Application of Natural Language Processing to Determine User Satisfaction in Public Services

Research on customer satisfaction has increased substantially in recent years. However, the relative importance and relationships between different determinants of satisfaction remains uncertain. Moreover, quantitative studies to date tend to test for significance of pre-determined factors thought to have an influence with no scalable means to identify other causes of user satisfaction. The gaps in knowledge make it difficult to use available knowledge on user preference for public service improvement. Meanwhile, digital technology development has enabled new methods to collect user feedback, for example through online forums where users can comment freely on their experience. New tools are needed to analyze large volumes of such feedback. Use of topic models is proposed as a feasible solution to aggregate open-ended user opinions that can be easily deployed in the public sector. Generated insights can contribute to a more inclusive decision-making process in public service provision. This novel methodological approach is applied to a case of service reviews of publicly-funded primary care practices in England. Findings from the analysis of 145,000 reviews covering almost 7,700 primary care centers indicate that the quality of interactions with staff and bureaucratic exigencies are the key issues driving user satisfaction across England

Application of grounded theory for concept analysis in new product development processes

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Industrial Design, Izmir, 2006Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 63-65)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and English.x, 79 leavesThere is always a gap between analyzing the data and drawing the charts in relati with these data. During the development of new products, there comments on data are having vital importance. The more data collected to be specified, the more success gained to lead to a breakthrough. By stating the correct data, the project of developing new products under appropriate concepts are accomplished. In order to apply the data correctly, these data are driven by some techniques. In this study, one of these techniques, Grounded Theory is chosen to be examined according to basic examples. By the assistance of these examples, the theory is clarified. In order to be more precise, a case study is established and detailed with the data of developing a new product with a novel concept

Essays on Resource and Environmental Economics: Evidence from a Natural Experiment, Laboratory Experiment, and Scenario Forecasting

This dissertation examines impacts of product information and environmental events on individual behavior and the economy. This is done using a causal inference econometric approach, an eye-tracking laboratory experiment, and scenario forecasting. The first essay evaluates the effects of unit-based pricing (UBP) of municipal solid waste and a mandatory recycling (MR) policy on waste reduction, recycling, and illegal waste dumping in Taiwan. The results suggest that the UBP policy curbed the quantity of unsorted waste and increased disposal of biodegradable waste but did not significantly increase the quantity of recycling. In contrast, the MR policy boosted biodegradable waste and recycling but did not necessarily decrease the amount of unsorted waste. The UBP policy also stimulated a temporary increase in illegal dumping. The second essay applies an eye-tracking experiment to investigate how consumers react to honey product origin, adulteration, and review information. The experimental results suggest that the certified local honey seal and honey adulteration information independently raise WTP for local honey but do not interact to jointly raise WTP. The results also show that negative honey product reviews cause a much larger reduction in WTP than the increase produced by positive reviews. The third essay reports on an investigation of how rice yield increases over time are influenced by climate, CO2 fertilization, and research investment. To allow identification of CO2 effects, the study integrates FAO reported yield data with data from the free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) experiments. The result suggests that an increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration has made a significant contribution to rice yield increases, amounting to about 52% of the observed rice yield growth. The result also shows that increasing precipitation and temperature cause reductions in rice yields, implying that CO2 mitigation and climate change are yield growth depressing factors. On the other hand, the result indicates that research investments increase yields, and this finding raises a potential need for more investment in agricultural research and development if society is to offset CO2 mitigation and climate change effects

Argumentation in biology : exploration and analysis through a gene expression use case

Argumentation theory conceptualises the human practice of debating. Implemented as computational argumentation it enables a computer to perform a virtual debate. Using existing knowledge from research into argumentation theory, this thesis investigates the potential of computational argumentation within biology. As a form of non-monotonic reasoning, argumentation can be used to tackle inconsistent and incomplete information - two common problems for the users of biological data. Exploration of argumentation shall be conducted by examining these issues within one biological subdomain: in situ gene expression information for the developmental mouse. Due to the complex and often contradictory nature of biology, occasionally it is not apparent whether or not a particular gene is involved in the development of a particular tissue. Expert biological knowledge is recorded, and used to generate arguments relating to this matter. These arguments are presented to the user in order to help him/her decide whether or not the gene is expressed. In order to do this, the notion of argumentation schemes has been borrowed from philosophy, and combined with ideas and technologies from arti cial intelligence. The resulting conceptualisation is implemented and evaluated in order to understand the issues related to applying computational argumentation within biology. Ultimately, this work concludes with a discussion of Argudas - a real world tool developed for the biological community, and based on the knowledge gained during this work

Motivational drivers for mobile shopping adoption: an empirical study of the Chinese Generation Y consumers

One of the most prominent trends of the 21st century in China is the emergence of e-commerce, especially mobile commerce, which has changed people’s lives, notably in the way they conduct shopping. This study investigates mobile shopping behaviour in China, focusing on Generation Y, for the following two reasons:（ 1） Research on consumers’ behavioural intention in adopting mobile shopping has been carried out previously, yet the research into this trend in China is limited and research with specific focus on the Chinese Generation Y is even more so. （ 2） Since Chinese Generation-Y has played a dominant role and made a significant impact on the online retailing market, the researcher believes it is essential to conduct Chinese Generation-Y-focused research to develop a deeper understanding of this special group’s consumption behaviour so that the online and offline marketers and retailers will be able to develop effective strategies in terms of customer positioning and mobile shopping platform design. Following an extensive literature review, the research develops a new conceptual framework which extends the existing framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology, also known as the UTAUT (Venkatesh, et al.,2003) and Six Dimensions of Hedonic Shopping Motivation (Arnold and Reynold, 2003). This novel integration has not been attempted in previous research. The research was also designed to employ a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for a robust understanding of mobile commerce acceptance in Chinese Generation-Y. Data was collected via an online questionnaire survey with a sample of 473 and an additional six interviews. Various statistical techniques in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) are used for quantitative analysis and the thematic method is used for qualitative analysis. The research findings confirm that the key factors affecting the behavioural intention of mobile shopping are as follows: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, perceived gratification shopping, perceived role shopping, and perceived value shopping. Other factors found to have an insignificant impact include social influence, perceived individual innovativeness, perceived adventure shopping, perceived social shopping, and perceived idea shopping. These findings help move existing theory forward, and consideration of using this integrated model can help scholars examine all the potential factors that might influence the reasons behind mobile shopping in China. In addition, this research framework further provides three practical implications for mobile shopping platform providers to consider: customer experience, product attributes, and customer positioning

Forecasting: theory and practice

Forecasting has always been at the forefront of decision making and planning. The uncertainty that surrounds the future is both exciting and challenging, with individuals and organisations seeking to minimise risks and maximise utilities. The large number of forecasting applications calls for a diverse set of forecasting methods to tackle real-life challenges. This article provides a non-systematic review of the theory and the practice of forecasting. We provide an overview of a wide range of theoretical, state-of-the-art models, methods, principles, and approaches to prepare, produce, organise, and evaluate forecasts. We then demonstrate how such theoretical concepts are applied in a variety of real-life contexts. We do not claim that this review is an exhaustive list of methods and applications. However, we wish that our encyclopedic presentation will offer a point of reference for the rich work that has been undertaken over the last decades, with some key insights for the future of forecasting theory and practice. Given its encyclopedic nature, the intended mode of reading is non-linear. We offer cross-references to allow the readers to navigate through the various topics. We complement the theoretical concepts and applications covered by large lists of free or open-source software implementations and publicly-available databases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio