Understanding spatial data usability

In recent geographical information science literature, a number of researchers have made passing reference to an apparently new characteristic of spatial data known as 'usability'. While this attribute is well-known to professionals engaged in software engineering and computer interface design and testing, extension of the concept to embrace information would seem to be a new development. Furthermore, while notions such as the use and value of spatial information, and the diffusion of spatial information systems, have been the subject of research since the late-1980s, the current references to usability clearly represent something which extends well beyond that initial research. Accordingly, the purposes of this paper are: (1) to understand what is meant by spatial data usability; (2) to identify the elements that might comprise usability; and (3) to consider what the related research questions might be

Measuring Customer Satisfaction on the Internet

Based on the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model as the underlying construct, methods to measure customer satisfaction with products and the steps to be undertaken in the research process are investigated. The measurement of Derived Satisfaction using (dis)confirmation was identified to be the appropriate approach to CS measurement. Prior research has also shown that during the research process, several points specific to CS measurements need to be accounted for. The Internet services currently used by marketing and social researchers include E-mail, mailinglists, newsgroups, Internet Chat, the World Wide Web (WWW) and Virtual Worlds. Virtual Worlds, being most advantageous for observational studies, are not useful for customer satisfaction research. Virtual Communities, in turn, have some promising characteristics for future use. Internet research methods based on these services include E-mail surveys and WWW-surveys. Common advantages of E-mail- and WWW-surveys include administrative and response speed, cost savings and global reach of respondents. Their greatest common disadvantage is the non-representativeness of the respondents for the larger population as well as their self-selection. Unless access is restricted to a known population, probability sampling is impossible when using the World Wide Web. Based on these insights, the Internet was found to be an advantageous medium for customer satisfaction studies only if specific conditions are met. Companies need to investigate on a case-by-case basis if the online measurement of customer satisfaction is possible in their specific situation. The recommendations were summarized in a decision-making framework. The results of a survey among market research agencies show that practitioners are to a large extent aware of the limitations within which the Internet can be used for customer satisfaction surveys. However, especially WWW-surveys sometimes are conducted in a way that does not lead to representative results.management information;

From the Hands of an Early Adopter's Avatar to Virtual Junkyards: Analysis of Virtual Goods' Lifetime Survival

One of the major questions in the study of economics, logistics, and business forecasting is the measurement and prediction of value creation, distribution, and lifetime in the form of goods. In "real" economies, a perfect model for the circulation of goods is impossible. However, virtual realities and economies pose a new frontier for the broad study of economics, since every good and transaction can be accurately tracked. Therefore, models that predict goods' circulation can be tested and confirmed before their introduction to "real life" and other scenarios. The present study is focused on the characteristics of early-stage adopters for virtual goods, and how they predict the lifespan of the goods. We employ machine learning and decision trees as the basis of our prediction models. Results provide evidence that the prediction of the lifespan of virtual objects is possible based just on data from early holders of those objects. Overall, communication and social activity are the main drivers for the effective propagation of virtual goods, and they are the most expected characteristics of early adopters.Comment: 28 page

EXPECTANCY THEORY AS A PREDICTOR OF FACULTY MOTIVATION TO USE A COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between the elements of the Expectancy theory and faculty motivation to use a course management system. Specifically it analyzed if the elements of the Expectancy theory (Valence, Instrumentality and Expectancy) were useful in predicting faculty motivation when using Blackboard tools in teaching their courses. A self-administered survey questionnaire was developed and used as the research instrument for this study. Four hundred and forty eight faculty members were randomly selected from eleven schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data for the study. The results of quantitative analysis showed that in a multiple regression between the elements of the VIE theory and faculty motivation to use Blackboard tools, Instrumentality and Valence did not have a significant influence on the model but had a significant relationship with the dependent variable by itself. Expectancy was the only element with a significant influence on the model. Based on the data, the model of the Expectancy theory was not useful in predicting faculty motivation when using Blackboard tools. Based on the number of answers in the survey, there were more women using Blackboard compared to men and among non-users men accounted for sixty percent of non-users. The relationship between gender and use of Blackboard was not significant to conclude that women were more likely to use Blackboard than men. Faculty perceived that even if Blackboard requires a lot of time to setup initially, it does save time in the long run when used as a tool to facilitate classroom instruction. The results of the qualitative analysis in this study found that faculty was more motivated to use those Blackboard tools that facilitated their jobs while teaching. Specifically, those tools that help disseminate course materials, post grades and communicate with students. The greatest number of users of Blackboard was between twenty eight and forty one years old. From one hundred and one participants, faculty with eleven to fifteen years of teaching experience were the dominant group of Blackboard users. Among the five departments questioned, there were more users of Blackboard in Sciences and the least in Education. Most of the Blackboard users were on tenure track faculty positions

