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The idea of multi-criteria decision making has been around for quite a while. All judgement tasks are potential points of bias introduction. Each judgement task was assessed to identify common biases introduced through an extensive literature review for each task and bias. In several other studies, the distinction is made between cognitive and motivational biases. Cognitive biases are widely studied and well known with mitigations that have been validated. Motivational biases are judgements influenced by the decision maker’s desire for a specific outcome, also referred to as intentional bias, that are hard to correct and received very little testing and exploration. This study tested the techniques that are identified for reducing motivational bias and tested an instrument to identify characteristics within a decision maker that would increase the likelihood that they would be motivationally biased. The results of this study provide a methodology for assessing the susceptibility to motivational biases of the decision makers and provides a framework for reducing the motivational bias within the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) process using the general steps applicable to all multi-criteria decision analyses. Given that the general steps are used, this methodology is generalizable to any MCDM problem or domain and was found to be reliable and consistent with previous instruments and tools. A summary of the future research to further the explore the methodology and additional techniques for reducing motivational bias is proposed.

The research in this dissertation addresses reduced rank adaptive signal processing, with specific emphasis on the multistage Wiener filter (MWF). The MWF is a generalization of the classical Wiener filter that performs a stage-by-stage decomposition based on orthogonal projections. Truncation of this decomposition produces a reduced rank filter with many benefits, for example, improved performance. This dissertation extends knowledge of the MWF in four areas. The first area is rank and sample support compression. This dissertation examines, under a wide variety of conditions, the size of the adaptive subspace required by the MWF (i.e., the rank) as well as the required number of training samples. Comparisons are made with other algorithms such as the eigenvector-based principal components algorithm. The second area investigated in this dissertation concerns "soft stops", i.e., the insertion of diagonal loading into the MWF. Several methods for inserting loading into the MWF are described, as well as methods for choosing the amount of loading. The next area investigated is MWF rank selection. The MWF will outperform the classical Wiener filter when the rank is properly chosen. This dissertation presents six approaches for selecting MWF rank. The algorithms are compared to one another and an overall design space taxonomy is presented. Finally, as digital modelling capabilities become more sophisticated there is emerging interest in augmenting adaptive processing algorithms to incorporate prior knowledge. This dissertation presents two methods for augmenting the MWF, one based on linear constraints and a second based on non-zero weight vector initialization. Both approaches are evaluated under ideal and perturbed conditions. Together the research described in this dissertation increases the utility and robustness of the multistage Wiener filter. The analysis is presented in the context of adaptive array processing, both spatial array processing and space-time adaptive processing for airborne radar. The results, however, are applicable across the entire spectrum of adaptive signal processing applications. / Ph. D.

Data mining techniques, such as clustering, have become a mainstay in many applications such as bioinformatics, geographic information systems, and marketing. Over the last decade, due to new demands posed by these applications, clustering techniques have been significantly adapted and extended. One such extension is the idea of finding clusters in a dataset that preserve information about some auxiliary variable. These approaches tend to guide the clustering algorithms that are traditionally unsupervised learning techniques with the background knowledge of the auxiliary variable. The auxiliary information could be some prior class label attached to the data samples or it could be the relations between data samples across different datasets. In this dissertation, we consider the latter problem of simultaneously clustering several vector valued datasets by taking into account the relationships between the data samples. We formulate objective functions that can be used to find clusters that are local in each individual dataset and at the same time maximally similar or dissimilar with respect to clusters across datasets. We introduce diverse applications of these clustering algorithms: (1) time series segmentation (2) reconstructing temporal models from time series segmentations (3) simultaneously clustering several datasets according to database schemas using a multi-criteria optimization and (4) clustering datasets with many-many relationships between data samples. For each of the above, we demonstrate applications, including modeling the yeast cell cycle and the yeast metabolic cycle, understanding the temporal relationships between yeast biological processes, and cross-genomic studies involving multiple organisms and multiple stresses. The key contribution is to structure the design of complex clustering algorithms over a database schema in terms of clustering algorithms over the underlying entity sets. / Ph. D.

