Software Inspection is an effective and efficient method aiming at discovering faults within software artifacts early in the development lifecycle. The success of software inspections is highly dependent on reading techniques that guide the reviewer through the individual inspection. In other words, reading techniques help the reviewer during the inspection process. In this thesis a quite new reading technique, namely usage-based reading, is further evaluated. A reviewer who applies usage-based reading is guided by a set of prioritized use-cases. Hereby the use-cases are ranked according to their importance from the point of view of the user. Thus, the reviewers inspection effort is focused on the parts of the document that concern the most important functionality from the user’s perspective. The particular goal of this study is to figure out whether time-budgets assigned to each use-cases lead to improvements in inspection performance expressed in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and fault content. This concept is called time-controlled reading. The time-budget determines that a particular use-case must not be inspected longer than a certain number of minutes. Initially the assumption was made that time-budgets lead to performance improvements because the reading process can be better planned in forehand, that means most time is spent on the most important use-cases and all use-cases are utilized within the given inspection time. However, the result of this study contradicts that assumption. I found that both techniques are equally efficient and effective and that they find the same fault content. The reason for this is that the techniques are still quite similar and that the timebudgets assigned to the use-cases did not allow the subjects to thoroughly investigate the use-cases because they struggled with the unknown application domain. This is at least the case for lower ranked use-cases with smaller time-frames. As a consequence of this, one can claim that the results might have pointed in favor for time-controlled reading when people familiar with the application domain would have done the same experiment. / kai-petersen@gmx.de

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the knowledge of educators’ experiences of a teaching approach concerning investigative discussions of literature combined with experiments in order to support children’s learning about the phase transformation of water. The study contains a theoretical framework based on variation theory. All educators that agreed to participate in the study were provided with instructions for the teaching arrangement, that consisted of an investigative discussions of literature and an experiment. These arrangements were pre-planned and were to be conducted with the children on the educator’s department. Seven educators participated in the study. The method for collection of data consisted of semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach where eight clusters of data are summarized. The results of the study show that the educators had a positive experience working with this teaching approach. The educators experienced that the investigative discussions of literature combined with the experiment supported the children’s learning about the phase transformations of water. In a discussion about possibilities and challenges, the educators conveyed that by combining the two approaches, the children could share experiences and support each other in learning about the phase transformations of water. One of the challenges that were found was that the size of the group of children was a limiting factor, since each child needed individual support in their work. The conclusion is that all participating educators found that the approach of combining investigative discussions of literature with experiments supported the children’s learning about the phase transformations of water.W

Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a promising route for converting abundant natural gas resources into more useful chemicals like paraffins and olefins (primarily C2). However, to date, there is no current OCM production plant due to low overall conversion and selectivity to the desired product(s). In this work, different operating factors are studied experimentally and through simulation with respect mainly to three responses: CH4 conversion, C2 main product selectivity, and COx side product selectivity. The aim is to identify the best operating condition for maximum ethylene production combined with COx production. Design of experiments (DoE) method was used to analyze the experimental results by applying the full factorial approach. Simulation results were studied by finding the correlation strength between input factors and responses. It was found that the performance of an OCM reactor could be greatly improved under optimal operating conditions. Operating temperature and CH4/O2 ratio have the highest influence while catalyst weight and flow rate have the lowest influence on the OCM responses and mainly depend on rector dimensions.

The Fisher and Seater [Fisher, M.E. and Seater, J.J., 1993. Long run neutrality and superneutrality in an ARIMA framework. American Economic Review 83, 402-415.] methodology is applied to Taylor's [Taylor, A.T., 2002. A century of purchasing power parity. Review of Economics and Statistics 84, 139-150.] data to test for purchasing power parity. Generally, the evidence is supportive of PPP. Further, FS test statistics have no size distortion problem and test power is improved with longer samples.