Listening to the Voice of the Consumer: Expanding Technology Acceptance Model for Online Transportation Context

. In business, every successful innovation must be followed with commercial success. Thus, consumer acceptance is essential for technological innovation to gain success commercially. In Indonesia, Mobile Online Transportation Service (MOTS) has become phenomena in recent years. They are blooming and creating a new business opportunity as consumer acceptance is arguably high. This phenomena lead us to our question if is there any variables compatible to be added to TAM to be used in today's context? As we know, TAM was developed in the eighties by Fred Davis, and this new mobile ICT base innovation did not exist yet. Using a literature review, this conceptual paper will compare the original TAM model with consumer review data gathered from MOTS application stores to answer our research question. As a result, we proposed an extended version of TAM

Linking Research and Policy: Assessing a Framework for Organic Agricultural Support in Ireland

This paper links social science research and agricultural policy through an analysis of support for organic agriculture and food. Globally, sales of organic food have experienced 20% annual increases for the past two decades, and represent the fastest growing segment of the grocery market. Although consumer interest has increased, farmers are not keeping up with demand. This is partly due to a lack of political support provided to farmers in their transition from conventional to organic production. Support policies vary by country and in some nations, such as the US, vary by state/province. There have been few attempts to document the types of support currently in place. This research draws on an existing Framework tool to investigate regionally specific and relevant policy support available to organic farmers in Ireland. This exploratory study develops a case study of Ireland within the framework of ten key categories of organic agricultural support: leadership, policy, research, technical support, financial support, marketing and promotion, education and information, consumer issues, inter-agency activities, and future developments. Data from the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc), and other governmental and semi-governmental agencies provide the basis for an assessment of support in each category. Assessments are based on the number of activities, availability of information to farmers, and attention from governmental personnel for each of the ten categories. This policy framework is a valuable tool for farmers, researchers, state agencies, and citizen groups seeking to document existing types of organic agricultural support and discover policy areas which deserve more attention

A PROPOSED STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERCEIVED USEFULNESS AND ADOPTION OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Many developing countries currently face common problems regarding Information and Communications Technology (ICT). These problems typically include the lack of technical and know-how knowledge and the lack of appropriate technologies to meet their information processing and software needs. The situation worsens with the absence of adequate investment in technology and clear policies for technology adoption and use. Increasing interest in end users’ reactions to ICT has elevated the importance of theories that predict and explain ICT acceptance and use. This paper seeks to investigate the application of two such theories, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the Theory of Adoption and Diffusion to FOSS, to the adoption rate of FOSS in the Jamaican Public Sector

E-government systems success and user acceptance in developing countries: The role of perceived support quality