This study proposes a framework for simultaneously addressing qualitative and quantitative decision-making criteria during the early stages of the design process. It investigates the features and characteristics in an architectural tool that enable an architect to simultaneously address qualitative and quantitative criteria during the early stages of the design process and the requirements for implementing these features and characteristics inside a tool/working environment. It adopts a four-step methodology based on the qualitative methods of inquiry. These steps include logical argumentation based on the literature review, interviews, immersive case study, and Delphi method. The proposed framework provides a map of the areas and the themes that need consideration when developing an architectural tool that is expected to simultaneously address qualitative and quantitative criteria at the early stages of the design process. It categorizes the themes in three main areas: the themes concerned with qualitative studies, the themes concerned with quantitative studies, and the themes concerned with bridging the gap between qualitative and quantitative studies. The framework suggests that four major themes need consideration while developing architectural tools to support simultaneously addressing qualitative and quantitative criteria: Imagination Stimulation for qualitative studies, Knowledge Acquisition for quantitative studies, Architect as Toolmaker and Design Environment Coordinator, Hybrid Environment, and Interface for the synthesis of qualitative and quantitative studies. For practicing architects, the framework provides guidance to choose proper tools and form their design environment. Moreover, this study provides a new model of communication between the architecture community and the software developers. / Doctor of Philosophy / Any architectural project consists of numerous decisions that the architect must make. These decisions have different characteristics and can be categorized in many ways. One way to categorize them could be based on the nature of the criteria that the architects use to evaluate the results of their decision. In this manner, these criteria can be either qualitative or quantitative. Addressing these two different kinds of criteria demands entirely distinctive sets of skills. Architects are trained to address these two fundamentally different kinds of criteria, consciously or not. However, the reasoning process is much more complicated when the decision demands addressing qualitative and quantitative criteria, simultaneously. There exists the possibility that one criterion or one set of criteria may overshadow the rest if this complex task is approached without conscious planning by the architect. This study proposes a framework for simultaneously addressing qualitative and quantitative decision-making criteria during the early stages of the design process. It provides a map of the areas and the themes that need consideration when developing an architectural tool that is expected to simultaneously address qualitative and quantitative criteria at the early stages of the design process and uses several graphical representations to categorizes these themes based on the needs and objectives of the user.

Many new teachers will be hired in the decades to come. A school administrator screening candidates for teaching positions is faced with a decision that can have long-term consequences for a community, a school, and thousands of children. Finding the best candidates for teaching positions has never been more important. A variety of questions centering on prior experience, knowledge, or expertise may be asked by those responsible for screening candidates, yet there is another area of importance to be considered in the process, that of dispositions. The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation [CAEP], formerly known as the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE] (2008), and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium [INTASC] (2010) have emphasized the need to identify dispositions in addition to the knowledge and skills that have historically received emphasis by school districts seeking candidates and institutions preparing them. In response to this emphasis, administrators may benefit from a greater understanding of dispositions when interviewing and making hiring decisions. Administrators will also benefit by greater knowledge of the questions asked to determine if a candidate possessed a particular disposition. The research procedure uses a focus group format to conduct a multi-round survey/discussion to obtain input and consensus on two asked of school administrators: (1)'What do administrators believe are the critical dispositions a teacher candidate must possess?' and (2) 'Do administrators believe that a person can ask candidates questions to determine if they possess those dispositions? If so, what are the questions administrators can ask to determine if the candidates possess those dispositions?' Recommendations on dispositions that should be assessed and questions that may be used in the assessment of those dispositions will be developed from the results of the study. The focus group identified 19 dispositions and 74 interview questions within 5 theme groupings. These groupings included: beliefs about children, attitudes/beliefs – willingness to act, job-related skill, structure, and other personal attributes/traits. / Ed. D.

Laminated composite structures have started to play a very significant role in today's aircraft industry. The application of composite materials has now gone beyond the borders of aircraft design and has entered into such fields as automotive, athletics and recreational equipment, etc. The light weight and high specific strength of composite material helps design vehicles with higher fuel efficiency and longevity. In order to understand the influence of design parameters related to the use of composite materials in these applications, a proper study of the laminated composite structures requires a complete failure analysis, which includes both initiation and propagation of damage. In this work a progressive failure methodology is developed and implemented in the commercial Finite Element software package, Abaqus. Out of the numerous failure criteria available in the literature to study damage initiation and propagation in unidirectional fiber reinforced composites, Puck and Schurmann's failure criteria have been chosen due to their ability to predict results close to those observed experimentally. Key features of the Puck and Schurmann's failure criteria for three-dimensional deformations of unidirectional fiber reinforced composites have been summarized. Failure modes in the matrix and the fiber are considered separately. The failure criteria are simplified for plane stress deformations. Whereas the failure plane can be analytically identified for plane stress deformations, a numerical search algorithm is needed for three-dimensional problems. Subsequent to the initiation of matrix failure, elastic moduli are degraded and values of these degradation parameters and fracture plane angles are found by using a Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) approach. It is found that the assumption that the material response remains transversely isotropic even after the matrix failure has initiated requires the degradation of the transverse Poisson's ratio. The Puck and Schurmann's failure criteria and the material degradation process have been implemented as a User Defined Field (USDFLD) subroutine in Abaqus. The implementation has been verified by analytically computing results for simple loadings and comparing them with predictions from using the USDFLD in Abaqus. Subsequently, both two- and three-dimensional problems of more realistic geometries and loadings have been analyzed and computed results compared with either experimental findings or results available in the literature. Major contributions of the work include identifying the degradation parameter for the transverse Poisson's ratio in terms of the matrix degradation parameter for the matrix failure in compression, development of the USDFLD based on Puck and Schurmann's failure criteria, implementing the USDFLD in the commercial finite element software, Abaqus, and verifying that results computing using the USDFLD for various laminates and loadings agree with those from either the analytical solution of the problem or those available in the literature. / Ph. D.