Background. Readability and comprehension are the critical points of software developmentand maintenance. There are many researcher point out that the duplicatecode as a code smell has effect on software maintainability, but lack of research abouthow duplicate code affect software readability and comprehension, which are parts of maintainability. Objectives. In this thesis, we aim to briefly summarize the impact of duplicatecode and typical types of duplicate code according to current works, then our goalis to explore whether duplicate code is a factor to influence readability and comprehension. Methods. In our present research, we did a background survey to asked some background questions from forty-two subjects to help us classify them, and conduct an experiment with subjects to explore the role of duplicate code on perceived readability and comprehension by experiment. The perceived readability and comprehension are measured by perceived readability scale, reading time and the accuracy of cloze test. Results. The experimental data shows code with duplication have higher perceived readability and better comprehension, however, the difference are not significant.And code with duplication cost less reading time than code without duplication,and the difference is significant. But duplication type are strongly associate with perceived readability. For reading time, it is significant associate with duplication type and size of code. While there do not exists significant correlation between programmingexperience of subjects and perceived readability or comprehension, andit also has no significant relation between perceived readability and comprehension,size and CC according to our data results. Conclusions. Code with duplication has higher software readability according tothe results of reading time, which is significant. And code with duplication has highercomprehension than code without duplication, but the difference is not statistically significant according to our experimental results. Longer size of code will increasereading time, and different duplication type also influence the perceived readability,the three duplication types we discussed show these relationship obviously.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / In this work we have determined the spectroscopic or static quadrupole moment of the rst excited state (QS (2+1) lying at 2230.6 keV in 32S using the reorientation e ect. The Coulomb-excitation experiment at safe bombarding energies was performed at iThemba LABS's AFRODITE vault, where 32S beams at 120.3 MeV were bombarded onto a 194Pt target of 1 mg/cm2 thickness. The beam energy has been chosen such that the separation between nuclear surfaces is greater than 6.5 fm at all scattering angles, in order to avoid nuclear interactions. A double-sided CD-type S3 silicon detector, with 24 rings and 32 sectors, has been placed upstream (at backward angles) to detect the scattered particles. Gamma rays have been detected with the AFRODITE clover array. This particle-gamma coincidence experiment allows for an angular distribution and Doppler correction of the gamma rays emitted at 9% the speed of light. The cross sections (or gamma-ray integrated yields) measured as a function of scattering angle at backward angles are sensitive to second-order perturbation e ects in Coulomb excitation, i.e., diagonal matrix elements which are directly related to the spectroscopic quadrupole moment. The gamma-ray integrated yields obtained from this experiment are compared with the GOSIA simulations, yielding a new measurement of QS (2+1) = 􀀀0:10 0:7 eb, which corresponds to a prolate shape in the intrinsic frame of the nucleus. The uncertainty of this measurement is limited by statistics. This result agrees with previous measurements and con rms the zig zag of shapes at the end of the sd shell when approaching the doubly-magic nucleus 40Ca. Nonetheless, the mystery continues as a prolate shape for the rst 2+ disagrees with modern theoretical mean- eld calculations and the pairing coupling model.

Wind energy is expanding rapidly in the United States as the nation\'s energy policy objectives increasingly focus on renewables. Public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans support wind energy development but actual wind farm projects often face intense local opposition. This dichotomy between general support for wind energy but opposition towards siting a project nearby is often attributed to the not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) phenomenon. In this study we employ a discrete choice experiment to investigate public preferences for different characteristics of a local wind farm. We investigate NIMBY by first controlling for characteristics that might cause local opposition, such as seeing or hearing a wind farm from home, and then after considering these effects of a wind farm we examine whether people who favor wind energy display NIMBY resistance. Finally, we estimate compensation requirements for siting a wind farm within sight or sound of someone\'s home. Results show that people who somewhat favor wind energy do display NIMBY attitudes since they are predisposed to vote against local wind development even after controlling whether they would see and hear the wind farm from their homes. We do not detect NIMBY attitudes among people who strongly favor wind energy because they have a positive disposition towards local wind farms. Our results suggest that if an incentive program is in place from the onset of a wind development project it could offset NIMBY reactions to specific projects. / Master of Science

