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User Perspective (user + perspective)
Selected AbstractsUser perspectives on relevance criteria: A comparison among relevant, partially relevant, and not-relevant judgmentsJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2002Kelly L. Maglaughlin This study investigates the use of criteria to assess relevant, partially relevant, and not-relevant documents. Study participants identified passages within 20 document representations that they used to make relevance judgments; judged each document representation as a whole to be relevant, partially relevant, or not relevant to their information need; and explained their decisions in an interview. Analysis revealed 29 criteria, discussed positively and negatively, that were used by the participants when selecting passages that contributed or detracted from a document's relevance. These criteria can be grouped into six categories: abstract (e.g., citability, informativeness), author (e.g., novelty, discipline, affiliation, perceived status), content (e.g., accuracy/validity, background, novelty, contrast, depth/scope, domain, citations, links, relevant to other interests, rarity, subject matter, thought catalyst), full text (e.g., audience, novelty, type, possible content, utility), journal/publisher (e.g., novelty, main focus, perceived quality), and personal (e.g., competition, time requirements). Results further indicate that multiple criteria are used when making relevant, partially relevant, and not-relevant judgments, and that most criteria can have either a positive or negative contribution to the relevance of a document. The criteria most frequently mentioned by study participants were content, followed by criteria characterizing the full text document. These findings may have implications for relevance feedback in information retrieval systems, suggesting that systems accept and utilize multiple positive and negative relevance criteria from users. Systems designers may want to focus on supporting content criteria followed by full text criteria as these may provide the greatest cost benefit. [source] User Behavior and the "Globalness" of Internet: From a Taiwan Users' PerspectiveJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 2 2002Chun Chou Liu It is believed that the cyberworld knows no borders and boundaries. Users from all corners of the world are connected. However, the literature stops short of telling us how meaningful and valuable its "borderless" nature actually is to the Internet users themselves. Have they taken full advantage of whatever freedom is available to them in roaming the cyberworld? Do they venture beyond their language and/or cultural group to interact with those whoM they normally would have little opportunity to meet otherwise? To what extent do they take advantage of the opportunity to venture beyond the limits of their "real" worlds? Taiwan houses one of the most vigorous information industries in the world. This paper looks at the general patterns of Internet use in Taiwan, including online activities for communication, information access, and e-commerce. Secondly, a special effort is made to examine the "globalness" of Taiwan users' Internet behavior, and the factors contributing to these patterns of use. In Taiwan, the Internet as a medium may indeed be "global," yet the user continues to live within the "local," the "place" one relates to, where his/her needs and desires are generated, and where one feels a sense of belonging. One may briefly venture out of this locality to accomplish a task, fulfill a goal, or simply satisfy his/her curiosity; however, as pointed out by Wang and Servaes (2000), the importance, significance, and relevance of the global are not as great as that of the local. [source] Users' perspectives on the experience and effects of acupuncture treatmentFOCUS ON ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH, Issue 1 2002C Paterson [source] Developing a user-generated measure of continuity of care: brief reportACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2009D. Rose Objective:, This paper describes a measure of continuity of care, establishes its reliability and tests it in a field trial sample for evidence of its validity. In contrast to others, this measure has been generated from the perspectives of service users. As continuity of care is a concern particularly for those with severe mental illness, we have confined our work to this population group. Method:, Service users in focus groups and expert panels generated the measure. The researchers were themselves service users. Test,retest reliability was assessed with an independent sample. The measure was administered to a final independent field trial sample to determine their experiences of continuity of care and for further psychometric testing. Results:, The measure generated by service users has satisfactory psychometric properties. Service users in the field trial sample were more satisfied when continuity, as assessed by this measure, was in place. Conclusion:, It is possible and valid to construct outcome measures in mental health entirely from the user perspective. This has not been done before. [source] Understanding assurance services reports: A user perspectiveACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 3 2000Peter Roebuck In 1997 the International Auditing Practices Committee (IAPC) issued an exposure draft (ED) outlining a framework for providing assurance services. It was recommended that the level of assurance provided be expressed on a continuum from absolute to low. The user was to infer this assurance from, among other things, the nature of the engagement and the description of the work undertaken. Using a 2x2 between-subjects research design this study