Mate selection has garnered much attention in the existing literature. However, most mate selection research has reviewed mate selection preferences and criteria individually. In this study, the researcher attempted to illustrate mate selection as an interactive process in which individuals are affected by external influences, and their mate selection criteria are influenced by their self-appraisals and their perceptions of others' mate selection criteria. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 was based on social exchange theory, sexual strategies theory, and social context frameworks, and used multiple-group structural equation modeling to describe the relationships among gender, receptivity to external influences on mate selection, self-perceived relative mate selection position, and relative mate selection demand, between Chinese and American never-married heterosexual adults. The results indicated that the model fit the data well. Self-perceived relative mate selection position and relative mate selection demand were negatively correlated. Women had a higher relative mate selection demand than men did. Self-perceived relative mate selection position fully mediated the effect of receptivity to external influences on relative mate selection, though the indirect effect was not significant. Path values did not differ between Chinese participants and American participants. Study 2 confirmed that the model fit the data well and replicated all significant correlations among latent variables found in Study 1. Additionally, Study 2 found that receptivity to external influences and self-perceived relative mate selection position were positively correlated, and that receptivity to external influences had a negative indirect effect on relative mate selection demand, fully mediated by relative mate selection position. Lastly, the researcher discussed findings, implications, strengths, limitations, and future directions of the present study. / Ph. D.

Test suites for database applications depend on adequate test data and real-world test faults for success. An automated tool is available that quantifies test data coverage for database queries written in SQL. An automated tool is also available that mimics real-world faults by mutating SQL, however tests have revealed that these simulated faults do not completely represent real-world faults. This paper demonstrates how half of the mutation operators used by the SQL mutation tool in real-world test suites generated significantly lower detection scores than those from research test suites. Three revised mutation operators are introduced that improve detection scores and contribute toward re-defining a sufficient set of mutation operators for SQL. Finally, a procedure is presented that reduces the test burden by automatically comparing SQL mutants with their original queries. / Master of Science

This study retrospectively evaluated patient records from two cardiac rehabilitation (CR) service centers located in large urban hospitals using a Process Evaluation System (PES) recently developed through a collaborative project of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), Madison, WI, and the Center for Clinical Quality Evaluation (CCQE), Washington, DC. The major aims were to: 1) evaluate the utility of the PES as an audit instrument for assessment of adherence to the 24 quality process criteria that comprised the PES; and 2) determine whether adherence to the PES criteria resulted in different patient outcomes for those cases where intervention need was documented at patient admission. Using the data abstraction manual and audit procedures developed by AACVPR/CCQE, a trained medical technician audited 150 CR records for consecutively treated outpatients who typically received 36 sessions of treatment in either Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, N.C. Heart Institute, Greensboro, NC, or Carolinaà ­s Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, covering a calendar period between 1995-97. The data were pooled from both sites for analyses and included patients with one or more of the following diagnoses: MI (37%), angina (14%), coronary revascularization (76%), and other (18%). The cost of utilizing the PES was assessed by evaluating the technician time required to abstract a patient record and this was observed to improve over the course of the review period, i.e., mean abstraction time for initial versus final 20 records = 13.2 min. and 4.6 min., respectively. Experience with the PES suggested areas where instrument revision should be considered, e.g., the operational guidelines for extracting acceptable markers were not always clear enough or sufficiently flexible to allow determination of adherence of a record to the 24 quality process criteria. Adherence to the PES was determined, case by case, for each of the 24 criteria. In 129 cases (86% of the sample), complete adherence was found, i.e. 100% adherence to all 24 criteria that included indicators of key clinical steps for patient intake, treatment planning, and follow-up. The remaining 21 records (14%) showed adherence to at least 21 of the 24 criteria (87.5%). Given the uniformly high levels of adherence to the PES documented by these two program sites, the data could not resolve the question of whether patient outcome effects were different between cases of high versus low adherence to PES. Nonetheless, outcome data were examined to evaluate achievement levels in four different areas widely considered by clinicians as important to treatment success: blood cholesterol, smoking status, exercise tolerance, and body mass index (BMI). Of the study patients diagnosed with dyslipidemia 12 of 27 (44%) had levels < 200 mg/dl by exit. Seven of 14 documented smokers (50%) reported quitting at exit from treatment. Forty-nine patients of 117 (42%) who initially could only maintain treadmill walking for 10 min. at levels below 4 METs, were able to exceed this level by treatment end. Six of 104 (6%) with BMI values > 24.9 kg/m2 had a documented decrease in this indicator of overweight by treatment end. The threshold levels for outcome criteria used here to describe achievement levels in this data set are somewhat arbitrary. However, the criteria are reflective of the standards typically suggested as meaningful for effective secondary risk reduction in CR programs (Franklin et al., 1996). The PES system was developed to audit the quality of CR process in treatment centers, as standardized by a consensus panel to reflect the content of the evidenced-based CR guideline recently published by the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (Cardiac Rehabilitation as Secondary Prevention: #17, 1995). The findings of this study suggest that the content markers of quality process in the PES are relevant and the instrument is efficient to administer. When field tested against two urban centers in North Carolina where state statutes require program certification for CR treatment centers, these centers demonstrated uniformly high adherence to the PES and a pattern of good achievement for several patient outcome measures accepted as relevant to evaluation of treatment success for individual patients. / Master of Science