Reducing Requirement Incorrectness and Coping with Its Negative Impact in Information System Development Projects

The negative impact of incorrect requirements on information system development (ISD) project performance has long been acknowledged. This study addresses the problem of incorrect requirements by proposing a model that combines the error reduction and coping concepts proposed by Field, Ritzman, Safizadeh, and Downing (2006) with the view that ISD is a knowledge‐intensive process. The model hypothesizes that when developers and users possess an understanding of each other's primary domain of knowledge, the prevention of incorrect requirements and the mitigation of the negative consequences of incorrect requirements tend to improve project performance. Data collected from 250 ISD professionals on the basis of their experiences of recently completed ISD projects confirmed all of our hypotheses. The results demonstrate that the eliciting of incorrect requirements can be reduced when users and developers possess cross‐domain understanding and when requirement analysis methodologies and techniques are available. Furthermore, the negative impact of incorrect requirements on project performance can be mitigated when developers have sufficient ISD knowledge and behavioral knowledge.     

My life as a statistician * **

This article was written for a keynote speech to present a few highlights of my life as a statistician. It has seven sections beginning with an introduction in Section 17 some prospects of biostatistics in Section 2, and a tribute to J. Neyman in Section 3. In Section 4 is a sample of my work including motivation for my studies on the life table and competing risks, contributions and comments in survival analyses, a solution for Kolmogorov differential equations, and an explicit formula for the n-step transition probability in discrete time Markov chains.     

Enhancing corrections,transforming lives: a Singapore perspective

Abstract

This keynote speech was presented at the SSR-NAI Conference 2017. It explores the changes Singapore Prison Service (SPS) has made through the years and discuss its future developments. The speaker, Desmond Chin Kim Tham, Commissioner of Prisons, examines the Throughcare framework and community involvement program that the SPS has put in place, and describes the future directions of in-care practices and the involvement of community in corrections.     

跨国法律中企业社会责任制度的演进

随着国际经贸往来日益频繁,在国际经济法领域出现了由跨国公司、非政府组织和政府间组织制定的"软法"--跨国法律.企业社会责任是其中一项重要的制度.该制度的不断完善在促进跨国法律发展的同时,也起到了规范企业的社会行为,促使其承担相应社会责任的积极作用.中国入世后,越来越多的中国企业将融人世界市场.为此,中国应建立与国际接轨的企业社会责任制度,增强政府对企业社会责任的宏观监管职能,并向外输出中国对于企业社会责任的法律意识和法律观念,使得在跨国法律的演进过程中,在企业社会责任领域能够存在中国声音,影响相关的国际立法.     

粤东闽语n尾韵文白异读及其与η尾韵和鼻化韵的关系

对粤东闽语n韵尾分析发现,n韵尾在山、臻二摄中一部分属于文读层,一部分属于白读层;在曾、梗二摄中全部属于白读层.从语音演变规律来看,粤东闽语n韵尾向η韵尾演变是历史发展的趋势,鼻化韵是n、η韵尾尚未完全合并前由两者弱化并脱落而来.     

Adherence to exercise programs and determinants of maintenance in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

After a randomized controlled trial showing that improvement on some aspects of cognitive function was related to adherence to an exercise program, determinants of adherence and maintenance were further studied. Older adults with mild cognitive impairment were contacted 6 mo after the end of exercise programs for a telephone interview addressing patterns of adherence and determinants of maintenance. Mean adherence during the trial was 53%. About one third of participants had lapses during the trial but completed, one third had no lapses, and one third dropped out or never started. Practical barriers (time, location) were related to not starting and functional limitations to dropout. After the trial 25% of participants continued the programs, 14% reported intention to continue, and 61% quit. Maintenance was determined by fewer health complaints, higher satisfaction with the programs, and better adherence during the programs. Although maintenance was low, this study identified several reasons and barriers to adherence and maintenance that could be addressed.     

An analysis of the determinants of family planning volunteer workers' performance in Iloilo City

This report analyzes data from a survey of 106 Barangay (village) Service Point Officers (BSPOs) associated with the City Population Office and 106 Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) associated with the City Health Office to compare the family planning (FP) service delivery performance of these voluntary workers in Iloilo City in the Philippines and to quantify the effects of the factors which influence their performance. Both the BSPOs and the BHWs assist in the delivery of health and FP services at the grassroots level. The survey data were supplemented with interviews with key informants, focus group discussions with married couples of reproductive age, clinic records, and observations of the BSPOs and BHWs at work. The analysis compared the sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups; the recruitment procedures followed (if any); FP training; actual FP-related work; involvement in community organizing; incentives received; supervision of the volunteers; attitude towards their work; FP knowledge, attitude, and practice; time allocated to FP activities; number of clients served; and number of clients counseled. Correlation analysis of factors influencing volunteer performance indicated that FP training had the largest positive influence on FP activities. The output of the workers was also positively affected by the amount of time spend in FP activities and by their involvement in community organizing. The commitment of the workers had a significant impact on the number of clients they resupplied with contraceptives. Variation in the FP performances of the two groups was caused by the fact that delivery of FP services is a major role of the BSPOs and only one of many responsibilities of the BHWs. These findings reinforce the planned restructuring of Iloilo City's FP program which would once again designate the Population Office as the lead agency. Increasing the knowledge of these volunteers about the side effects and contraindications of various methods should have a positive effect on continuation rates. Recruitment of volunteers should be based on the individual's level of interest and commitment.     

图像处理技术在乘用车侧面碰撞试验中的应用

多媒体计算机序列图像运动分析系统与摄影测量学理论相结合,成为较完善的非接触动态测量系统.在乘用车侧面碰撞试验中采用图像采集和数字图像处理技术,结合直接线性变换(direct liner transformation,DLT)算法,分析碰撞试验中标示点的变形量,提高乘用车侧面碰撞强度,为汽车被动安全性研究提供依据.     

Parents' roles and question‐asking during pretend and real activities

All activities—real and pretend—provide children opportunities to learn new facts and skills, and parents are often facilitators. Yet little is known about whether and how parents' roles and interactions differ during pretend versus real activities. Here, we examine whether parents self‐report adopting different roles during pretend and real activities and whether we observe changes in their behavior, in particular in their question‐asking; either could impact the potential learning opportunities available to children. Thirty‐two parents engaged their 4‐year ‐olds in one pretend and one real activity (cleaning and snacking, counterbalanced). They self‐reported their roles, and speech was transcribed and coded. Parents regarded their role as a partner in fun during pretend and as a teacher or monitor during real activities. Across pretend and real contexts, they mostly asked information‐seeking questions, followed by rhetorical and pedagogical questions. They asked significantly more questions during pretend than real activities, particularly rhetorical questions. During real activities, parents' roles were not related to the number or types of questions they asked. However, during pretend, their roles were related to the number of rhetorical questions they asked: Monitors asked significantly fewer than teachers. Possible complementary benefits of each activity based on patterns of roles and questions are discussed.     

Chebyshev Inequality with Estimated Mean and Variance

Chebyshev's inequality is investigated when the population mean and variance are estimated from a sample. The necessary modification to the inequality is simple and is actually valid when (a) the population moments do not exist and (b) the sample is exchangeably distributed. The latter case would include, for example, a sample taken without replacement from a finite population and the independent and identically distributed case.