examined whether assurance report users would differ in their identified level of assurance as a result of the description of the nature of the engagement (historical versus prospective) and the amount of work performed (higher level versus lower level). It was found that shareholders desired such assurance reports, but many did not find the format suggested by the IAPC useful for their decision-making. A higher level of assurance was found to be attached to historical compared with prospective reports, but no difference was found for reports attempting to communicate higher versus lower levels of assurance as a result of the description of work performed. These results suggest that the IAPC should consider the use of alternative wording in order to accurately communicate the level of work performed in assurance engagements. [source] Proposed Changes in Lease Accounting and Private Business Bankers' Credit Decisions,ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVES, Issue 1 2009Sylvain Durocher ABSTRACT This study contributes to the debate on lease accounting currently ongoing at the international level and to future discussions at the Canadian level for private enterprise standards following a potential revision of lease accounting in international financial reporting standards (IFRS). A user perspective is adopted to examine private business bankers' preferences on the issue of capitalizing all noncancelable lease contracts, including operating leases, as suggested by the G4+1. While bankers use both capital and operating lease information, they give significantly more consideration to the former when analyzing private business loan requests. Accordingly, operating lease information receives less attention than capital lease information in the credit-granting decision process. In addition, private business bankers consider a number of aspects of the current lease accounting standard to be inadequate and are in favor of the principles governing the approach suggested by the G4+1. They feel that the capitalization of operating leases would improve their ability to evaluate lessees' long-term financial commitments and increase their estimates of the risks involved in providing financing to lessees. This study also demonstrates that the capitalization of operating leases would have a significant impact on key financial indicators of a sample of Canadian private companies. Bankers perceive that these realistic changes in financial indicators would affect their assessment of borrowers' capital structure/solvency, liquidity, ability to repay, and risk rating. From a cost-benefit perspective, the findings provide standard-setters with an indication of the benefits of the G4+1 proposals to users. [source] Reconciling user and project manager perceptions of IT project risk: a Delphi study,INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002Mark Keil Abstract. In an increasingly dynamic business environment characterized by fast cycle times, shifting markets and unstable technology, a business organization's survival hinges on its ability to align IT capabilities with business goals. To facilitate the successful introduction of new IT applications, issues of project risk must be addressed, and the expectations of multiple stakeholders must be managed appropriately. To the extent that users and developers may harbour different perceptions regarding project risk, areas of conflict may arise. By understanding the differences in how users and project managers perceive the risks, insights can be gained that may help to ensure the successful delivery of systems. Prior research has focused on the project manager's perspective of IT project risk. This paper explores the issue of IT project risk from the user perspective and compares it with risk perceptions of project managers. A Delphi study reveals that these two stakeholder groups have different perceptions of risk factors. Through comparison with a previous study on project manager risk perceptions, zones of concordance and discordance that must be reconciled are identified. [source] Public partnerships, governance and user involvement: a service user perspectiveINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 5 2010Peter Beresford Abstract This paper explores public partnerships and governance from a service user perspective, drawing both on the author's own involvement in service user organizations and movements and on material associated with and produced by these organizations and movements. It addresses the ambivalent relationship between service user organizations and movements and the idea and practice of ,partnerships', and explores their preference for ideas of ,alliance'. It charts the different approaches to and ideologies underpinning user involvement and their implications for partnership between state and service users and their organizations. It offers a set of components for improving such partnerships as well as highlighting the growing interest of service users' organizations and movements in developing and extending alliances. [source] Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: An Evaluation of a Community Based Management Programme for Adolescents and their FamiliesCHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 1 2006Bernadette Ashby Background:, Young people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), families and clinicians may differ in their attributions about CFS and consequently in their approach to treatment. Research that clarifies the best treatment approaches is clearly needed. We have sought to develop a model that engages young people and their families in a collaborative way. The approach adopts an optimistic and holistic stance using an active rehabilitation model paying attention to the integrated nature of the physiological and psychological aspects of the illness. Method:, This small study set out to evaluate this approach from a service user perspective. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with young people and their parents separately in order to elicit their views on key treatment elements and their perceived degree of recovery. Results:, Improvements are indicated in all key areas addressed and qualitative information suggests that families value this approach. Conclusion:, Further research is needed to address treatment issues for families who choose not to opt into the service model. [source] Mental health crisis at home: service user perspectives on what helps and what hindersJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2007C. HOPKINS rmn msc ma This paper presents data which emerged during the process of a participatory research study to identify the perspectives of previous users of a home treatment service. Feedback was sought in order to establish the criteria for the development of a service evaluation questionnaire. Seven themes emerged from the data which were then used as a framework for the evaluation questionnaire. These themes have also been used within this paper to present what our participants told us was important to them when they received a service at home at a time of mental health crisis. Although what is described here is the experience of one group of service users in the North of England, we hope that the views of these participants will create a resonance with providers of other home treatment services and expand the knowledge about which aspects of care at home during mental health crisis are viewed as helpful and those aspects which are not. [source] Young People who have Sexually Abused: What do they (and their parents) want from Professionals?CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 3 2006Simon Hackett This article presents the findings of a small scale qualitative study of user perspectives in the adolescent sexual aggression field. Twenty four service users who had received intervention from nine different specialist providers completed a structured questionnaire about their experiences of professional involvement. Both young people who had sexually abused and parents identified the kinds of professional intervention which they found useful, as well as practices that they experienced as unhelpful. Young people and their families alike were found to value supportive interventions which gave them an opportunity to gain insight into the nature of sexual abuse as well to address their own feelings about their problems. [source] Survey of the medical financial assistance schemes of the urban poor in ShanghaiINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2002Sun Xiao-ming Abstract After 1990, being a ,pilot city' for health care reform, Shanghai constructed modernized medical financial assistance schemes (MFAS), which were progressively applied by the central government rate in the 1990s. As the pioneer of social security reform in China, Shanghai again is the place with most experience of the problems of the transition from ,Public-Relief' to ,Social-Assistance'. From the ,user' perspective of MFAS, the study reported has attempted to evaluate MFASs. Furthermore, the research seeks to point to future policy and programme options for implementing MFAS and optimizing the allocation of urban health care resources. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Resource reservations with fuzzy requestsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 13 2006T. Röblitz Abstract We present a scheme for reserving job resources with imprecise requests. Typical parameters such as the estimated runtime, the start time or the type or number of required CPUs need not be fixed at submission time but can be kept fuzzy in some aspects. Users may specify a list of preferences which guide the system in determining the best matching resources for the given job. Originally, the impetus for our work came from the need for efficient co-reservation mechanisms in the Grid where rigid constraints on multiple job components often make it difficult to find a feasible solution. Our method for handling fuzzy reservation requests gives the users more freedom to specify the requirements and it gives the Grid Reservation Service more flexibility to find optimal solutions. In the future, we will extend our methods to process co-reservations. We evaluated our algorithms with real workload traces from a large supercomputer site. The results indicate that our scheme greatly improves the flexibility of the solution process without having much affect on the overall workload of a site. From a user's perspective, only about 10% of the non-reservation jobs have a longer response time, and from a site administrator's view, the makespan of the original workload is extended by only 8% in the worst case. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The achievability of sustainable reporting practices in agricultureCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2009Belinda R. Williams Abstract This research investigates the process of change in moving from a domestic accounting standard, AASB 1037, relating to self-generating and regenerating assets (SGARAs) to an international standard, AASB 141. It focuses on the achievement (or nonachievement as it may be) of sustainable reporting practices for these agricultural assets. This paper finds that the transition to AASB 141 has allowed firms the discretion to change how they value their agricultural assets in comparison to the domestic standard. Consistency may have been achieved to a limited extent with the introduction of this financial accounting standard but comparability appears not to have been. Further, there is very limited understanding of the reporting of these assets from a user's perspective. It is concluded that this lack of consistency, comparability and understandability will not help achieve sustainability in the reporting practices of agricultural assets. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] The NHS , a patient's perspectiveHEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 4 2001Lea Myers A narrative account, from a user's perspective, of NHS service and procedures. Whilst there is much to applaud in the service and communications between staff and patients, some practices do not foster patient empowerment. [source] Auctioning resources in Grids: model and protocolsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 15 2006D. Grosu Abstract In this paper, we propose and study an auction model for resource management in Grids. We propose and investigate by simulation three types of auction-based resource-allocation protocols: (i) first-price auction protocol; (ii) Vickrey auction protocol; and (iii) double auction protocol. The goal is to find which of these is best suited to the Grid environment from the users' perspective as well as from the resources' perspective. The results showed that when we consider a mix of risk-averse and risk-neutral users, the first-price auction protocol favors resources while the Vickrey auction protocol favors users. On the other hand, the double auction protocol favors both users and resources. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Long-term study of a portable field robot in urban terrainJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 8-9 2007Carl Lundberg The armed forces have a considerable amount of experience in using robots for bomb removal and mine clearing. Emerging technology also enables the targeting of other applications. To evaluate if real deployment of new technology is justified, tactical advantages gained have to be compared to drawbacks imposed. Evaluation calls for realistic tests which in turn require methods dictating how to deploy the new features. The present study has had two objectives: first, to gain a comprehensive view of a potential user of man-portable robots; second, to embed a robot system with users for assessment of present technology in real deployment. In this project we investigated an army company specialized in urban operations performing their tasks with the support of the iRobot Packbot Scout. The robot was integrated and deployed as an ordinary piece of equipment which required modifying and retraining a number of standard behaviors. The reported results were acquired through a long-term test ranging over a period of six months. This paper focuses on the characteristics of the users and their current ways of operation; how the robot was implemented and deployed. Additionally, this paper describes benefits and drawbacks from the users' perspective. A number of limitations in current robot technology are also identified. The findings show that the military relies on precise and thoroughly trained actions that can be executed with a minimum of ambiguity. To make use of robots, new behavioral schemes, which call for tactical optimization over several years, are needed. The most common application during the trials was reconnaissance inside buildings with uncertain enemy presence when time was not critical. Deploying the robot took more time than completing the task by traditional means, but in return kept the soldiers out of harm's way and enabled them to decrease weapon deployment. The range of the radio link, limited video feedback, and the bulky operator control unit were the features constraining the system's overall performance the most. On the other hand, did properties of the system, such as ruggedness, size, weight, terrain ability, and endurance, prove to match the application. The users were of the opinion that robots such as the Packbot Scout would be a valuable standard feature in urban intervention. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Legal, social, cultural and political developments in mental health care in the UK: the Liverpool black mental health service users' perspectiveJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 1 2002S. A. Pierre BA(HONs) MSc PhD RMN Documentary evidence suggests that attitudes among local health and social services professionals towards the concept of user involvement in health and social care remain deeply polarized, a position characterized by commentators simultaneously as praise and damnation. Perhaps user involvement in health and social care will enhance, and it appears to resonate with the logic of, participatory democracy, in localities where the centralization of power has posed questions as to the nature and purpose of local governance in public services provision. The problems experienced by Britain's black and ethnic minorities within the mental health system have been the subject of exhaustive social inquiry. This essay attempts to explore the way in which legal, social, cultural, and political developments interface with mental health care practice in the UK, in order to assist those responsible for mental health services provision to deliver services that are in line with the Government's expectation of a modernized mental health service that is safe, sound, and supportive. An exploration of these developments within the European, national (UK), and local (Liverpool) contexts is undertaken. An appropriate local response to national priorities will ostensibly cut a swathe through the barriers confronted by the ethnic minority mental health service user in the cross-cultural context, an important prerequisite for the implementation of genuine user involvement. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||