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Work Domain Analysis
In organization development, the initial phase within the Cognitive work analysis (CWA) framework is Work Domain Analysis. It provides a description of the constraints that govern the purpose and the function of the systems under analysis. Abstraction hierarchy The Abstraction Hierarchy (Rasmussen, 1985; Vicente, 1999) is used to provide a context-independent description of the domain. The analyses, and resultant diagrams, are not specific to any particular technology; rather they represent the entire domain. * The top-three levels of the diagrams consider the overall objectives of the domain, and what it can achieve. * The bottom-two levels concentrate on the physical components and their affordances. Through a series of ‘means-ends’ links, it is possible to model how individual components can affect the overall domain purpose. The abstraction hierarchy is constructed by considering the work system’s objectives (top-down) and the work system’s capabilities (botto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organization Development
Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change, the goal of which is to modify an organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational changes are typically initiated by the group's stakeholders. OD emerged from human relations studies in the 1930s, during which psychologists realized that organizational structures and processes influence worker behavior and motivation. More recently, work on OD has expanded to focus on aligning organizations with their rapidly changing and complex environments through organizational learning, knowledge management, and transformation of organizational norms and values. Key concepts of OD theory include: organizational climate (the mood or unique “personality” of an organization, which includes attitudes and beliefs that influence members' collective behavior), organizational culture (the deeply-seated norms, values, and behaviors that members sha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cognitive Work Analysis
Cognitive work analysis (CWA) is a framework that was developed to model a complex sociotechnical system. Modeling of system constraints The framework models different types of constraints, building a model of how work could proceed within a given work system. The focus on constraints separates the technique from other approaches to analysis that aim to describe how work is actually conducted, or prescribe how it should be conducted. The CWA approach can be used to describe the constraints imposed by the purpose of a system, its functional properties, the nature of the activities that are conducted, the roles of the different human actors, and their cognition skills and strategy. Application Rather than offer a prescribed methodology, the CWA framework instead acts as a toolkit that can be used either individually or in combination with one another, depending upon the analysis needs. These tools are divided between phases. The exact names and scopes of these phases differ sligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constraint Satisfaction
In artificial intelligence and operations research, constraint satisfaction is the process of finding a solution through a set of constraints that impose conditions that the variables must satisfy. A solution is therefore a set of values for the variables that satisfies all constraints—that is, a point in the feasible region. The techniques used in constraint satisfaction depend on the kind of constraints being considered. Often used are constraints on a finite domain, to the point that constraint satisfaction problems are typically identified with problems based on constraints on a finite domain. Such problems are usually solved via search, in particular a form of backtracking or local search. Constraint propagation are other methods used on such problems; most of them are incomplete in general, that is, they may solve the problem or prove it unsatisfiable, but not always. Constraint propagation methods are also used in conjunction with search to make a given problem si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social System
In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions. It is the formal structure of role and status that can form in a small, stable group. An individual may belong to multiple social systems at once; examples of social systems include nuclear family units, communities, cities, nations, college campuses, corporations, and industries. The organization and definition of groups within a social system depend on various shared properties such as location, socioeconomic status, race, religion, societal function, or other distinguishable features. Notable theorists The study of social systems is integral to the fields of sociology and public policy. Social systems have been studied for as long as sociology has existed. Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons was the first to formulate a systematic theory of social systems, which he did as a part of his AGIL paradigm. He defined a so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diagram
A diagram is a symbolic representation of information using visualization techniques. Diagrams have been used since prehistoric times on walls of caves, but became more prevalent during the Enlightenment. Sometimes, the technique uses a three-dimensional visualization which is then projected onto a two-dimensional surface. The word ''graph'' is sometimes used as a synonym for diagram. Overview The term "diagram" in its commonly used sense can have a general or specific meaning: * ''visual information device'' : Like the term " illustration", "diagram" is used as a collective term standing for the whole class of technical genres, including graphs, technical drawings and tables. * ''specific kind of visual display'' : This is the genre that shows qualitative data with shapes that are connected by lines, arrows, or other visual links. In science the term is used in both ways. For example, Anderson (1997) stated more generally: "diagrams are pictorial, yet abstract, represen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data Collection
