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Problem Definition (problem + definition)
Selected AbstractsA simple LMS-based approach to the structural health monitoring benchmark problemEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 6 2005J. Geoffrey Chase Abstract A structure's health or level of damage can be monitored by identifying changes in structural or modal parameters. However, the fundamental modal frequencies can sometimes be less sensitive to (localized) damage in large civil structures, although there are developing algorithms that seek to reduce this difficulty. This research directly identifies changes in structural stiffness due to modeling error or damage using a structural health monitoring method based on adaptive least mean square (LMS) filtering theory. The focus is on computational simplicity to enable real-time implementation. Several adaptive LMS filtering based approaches are used to analyze the data from the IASC,ASCE Structural Health Monitoring Task Group Benchmark problem. Results are compared with those from the task group and other published results. The proposed methods are shown to be very effective, accurately identifying damage to within 1%, with convergence times of 0.4,13.0 s for the twelve different 4 and 12 degree of freedom benchmark problems. The resulting modal parameters match to within 1% those from the benchmark problem definition. Finally, the methods developed require 1.4,14.0 Mcycles of computation and therefore could easily be implemented in real time. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The diffusion of regulatory impact analysis , Best practice or lesson-drawing?EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2004CLAUDIO M. RADAELLI Its main theoretical thrust is to explore the limitations of the conventional analysis of RIA in terms of de-contextualised best practice and provide an alternative framework based on the lesson-drawing literature. After having discussed how demand and supply of best practice emerge in the OECD and the European Union, some analytic (as opposed to normative) lessons are presented. The main lessons revolve around the politics of problem definition, the nesting of RIA into wider reform programmes, the political malleability of RIA, the trade-off between precision and administrative assimilation, the roles of networks and watchdogs, and institutional learning. The conclusions discuss the implications of the findings for future research. [source] Changing the internal health and safety organization through organizational learning and change managementHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 3 2006Peter Hasle Research from several countries indicates that the internal health and safety organization is marginalized in most companies, and it is difficult for the professionals to secure a proper role in health and safety on the companies' present agenda. The goal of a Danish project involving a network of 11 companies was to search for a solution to this problem. The health and safety managers and safety representatives played the role of "change agents" for local projects aiming to develop the health and safety organization. The study showed that 3 of the 11 companies proved to be able to implement successful changes; 5 were partially successful; 3 were nonperformers. The more successful outcomes seem to depend on the abilities of change agents to handle a complex and unpredictable project. Based on these case studies, it has been possible to deduce some strategies change agents must follow to fulfill such a process. Such strategies require the ability to be able to identify opportunities for change, establish a sustainable problem definition, and build coalitions. An amoeba model is suggested as a metaphor for this type of development project. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 16: 269,284, 2006. [source] Policy utilisation of research results in Cameroon*INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 179 2004Charly Gabriel Mbock Using knowledge by taking account of the results of scientific research is a preoccupation of the scientific community on which this article proposes to shed light by considering the case of Cameroon. Within the theoretical framework of actionism, the study is based on a questionnaire survey administered to a sample of 200 researchers, decision-makers, and research-commissioning bodies, complemented by interviews. The data cover commissioning, evaluation and utilisation practices over the period 1990,2001. The results show considerable differences in judgement between researchers, decision-makers, and commissioning bodies with regard to existing practices and desirable usage. The differences reflect the lack of connection between properly academic concerns and policy prospects, as well as a research funding structure in Cameroon that separates problem definition from solution implementation. Given inadequate utilisation of scientific research data in public policy, the article proposes renewed institutional forms that might encourage academicism to take account of the practical requirements of social engineering. [source] Nurses' decision-making in collecting information for the assessment of patients' nursing problemsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 2 2002TARJA JUNNOLA MNSc ,,The paper addresses two questions: Firstly, what kind of information do nurses acquire from cancer patients for purposes of judging their patients' problems and preparing a care plan? Secondly, how systematically do nurses proceed in the decision-making process from the formulation of initial assumptions about the patient's situation to the final definition of problems? ,,The instrument used for data collection was a computer-simulated case description compiled by a team of four nursing researchers and one medical researcher. The case description was based on a real patient history. ,,The sample consisted of 107 Registered Nurses on four oncology, two internal medicine and five surgical wards of two central university hospitals in Finland. Data were collected in autumn 1998 and spring 1999 using a laptop computer and a tape recorder. ,,The four most important problems identified by nurses at baseline were pain (85%), pain medication (59%), family situation (66%) and spread of cancer (49%). Presented with a list of 23 options, they obtained additional information on average on 13 areas. Almost one-third collected information from 16 to 22 areas. On average nurses identified 12 of the 28 nursing problems specified. A statistically significant association was observed between information acquisition and problem definition in seven different variables. These had to do with pain, general condition and prognosis. ,,Nurses adequately prioritized their patients' problems and systematically collected data on those problems. On the other hand they also identified a number of problems that were not relevant to the situation. [source] Using multimethods ethnography to promote quality service and understand interactions among organizationsNONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 4 2006Jo Anne Schneider Multimethods ethnography combines qualitative techniques with analysis of statistical data and sometimes mapping techniques. Ethnography provides a comprehensive picture of process in an agency or other setting by examining the dynamics between individuals and institutions to understand how systems work. Ethnography is particularly good at evaluating complex problems involving multiple stakeholders as well as understanding agency processes. I use examples from the Neighborhood Settlement House Evaluation Project and Kenosha Social Capital Study to describe the ethnographic method and its potential uses for nonprofit managers. I begin