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Electronic government (e-Government) projects create numerous benefits and opportunities for both governments and citizens worldwide. Accordingly, the increasing interest in e-Government raises the issue of how governments can increase citizen adoption and usage of their on-line services. The successful adoption of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), the explosive increase in Internet usage and the rapid development of e-commerce in private sectors have placed pressure on public organisations to interact electronically with citizens. Conversely, the success of e-Government does not depend only on the supplier side, but also on the demand side and the willingness to adopt the on-line service. The concept of e-Government was developed and implemented initially in industrialised countries. Consequently, it should not be assumed that this concept is automatically appropriate for developing countries. Thus far, e-Government still faces major challenges as it continues to expand in developing countries. Moreover, when introducing e-Government to developing nations, it is anticipated that more effort will be necessary than in developed countries. The objective of various e-Government initiatives has moved in the past decade towards establishing services offering greater accessibility for citizens. As a result, it is necessary to examine all possible factors to explain citizens' adoption and usage of such systems. Hence, numerous models of e-Government adoption and intention to use and their extensions have been proposed and applied to empirical studies. Obviously, e-Government has occurred due to the technological revolution following the diffusion of the Internet and the success of information systems (IS) in organisations and e-Commerce. However, regardless of their success within the general IS context, the models are limited in terms of considering the diversity of users; they tend to assume that all end-users are homogeneous. The end-users of e-Government systems are more diverse than e-Commerce, with comparisons of wider layers of user groups (for example, elderly and less well-educated people) who are more likely to encounter problems while interacting with e-Government systems. IS literature confirmed that users’ technical capabilities and management support are influenced by their technical knowledge and expertise. Therefore, this research argues that perceived support quality is a new way of looking at citizens’ adoption and usage in the e-Government system’s field and a major factor of e-Government system’s acceptance, particularly in developing countries. This study is the first to examine the roles of perceived support quality and support satisfaction in the context of government-to-citizen (G2C), and it aims to advance knowledge within the field of e-Government by revealing the roles of perceived support quality and satisfaction towards behaviour intention and usage in developing countries. The proposed model builds upon Wixom and Todd’s (2005) theoretical model, which, in turn, was based on the integration of DeLone and McLean model (1992) into the technology acceptance model (TAM). The strength of the integrated model lies in its ability to guide both IT design and predict usage behaviours towards the system under investigation, and assume the overall theoretical model to maintain validity in G2C settings. Thirteen hypotheses were formulated to test the proposed research model. Behaviour intention to use e-Government services was proposed as the dependent variable, while the independent variables were information quality; information satisfaction; system quality; system satisfaction; social influence; performance expectancy; effort expectancy; perceived support quality and support satisfaction. A quantitative approach was deemed best suited to test the proposed model. Using a survey method (i.e. paper-based and an on-line survey), a total of 1252 responses was collected; however, only 628 were analysed. To test the proposed e-Government model, the state of Kuwait was chosen as the application area and the official website of Kuwait Government On-line Services (KGOS) was selected, since it offers a number of services on-line. Elements were citizens who have had prior experience with the KGOS website, and the survey was conducted from 5th August to 10th October 2010. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was selected as the statistical analysis technique with the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) software. A total of 40 percent of the variance among the factors of support satisfaction, system satisfaction, information quality, effort expectancy and performance expectancy was explained by behavioural intention to use an e-Government system. All hypotheses were supported except for one. The findings confirm the significance to the support quality perceived by citizens, and also provide insights into whether user satisfaction literature and TAMs should be integrated to explain citizens’ intention to use e-Government systems. Thus, in terms of the theoretical implications, this study highlights the significance of recognising theoretical relationships when performing empirical research in e-Government settings. Consequently, to capture both the technical aspects and the services provided on-line, a new variable was introduced and renamed ‘perceived support quality’. Additionally, the model offers managers a new perspective for dealing with e-Government adoption by signifying the importance of support quality perceived by citizens. The proposed model provides government decision-makers in developing countries with an appropriate approach to determining which factors require attention in order to reap the highest benefits from e-Governments’ projects. This suggests paying less attention to the social influence (SI) factor and consider instead improving the quality of on-line support citizens demand

Listening to the Voice of the Consumer: Expanding Technology Acceptance Model for Online Transportation Context

Abstract. In business, every successful innovation must be followed with commercial success. Thus, consumer acceptance is essential for technological innovation to gain success commercially. In Indonesia, Mobile Online Transportation Service (MOTS) has become phenomena in recent years. They are blooming and creating a new business opportunity as consumer acceptance is arguably high. This phenomena lead us to our question if is there any variables compatible to be added to TAM to be used in today’s context? As we know, TAM was developed in the eighties by Fred Davis, and this new mobile ICT base innovation did not exist yet. Using a literature review, this conceptual paper will compare the original TAM model with consumer review data gathered from MOTS application stores to answer our research question. As a result, we proposed an extended version of TAM. Keyword: TAM, innovation, mobile online transportation, service quality, price, relative advantag