Data collection or data gathering is the process of gathering and measuring information on targeted variables in an established system, which then enables one to answer relevant questions and evaluate outcomes. Data collection is a research component in all study fields, including physical science, physical and social sciences, humanities, and business. While methods vary by discipline, the emphasis on ensuring accurate and honest collection remains the same. The goal for all data collection is to capture quality evidence that allows analysis to lead to the formulation of convincing and credible answers to the questions that have been posed. Data collection and validation consists of four steps when it involves taking a census and seven steps when it involves sampling. Regardless of the field of or preference for defining data (Quantitative method, quantitative or Qualitative method, qualitative), accurate data collection is essential to maintain research integrity. The selectio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Document Analysis
Documentary analysis (also ''document analysis'') is a type of qualitative research in which documents are reviewed by the analyst to assess an appraisal theme. Dissecting documents involves coding content into subjects like how focus group or interview transcripts are investigated. A rubric can likewise be utilized to review or score a document. Applications Requirements definition Document analysis can be used to accumulate requirements amid for a project. It collects available documents of related business procedures or systems and attempts to extract relevant data. Requirements can also be extracted from stakeholders via questionnaires, interviews, or focus groups. See also * Content analysis * Focus Groups * Semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ... ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abstraction
Abstraction in its main sense is a conceptual process wherein general rules and concepts are derived from the usage and classification of specific examples, literal ("real" or "concrete") signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" is the outcome of this process—a concept that acts as a common noun for all subordinate concepts and connects any related concepts as a ''group'', ''field'', or ''category''. Suzanne K. Langer (1953), ''Feeling and Form: a theory of art developed from Philosophy in a New Key'' p. 90: " Sculptural form is a powerful abstraction from actual objects and the three-dimensional space which we construe ... through touch and sight." Conceptual abstractions may be formed by filtering the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, selecting only those aspects which are relevant for a particular purpose. For example, abstracting a leather soccer ball to the more general idea of a ball selects only the information on gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Work Systems
Work system has been used loosely in many areas. This article concerns its use in understanding IT-reliant systems in organizations. A notable use of the term occurred in 1977 in the first volume of MIS Quarterly in two articles by Bostrom and Heinen (1977). Later Sumner and Ryan (1994) used it to explain problems in the adoption of CASE (computer-aided software engineering). A number of socio-technical systems researchers such as Trist and Mumford also used the term occasionally, but seemed not to define it in detail. In contrast, the work system approach defines work system carefully and uses it as a basic analytical concept. A work system is a system in which human participants and/or machines perform work (processes and activities) using information, technology, and other resources to produce products/services for internal or external customers. Typical business organizations contain work systems that procure materials from suppliers, produce products, deliver products to custom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hierarchy
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important concept in a wide variety of fields, such as architecture, philosophy, design, mathematics, computer science, organizational theory, systems theory, systematic biology, and the social sciences (especially political philosophy). A hierarchy can link entities either directly or indirectly, and either vertically or diagonally. The only direct links in a hierarchy, insofar as they are hierarchical, are to one's immediate superior or to one of one's subordinates, although a system that is largely hierarchical can also incorporate alternative hierarchies. Hierarchical links can extend "vertically" upwards or downwards via multiple links in the same direction, following a path. All parts of the hierarchy that are not linked vertically to one ano ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Analysis
Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), though ''analysis'' as a formal concept is a relatively recent development. The word comes from the Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (''analysis'', "a breaking-up" or "an untying;" from ''ana-'' "up, throughout" and ''lysis'' "a loosening"). From it also comes the word's plural, ''analyses''. As a formal concept, the method has variously been ascribed to Alhazen, René Descartes (''Discourse on the Method''), and Galileo Galilei. It has also been ascribed to Isaac Newton, in the form of a practical method of physical discovery (which he did not name). The converse of analysis is synthesis: putting the pieces back together again in new or different whole. Applications Science The field of chemistry uses analysis in thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