with an outline of methodological techniques, including problem definition, sample design, various data collection techniques, and analysis. Next I discuss ethnography's approach to the common research concerns of generalizability and replication. In concluding, I discuss ways that this method can be useful to nonprofit managers. Quality work is compared with less complete research techniques throughout each section. [source] Policy Development and New Immigrant Communities: A Case Study of Citizen Input in Defining Transit ProblemsPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 5 2005Hindy Lauer Schachter This case study explores an attempt to get input from people with limited English proficiency in a state department of transportation project to improve their transit access. Adding community voices to expert discourse can increase an agency's ability to respond effectively in a technical field. The article yields insights into the benefits of using deliberative groups rather than questionnaires as a technique for involving citizens in problem definition. [source] Managing innovation in an emerging sector: the case of marine-based nutraceuticalsR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007Jayaram K. Sankaran Biotechnology is turning a traditionally low-tech industry (food) into a high-tech industry (functional food/nutraceuticals). There is a real need to enhance managerial understanding by clarifying the nature of innovation processes in the functional food industry, including the role of research and development (R&D) and collaboration. The present investigation focuses on a particular segment of the functional food industry, viz. marine-based nutraceuticals. We find that various hurdles thwart the fullest realization of the business potential of marine bio-actives in the pharmaceutical space. However, the innovation of commercially viable marine-based nutraceuticals/cosmeceuticals is yet possible if the extraction route for supply is a feasible fallback option, should industrial-scale synthesis prove elusive. Effectiveness in innovation is facilitated by the collaboration of various disciplines including epidemiology, traditional/folkloric medicine, aquaculture/fermentation, natural products chemistry, toxicology, and relevant strands of medical, pharmacological, and clinical research. In this regard, the inter-disciplinary field of ethno-pharmacology rises to prominence. Universities and government research institutes may be well positioned to drive such collaboration and reap the benefits from problem definition in addition to problem solving. Toward this end, the findings from the present study are integrated into a phased approach toward the innovation of commercially viable marine-based nutraceuticals that is targeted at entrepreneurs in this field. [source] Multi-level Environmentalism and the European Union: The Case of Trans-European Transport NetworksINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006HEIN-ANTON VAN DER HEIJDEN In the European Union, trans-European transport networks (TENs) are a vital element in the constitution of one European space in order to enable the free movement of people and goods throughout the Union. Their construction, however, often causes environmental degradation. Opposition to EU politics is mostly voiced at the level of individual nation-states. As the case of TENs reveals, however, protest against European policy projects with environmental side effects can take the form of ,multi-level environmentalism', linking lobbying and ,conscientization' in Brussels with direct action at the national and local levels. Civil society theory, social movement theory and governance theory help ensure a theoretically informed answer to the question of how the resistance to TENs is organized and framed. By questioning dominant problem definitions and solution strategies, environmental movements and movement organizations, both in Brussels and in the individual nation-states, point to the possibility of looking at social and political reality from another, non-hegemonic point of view. In this way, they contribute to challenging the often biased technocratic, growth-oriented character of the European Union. [source] Refugee families in therapy: from referrals to therapeutic conversationsJOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 2 2001Nora Sveaass Refugee families referred for therapy present a wide array of problems and expectations, not always in accordance with what therapy may offer. Major differences between referring professionals, families and therapists regarding problem definitions and solutions may complicate collaboration. Interventions that may overcome these barriers and move initial interviews into a therapeutic context are described. Three patterns regarding referral process, problem presentation and expectations (here called referral contexts) are outlined: ,the relational', where families ask for psychological and interpersonal assistance, ,the unfocused', where families are referred to therapy without expressing any wish for it, and ,the fixed solution', where families seek support for solutions that are not of a therapeutic nature. The interventions described form part of a negotiation where motives and interest for therapy are explored and agreements regarding further therapy are outlined. [source] A method for evaluating research syntheses: The quality, conclusions, and consensus of 12 syntheses of the effects of after-school programsRESEARCH SYNTHESIS METHODS, Issue 1 2010Jeffrey C. Valentine Abstract Like all forms of empirical inquiry, research syntheses can be carried out in ways that lead to more or less valid inferences about the phenomenon under study. This synthesis of syntheses (a) examined the methods employed in the syntheses of the effects of after-school programs (ASPs) and determined how closely they conformed to what is defined as best practice for research synthesis, (b) compared the inferences drawn from the ASP research literature by each synthesis with the inferences that plausibly could be made from the data they covered, and (c) determined the points of consistency across the syntheses with regard to both potentially valid and potentially invalid conclusions. It was found that the 12 syntheses used highly divergent methods, varying in problem definitions, search strategies, inclusion criteria for individual studies, and techniques for drawing conclusions about the cumulative evidence. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A European in Asia,ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2007Geert Hofstede How culture-proof are the social sciences? Travelling in another continent, one meets culture's influences not only in the objects of social science research, but at least as much in the minds of the researchers. Researchers' problem definitions and choices of issues to be addressed and questions to be asked limit what they will find; they are a potential source of ethnocentric bias. A case example of the discovery of such a bias was the emergence of a fifth dimension of national cultures supplementing Hofstede's four, through Bond's Chinese Value Survey. In the area of personality research, a number of newer and older findings by Asian and European researchers suggest the need for expanding the ,Big Five' model of personality traits with a sixth factor, Dependence on Others, in order to make the model culturally universal. In general, researchers recognize primarily those aspects of culture for which their own culture differs most from others. For escaping from the cultural constraints in our own research we therefore need to trade ideas with colleagues from other parts of the world. In this respect, Asian researchers have an important role to play. [source] | ||||||||||||||||