Modelling User Behaviour in Market Attribution: finding novel data features using machine learning

This paper presents an exploration of market attribution methods and the integration of user behaviour. Attribution is the measurement of interaction between marketing touchpoints and channels along the customer journey, improving customer insights and driving smarter business decisions. Improving the accuracy of attribution requires a deeper understanding of user behaviour, not just marketing channel credit assignment. Evidence has been provided regarding the problems in the standardized approach to behavioural modelling and alternatives have been presented. The study explores data provided by a British based jewellery company with an investigation into pre-existing data features that can aid with the analysis of user behaviour. The study contains over 10 million rows collected over 2 years and presents the initial findings made in the first 15 months of a PhD study

The Phenomenology of Moral Agency in the Ethics of K. E. Logstrup

Many philosophers hold that moral agency is defined by an agent’s capacity for rational reflection and self-governance. It is only through the exercise of such capacities, these philosophers contend, that one’s actions can be judged to be of distinctively moral value. The moral phenomenology of the Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Løgstrup (1905-1981), currently enjoying a revival of interest amongst Anglo-American moral philosophers, is an exception to this view. Under the auspices of his signature theory of the ‘sovereign expressions of life,’ Løgstrup provides a rich moral phenomenology aimed at establishing the ethical value of ‘spontaneous,’ non-deliberative actions, such as those exemplified in the showing of trust and acts of mercy. In this thesis, my aim is to investigate what mode of moral agency, if any, is compatible with Løgstrup’s phenomenology of the sovereign expressions of life. I argue that Løgstrup’s moral phenomenology is compatible with a distinctive medio-passive mode of agency. According to this conception of moral agency, the subject’s agency is constituted not through her capacity to stand back and make a judgment on how to act, but rather in the way the subject comports herself in relation to situations and encounters that are experienced first-personally as overwhelming and encompassing. I will proceed by providing detailed analyses of the core aspects of Løgstrup’s moral phenomenology and his theory of the sovereign expressions of life. In the process, I will elucidate the decisive influence that thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Martin Luther and Søren Kierkegaard had on Løgstrup’s way of thinking about ethics. Thus, in this thesis my aim is to contribute both to Løgstrup scholarship and to central on-going debates in moral philosophy and the philosophy of action

Frames in the flight deck: a sociological approach to situation awareness

Situation Awareness (SA) is the aviation term for the construct describing how actors extract meaning and make sense of their dynamically changing environment. Within the aviation domain, it is broadly acknowledged that SA plays a crucial role for pilots in coping with hazardous situations and its loss is cited as a significant factor in aircraft accidents and incidents. A broad range of psychologically based theories has been applied to conceptualise SA. The aim of this research thesis is to develop an alternative, sociologically based approach, largely drawn from Erving Goffman’s (1974) Frame Analysis, and assess whether it can be used to effectively describe, analyse and discuss SA. An open observation method was used to collect data in the flight deck during ten commercial international flight sectors conducted in an advanced wide-body aircraft. A running narrative of flight activity and associated context was recorded from a purposeful sample of flights operated by consenting flight crews. Data was managed in the NVIVO© qualitative software analysis program. Strips of activity associated with the establishment or maintenance of SA were identified and examined in accordance with key concepts derived from frame analysis. The results show that key concepts drawn from Goffman’s (1974) frame analysis are able to be applied to the coding and discussion of data. Several emergent themes describe distinct SA behaviours relating to frame establishment and maintenance. These behaviours include; frame confirming, questioning, seeking, setting, proposing, clearing, accepting, reviewing and anticipating. Some unique modifications are made to Goffman’s underlying concepts in order to address specific contextual issues emergent in flight deck operations. SA is supported as a meaningful construct in the aviation domain. This thesis establishes that Goffman’s (1974) general theory of frame analysis supports the major underlying concepts of the specific SA construct. Additionally, a method derived from frame analysis is used to examine and analyse the observed intersubjective SA processes. This analysis also develops several unique perspectives concerning flight crew task performance that have wide ranging implications in procedural design, training and airspace integration. Lastly, practitioner based notions of SA are shown to be equivalent to that of “frame.