Studien utforskar ett arbetsperspektiv för produktdesigners i användningen av prototyper, och bidrar därmed till efterfrågan av mer kunskap kring prototypen som verktyg eller metod inom designområdet. Baserat på en hypotes kring appliceringen av externa teorier i utvecklingen och användningen av prototyper, utforskar studien detta genom temat entomofagi som är praktiken av att äta insekter. Studiens övergripande metodik är av kvalitativ karaktär, förstudien använder sig av desktop research, en intervju och ett studiebesök. Det efterföljande designarbetet består av två designexperiment, det första som en intervention tillsammans med en observation och det andra som en digital probe. Designexperimenten utfördes iterativt och den insamlade datan analyserades tematiskt. Insikter från dessa experiment sammanställdes och analyserades mot huvudfrågan, som lyder hur kan produktdesignerns förståelse om prototypen breddas genom ett prototyparbete grundat i provokation? Studien resulterade i en arbetsmodell för produktdesigners som arbetar med designprocesser inom området kritisk och spekulativ design. Arbetsmodellen kallas Tubkikaren, den hjälper designpraktiker att definiera utgångspunkten och avsikten bakom valet och utvecklingen av prototyper i designprocesser. Modellen bär potentialen att underlätta designprocessen och utvecklingen av prototyper på en individuell nivå, samt utgör en möjlig grund för vidare utforskning av prototyper och designmetodik. / The study explores a possibility of how product designers can work with the method prototype, and thus make a contribution to the request for more knowledge about the prototype as a tool or method within the design field. Based on a hypothesis around the application of external theories in the developement and use of prototypes, the study explores this possibility through the theme of enthomophagy which is the practice of eating insects. The overall methodology of the study is qualitative, the pilot study conducts desktop research, an interview and a study visit. The following design work consists of two designexperiments, the first one as a public intervention paired with an observation and the second as a digital probe. The designexperiments were conducted iteratively and the data collected from the these is analyzed thematically. Finally, the insights collected from the designexperiments are gathered and analyzed against the main question, which is how can designers understanding of prototypes be broadened through design work based in provocation? The study resulted in a work modell for product designers that work with design processes within the area of critical and speculative design. The work model is called the Spotting Scope, and is inspired by its namesake. It helps design practitioners to define the starting point and intention behind the choice and developement of prototypes in design processes. This model carries the potential to alliviate the design process and development of prototypes on a individual level. It also carries the potential for creating a base for further exploration of prototypes and design methodology.

The contested backlash phenomenon assumes that changes to the status quo in favor of minorities will be met with resistance and resentment from majority groups. However, previous research has yielded ambiguous results. This has resulted in a continuous confusion regarding if, when and how backlashes occur. This thesis will attempt to enhance the understanding of this phenomenon through the use of a survey experiment. The experiment tests whether it is possible to detect a backlash in public opinion through the use of a treatment text. The text presents a fictive Supreme Court decision that approves outdoor broadcasting of the Islamic call to prayer in the US. The experiment tests whether this will create an increase in resentment directed towards Muslim Americans. The experiment tests a number of hypotheses regarding when and where backlash might occur and could not find any support of the backlash hypothesis. The results instead indicated that the treatment induced a decrease in the level of resentment reported by the respondents. These unexpected results have a number of possible explanations, ranging from social desirability bias to the possibility of a legitimizing effect stemming from the treatment. The findings are in line with a growing number of researches that have failed to statistically find any proof of the backlash theory.

Cette thèse aborde deux sujets de recherche dans le cadre du même projet. La première voie de recherche, expliquée en détail au chapitre 3, est une approche de modélisation relative à la dynamique de confiance dans une société en réseau. La seconde voie de recherche, décrite au chapitre 4, est une approche expérimentale visant w étudier les décisions humaines lors de l’échange d’un actif avec une croissance moyenne positive par période dans un environnement de laboratoire contrôlé. Un des liens communs entre ces deux thèmes est l’action collective, qui joue un rôle déterminant dans de nombreux phénomènes, par exemple la dynamique de la panique, les faillites et par conséquent le risque systémique. C’est pourquoi, j’espère que ce travail contribuera à l’étude des phénomènes d’actions collectives, en particulier dans la finance quantitative, où les conclusions spécifiques du modèle de confiance et l’expérience de trading en laboratoire mentionnés ci-dessus pourront être utilisées dans leur état actuel. / This thesis reports on two different research topics belonging to the same project. The first research avenue, which is thoroughly explained in chapter 3, is a modelling approach to the dynamics of trust in a networked society. The second, whose description can be found in chapter 4, is an experimental approach to study human decisions when people trade an asset with a positive average growth per period in a controlled laboratory environment. One of the common links between these two topics is collective action, which is a key player in a number of phenomena, for example in the dynamics of panic, bankruptcies and, consequently, systemic risk. Therefore, the author hopes that this work will contribute to the study of collective action phenomena, especially in the field of quantitative finance, in which it is more likely that the specific findings from the above mentioned trust model and trading experiment can be used in their present form.