning framework influenced their existing teaching practices.
The study employed a design-based research approach in the form of an interpretive, qualitative study. Data collection methods included surveys, participant artefacts, contributions to forums, blog reflections and interviews with selected participants. Data was coded and analysed using a constant comparative method of analysis.
Findings suggest that the authentic community of learning framework was a successful alternative to models frequently used to develop online professional development courses and provided learners with greater flexibility and control over their learning. Participants themselves believed that the online course influenced their choice of strategy when designing their future online courses
The Cultural Landscape & Heritage Paradox; Protection and Development of the Dutch Archeological-Historical Landscape and its European Dimension
To what extent can we know past and mainly invisible landscapes, and how we can use this still hidden knowledge for actual sustainable management of landscape’s cultural and historical values. It has also been acknowledged that heritage management is increasingly about ‘the management of future change rather than simply protection’. This presents us with a paradox: to preserve our historic environment, we have to collaborate with those who wish to transform it and, in order to apply our expert knowledge, we have to make it suitable for policy and society. The answer presented by the Protection and Development of the Dutch Archaeological-Historical Landscape programme (pdl/bbo) is an integrative landscape approach which applies inter- and transdisciplinarity, establishing links between archaeological-historical heritage and planning, and between research and policy. This is supported by two unifying concepts: ‘biography of landscape’ and ‘action research’. This approach focuses upon the interaction between knowledge, policy and an imagination centered on the public. The European perspective makes us aware of the resourcefulness of the diversity of landscapes, of social and institutional structures, of various sorts of problems, approaches and ways forward. In addition, two related issues stand out: the management of knowledge creation for landscape research and management, and the prospects for the near future. Underlying them is the imperative that we learn from the past ‘through landscape’
Critical pr in food communication and social media. The case of european food safety and promotion authorities
La popularitat en l’ús dels social media (mitjans socials 2.0) ha animat a les autoritats sanitàries a voler interactuar de manera online amb la ciutadania. L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi doctoral és conèixer de quina manera els social media poden ajudar a les agències de seguretat i promoció alimentària europees a comunicar els seus discursos directament amb els consumidors des de la teoria crítica de les relacions públiques. Per tal de saber l’opinió de les fonts oficials respecte l’adopció d’estratègies comunicatives online s’han realitzat entrevistes semiestructurades a 30 experts de cinc països europeus diferents (Bèlgica, Holanda, Irlanda, Itàlia i Espanya). L’estudi s’ha completat amb l’anàlisi de contingut online de totes les pàgines web i plataformes de social media de les agències oficials de seguretat i promoció alimentàries dels 28 estat membres de la Unió Europea. La recerca conclou que les autoritats alimentàries han adaptat les estratègies de social media des d’una perspectiva tècnica i que les seves organitzacions encara avui els manca les estructures comunicatives i cultura apropiades per a la negociació de significats amb les audiències creatives. Aquesta tesi s’ha desenvolupat parcialment dins el projecte FoodRisC finançat pel 7è Programa Marc de la Comissió Europea (acord núm. 245124).La popularidad de uso de los social media (medios sociales 2.0) ha animado a las autoridades sanitarias a interactuar de manera online con la ciudadanía. El objetivo de esta tesis doctoral es conocer como los social media pueden ayudar a las agencias de seguridad y promoción alimentaria europeas a comunicar sus discursos directamente con los consumidores desde la teoría crítica de las relaciones públicas. Para descubrir la opinión de las fuentes oficiales respecto la adopción de estrategias comunicativas online se han realizado entrevistas semiestructuradas a 30 expertos de cinco países europeos diferentes (Bélgica, Holanda, Irlanda, Italia y España). El estudio se ha completado con el análisis de contenido online de todas las páginas web y plataformas de social media de las agencias oficiales de seguridad y promoción alimentarias de los 28 estados miembros de la Unión Europea. La investigación concluye que las autoridades alimentarias han adaptado las estrategias de social media desde una perspectiva técnica y que sus organizaciones todavía hoy carecen de estructuras comunicativas y cultura apropiadas para la negociación de significados con las audiencias creativas. Esta tesis se ha desarrollado parcialmente dentro del proyecto FoodRisC financiado por el 7º Programa Marco de la Comisión Europea (acuerdo núm. 245124).The popularity of social media has encouraged public health authorities to interact online with citizens. The aim of the current thesis is to gain insight from the critical public relations theories perspective about to what extend social media strategies can assist European food safety and promotion authorities to communicate their discourses to lay consumers and strength relationships with them. The research has conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with food information supplier experts of five different European countries (Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands and Spain) to observe their point of view in relation to the adoption of social media into their communicative strategies. The study has been completed with an online content analysis of all the websites and social media platforms of the official food safety and promotion agencies of the 28 European member states. The research concludes that food authorities have adopted social media strategies from a technical perspective and today they still lack appropriate communicative structures and cultures in favour of negotiation of meanings among creative audiences. This thesis has been partly developed within the collaborative FoodRisC project which was funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission (grant agreement no. 245124)
Handbook Transdisciplinary Learning
What is transdisciplinarity - and what are its methods? How does a living lab work? What is the purpose of citizen science, student-organized teaching and cooperative education? This handbook unpacks key terms and concepts to describe the range of transdisciplinary learning in the context of academic education. Transdisciplinary learning turns out to be a comprehensive innovation process in response to the major global challenges such as climate change, urbanization or migration. A reference work for students, lecturers, scientists, and anyone wanting to understand the profound changes in higher education