Capturing multi-stakeholder needs in Customer-Centric Cloud Service Design

Cloud computing applications and services go hand in hand, yet there is no clear mechanism for ensuring that the cloud applications are designed from a customer’s perspective. Likewise services can require adaptation for multiple customers of stakeholders, which require differing user experience outcomes. This paper describes the initial design and development of a predictive analytics cloud service application, which uses historic customer data to predict the existing customers that are most likely to churn. Service blueprinting, a service innovation method, was used as the underlying design model for developing an initial shared understanding of the required service. Personas were used in the requirements analysis to develop insights into multi-stakeholder needs. Using the design science paradigm an extended cloud service design theory is proposed, as an outcome of the ongoing development of this analytics platform

Spatial behaviour in the retail environment

This research has focused on the development of techniques for the collection, analysis and presentation of large movement and behavioural data sets. The research has followed three strands: the investigation of pedestrian flow networks in the central business district, the relationship of pedestrian flow and retail turnover, and the study of movement and behaviour of customers in-stores. This thesis reports on the development of a self contained time-lapse camera system. The cameras were used to record flow conditions and people in both the city centre and in-store environments. For each person seen in the films a number of demographic and behavioural variables were extracted. These were then used as the data base for computer modelling systems. The investigation of the potential development of a turnover interface was necessary to test whether the variables extracted from the film were of any predictive value. It was found that it was possible to segregate the shopping from the non-shopping population on the basis of the data collected. Two movement models were developed. The first, an Origin- Destination model called WONKA, was based on the network estimation procedures used in vehicular modelling. WONKA was applied in both environments for the prediction of paths through the studied network. PRETTY, a customer simulation and animation program, recreated the recorded data and allowed the user to select data sets according to any combination of the recorded variables. Subsequently a probable path module was added to PRETTY as it became apparent that the tight theoretical basis of WONKA was not suited to the free layouts of many stores

Spatial behaviour in the retail environment

This research has focused on the development of techniques for the collection, analysis and presentation of large movement and behavioural data sets. The research has followed three strands: the investigation of pedestrian flow networks in the central business district, the relationship of pedestrian flow and retail turnover, and the study of movement and behaviour of customers in-stores. This thesis reports on the development of a self contained time-lapse camera system. The cameras were used to record flow conditions and people in both the city centre and in-store environments. For each person seen in the films a number of demographic and behavioural variables were extracted. These were then used as the data base for computer modelling systems. The investigation of the potential development of a turnover interface was necessary to test whether the variables extracted from the film were of any predictive value. It was found that it was possible to segregate the shopping from the non-shopping population on the basis of the data collected. Two movement models were developed. The first, an Origin- Destination model called WONKA, was based on the network estimation procedures used in vehicular modelling. WONKA was applied in both environments for the prediction of paths through the studied network. PRETTY, a customer simulation and animation program, recreated the recorded data and allowed the user to select data sets according to any combination of the recorded variables. Subsequently a probable path module was added to PRETTY as it became apparent that the tight theoretical basis of WONKA was not suited to the free layouts of many stores

Effect of targeted movement interventions on pain and quality of life in children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy : A pilot single subject research design to test feasibility of parent-reported assessments

Purpose To determine the feasibility of using parent-reported outcome measures of the Paediatric Pain Profile (PPP), Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and Care and Comfort Hypertonicity Questionnaire (CCHQ) as repeated outcome measures of change at weekly intervals for children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP). The secondary aim was to explore the efficacy of individualised movement intervention. Material and methods In this pilot feasibility study a single subject research design was utilised. Three children with dyskinetic CP, completed 5 weeks of parent-reported baseline assessments, 8 weekly sessions of intervention and 5 weeks of follow up. Results All children completed 18 weeks of the study, with no missing data. There was evidence of parent-reported improvements in their child’s pain and care and comfort between the baseline and intervention phases. Conclusions The PPP, SDSC and CCHQ were feasible to assess pain, sleep and comfort before and after an intervention in children with dyskinetic CP. There is preliminary evidence that individualised movement intervention as little as once a week may help improve pain, sleep and improve ease of care and comfort