Emergent spacetime and empirical (in)coherence

Numerous approaches to a quantum theory of gravity posit fundamental ontologies that exclude spacetime, either partially or wholly. This situation raises deep questions about how such theories could relate to the empirical realm, since arguably only entities localized in spacetime can ever be observed. Are such entities even possible in a theory without fundamental spacetime? How might they be derived, formally speaking? Moreover, since by assumption the fundamental entities can't be smaller than the derived (since relative size is a spatiotemporal notion) and so can't 'compose' them in any ordinary sense, would a formal derivation actually show the physical reality of localized entities? We address these questions via a survey of a range of theories of quantum gravity, and generally sketch how they may be answered positively.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physic

Using protocol analysis to explore the creative requirements engineering process

Protocol analysis is an empirical method applied by researchers in cognitive psychology and behavioural analysis. Protocol analysis can be used to collect, document and analyse thought processes by an individual problem solver. In general, research subjects are asked to think aloud when performing a given task. Their verbal reports are transcribed and represent a sequence of their thoughts and cognitive activities. These verbal reports are analysed to identify relevant segments of cognitive behaviours by the research subjects. The analysis results may be cross-examined (or validated through retrospective interviews with the research subjects). This paper offers a critical analysis of this research method, its approaches to data collection and analysis, strengths and limitations, and discusses its use in information systems research. The aim is to explore the use of protocol analysis in studying the creative requirements engineering process.<br /

The Black (W)hole: Examining Institutional Racism in Doctoral Education, an OrgCrit Perspective

Centering the role of institutional racism within graduate education remains an understudied topic in existing literature on Black doctoral student socialization experiences at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI). This leaves us with a void of sorts—or a Black (w)hole—whereby numerous studies acknowledge challenges within the collective Black doctoral student experience, yet, a hole (or void) exists within our understanding of how researchers interpret institutional racism at the center of their scholarly inquiry. Thus, this systematic literature review applied a critical organizational theory perspective to examine how higher education scholars grappled with the issue of institutional racism within their studies on Black doctoral students at PWIs.Educatio