Paediatric nursing : an investigation of the effect of specialist paediatric nurse education on the quality of children’s nursing care in Western Australia
In Australia, specialist education in paediatrics is not a requirement for nurses caring for hospitalised children. Thus, nurses can work in paediatrics without any prior knowledge of the unique needs of children such as developmental stages or separation anxiety. As a consequence, there are some clinicians and authors who advocate that when children require health care, they should be cared for by nurses who are educated in, and understand the specific physical, psychological and social needs of children. Despite this, the evidence is lacking as to whether specialist nurse education affects the quality of care in paediatrics. This study investigates whether the quality of care that children and their families receive is different to when they are nursed by specialist paediatric nurses (SPNs) compared to nonspecialist paediatric Registered Nurses (NSPNs). SPNs are Registered Nurses who have undertaken specific or further education in paediatrics and NSPNS are Registered Nurses who have no specific or further education in paediatrics. This research was prompted by national policy changes in Registered Nurse (RN) education which shifted the focus from hospital-based training to the tertiary sector. There has not been a review of paediatric nurse education in Australia since these changes in 1994. Quality measures have been developed for the admission procedure as it is the most common clinical procedure performed in hospital on children. The quality measures were defined by the literature and a Delphi Panel of international paediatric nursing experts. The five stage methodology incorporated: (i) a desk analysis of the literature and policies regarding paediatric nursing and education to identify quality measures (QMs); (ii) development of QMs for the most common hospital procedure for children, the admission procedure; (iii) the development of a consensus definition of QMs using the Delphi method; (iv) observation of RNs using video during the admission of children to the hospital to test the proposed QMs and measure whether SPNs behaved differently to NSPNs; and (v) a follow-up on-line survey of all of the observed RNs regarding their perceptions of other factors influencing their practice. This research found that overall, SPNs meet the quality measures during the admission procedure significantly more often than NSPNs (p=0.009). When the QMs were analysed individually, the analysis showed a significant relationship between education and some of the QMs, but not in others where the relationship was not statistically different. This leads to the assumption that there are other factors than the level of specialist education which affect the quality of care such as prompts on admission forms and/ or the RNs‘ personal experiences. However, in the on-line survey of the sample, the RNs reported that tailored education has played a major role in their care delivery to children and their families. The findings of this research indicate that in Australia, the ‗comprehensive‘ nursing model, which leads to the qualification of RN, may not be the best model for delivering the highest quality of care to children and their families
Good Corporation, Bad Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy
This textbook provides an innovative, internationally oriented approach to the teaching of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business ethics. Drawing on case studies involving companies and countries around the world, the textbook explores the social, ethical, and business dynamics underlying CSR in such areas as global warming, genetically modified organisms (GMO) in food production, free trade and fair trade, anti-sweatshop and living-wage movements, organic foods and textiles, ethical marketing practices and codes, corporate speech and lobbying, and social enterprise. The book is designed to encourage students and instructors to challenge their own assumptions and prejudices by stimulating a class debate based on each case study.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/oer-ost/1007/thumbnail.jp
Application of PLS-SEM for small-scale survey: an empirical example of SMEs
Recent developments in Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) have been claimed to add some sophistication onto quantitative research methods' usage in terms of their research versatility, efficiency and practicality in a range of disciplines including Information Systems, Marketing, and People Management research. Although covariance based SEM (CB-SEM) is most prominent, application of partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is an attractive alternative. This paper examines and applies the characteristics of PLS-SEM onto SMEs to see whether the efficiency, practicality and versatility assumptions, as claimed, do actually contribute to SMEs' business entrepreneurship in practice. The research question is therefore 'Do the embedded PLS-SEM assumptions of research versatility, practicality and efficiency actually translate into practical reality in SMEs operating in an emerging economy context?' We used a quantitative method data analysis technique as a precursor to help us identify the types of challenges faced by SMEs at both the micro and macro levels of analysis. Primary survey data from 212 Bangladeshi SMEs located at various geographic districts provide the study's population. We assess the application of the technique as a research methodological tool and its limitations provided the basis for us to develop and validate a partial least square based structural equation model (PLS-SEM) as part of a small scale survey-based research on SMEs. These methodological insights then led to a successful framing of SMEs in a model that contributes to a process of identifying which types of challenges are more critical for SMEs' growth. Our results show that for SMEs to be competitive, the business and research benefits of our modelling and methodological technique should be given foreseeable attention by both academics and business practitioners. This methodological perspective is yet to gain researchers and professional practitioners' attention from SMEs' business perspective. By applying the statistical PLS technique to Business and Management Studies research we are contributing to a deeper understanding and knowledge creation in examining the assumptions, the design and application of a sophisticated research tool for the development of People Management, Business and SME theory and practice with a focus on an emerging economy
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