Context: The need for empirical investigations in software engineering domain is growing immensely. Many researchers nowadays, conduct and validate their study using empirical evidences. Survey is one such empirical investigation method which enables researchers to collect data from the large population. Main aim of the survey is to generalize the findings. Many problems are faced by the researchers in the survey process. Survey outcomes also depend upon variables like sample size, response rate and analysis techniques. Hence there is need for the literature addressing all the possible problems faced and also the impact of survey variables on outcomes. Objectives: Firstly, to identify the common problems faced by the researchers from the existing literature and also analyze the impact of the survey variables. Secondly to collect the experiences of software engineering researchers regarding the problems faced and the survey variables. Finally come up with a checklist of all the problems and mitigation strategies along with the information about the impact of survey variables. Methods: Initially a systematic literature review was conducted, to identify the existing problems in the literature and to know the effect of response rate, sample size, analysis techniques on survey outcomes. Then systematic literature review results were validated by conducting semi-structured, faceto-face interviews with software engineering researchers. Results: We were successful in providing a checklist of problems along with their mitigation strategies. The survey variables dependency on type of research, researcher’s choices limited us from further analyzing their impact on survey outcomes. The face-to-face interviews with software engineering researchers provided validations to our research results. Conclusions: This research gave us deeper insights into the survey methodology. It helped us to explore the differences that exists between the state of art and state of practice towards problem mitigation in survey process.

Orientadores: Eduardo Candido Xavier, Flávio Keidi Miyazawa / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T03:33:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silveira_JeffersonLuizMoisesda_M.pdf: 1516196 bytes, checksum: b3f9127c1017ef29bf9c429bb93e1a0c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Neste trabalho estudamos problemas de empacotamento com restrições de descarregamento considerados NP-difíceis. Estes problemas possuem aplicações nas áreas de logística e roteamento. Assumindo a hipótese de que P ? NP, sabemos que não existem algoritmos eficientes para resolver tais problemas. Uma das abordagens consideradas para tratar tais problemas é a de algoritmos de aproximação, que são algoritmos eficientes (complexidade de tempo polinomial) e que geram soluções com garantia de qualidade. Estudamos técnicas para o desenvolvimento de algoritmos aproximados e também alguns algoritmos para problemas de empacotamento online que podem ser utilizados na resolução do problema estudado. Propomos também algumas heurísticas para o problema e, além disto, provamos que duas destas heurísticas possuem garantias de aproximação com fatores constantes. Realizamos testes computacionais com estes algoritmos propostos. Dentre estes, a heurística GRASP foi a que obteve melhores resultados para as instâncias de teste consideradas / Abstract: In this work we study some NP-hard packing problems with unloading constraints. These problems have applications in logistics and routing problems. Assuming P ? NP, there are no efficient algorithms to solve these problems. On way to deal with these problems is using approximation algorithms, that are efficient algorithms (polynomial time complexity) that produce solutions with quality guarantee. We study techniques used in the development of approximation algorithms and some algorithms for online packing problems which can be used to solve the considered problem. We propose some heuristics for the problem and prove that two of them have constant approximation guarantees. We also perform computational tests with the proposed algorithms. Among them, the GRASP heuristic achieved the best results on the considered instances / Mestrado / Teoria da Computação / Mestre em Ciência da Computação

M.Sc. (Applied Mathematics) / A comparison between the recently developed spectral relaxation method (SRM) and the spectral local linearisation method (SLLM) is done for the first time in this work. Both spectral hybrid methods are employed in finding the solution to the non isothermal mass and heat balance model of a catalytic pellet boundary value problem (BVP) with finite mass and heat transfer resistance, which is a coupled system of singular nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The SRM and the SLLM are applied, for the first time, to solve a problem with singularities. The solution by the SRM and the SLLM are validated against the results by bvp4c, a well known matlab built-in procedure for solving BVPs. Tables and graphs are used to show the comparison. The SRM and the SLLM are exceptionally accurate with the SLLM being the fastest to converge to the correct solution. We then construct a new spectral hybrid method which we named the spectral Adomian decomposition method (SADM). The SADM is used concurrently with the standard Adomian decomposition method (ADM) to solve well known models arising in fluid mechanics. These problems are the magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) Jeffery-Hamel flow model and the Darcy-Brinkman- Forchheimer momentum equations. The validity of the results by the SADM and ADM are verified by the exact solution and bvp4c solution where applicable. A simple alteration of the SADM is made to improve the performance.

Motivated by collaborative recycling efforts for non-profit agencies, we study a variant of the periodic location routing problem, in which one decides the set of open depots from the customer set, the capacity of open depots, and the visit frequency to nodes, in an effort to design networks for collaborative pickup activities. We formulate this problem, highlighting the challenges introduced by these decisions. We examine the relative dfficulty introduced with each decision through exact solutions and a heuristic approach which can incorporate extensions of model constraints and solve larger instances. The work is motivated by a project with a network of hunger relief agencies (e.g., food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters) focusing on collaborative approaches to address their cardboard recycling challenges collectively. We present a case study based on data from the network. In this novel setting, we evaluate collaboration in terms of participation levels and cost impact. These insights can be generalized to other networks of organizations that may consider pooling resources.

There is a notable gap in empirical studies on Black women’s lived experiences in the UK in general and of violence in particular. This thesis explores lived experiences of violence and abuse for nine African and Caribbean heritage women, including seeking help and receiving support, legacies for the body and encounters in public spaces that leave feelings of discomfort. Fifteen participants were interviewed in total: six formed a sample of experts who work in violence support services, research and health services; and nine victim-survivors participated in a two or three stage life history interview process. The expert participants were given three case studies prior to taking part in semi-structured interviews to explore issues for African and Caribbean heritage women. During life history interviews research participants were invited to bring along personal photographs to assist with speaking about past experiences of violence and abuse, drew maps of their routes to seeking help, annotated diagrams of how they have related to their bodies over the years and produced photographs of spaces, places and objects of current importance to them. The thesis mapped ways in women’s potential for participation in social life was delimited by violence and abuse, how their survival was premised on their skill in managing embodied burdens and through daily acts of self-renewal. The contribution to knowledge of this thesis are through the conceptual terms: ‘felt intensities‘; ‘a continuum of oppression’; ‘liminal displacement’; ‘a nugatory self’; ‘racialised gendered shame’; and ‘exhausting liminal rumination’ that describe the embodied burdens carried by African and Caribbean heritage women as knowers and to suggest meeting their needs within the everyday spaces they inhabit. Further explorations are required into the intersectional features of women’s lives to explore whether African and Caribbean heritage women have voice and visibility in policy, whether and how their needs are met and for this to influence the commissioning of services.

The aim of this research study is to add the voices of African- Caribbean British female victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) to existing knowledge(s) on childhood sexual victimization. In so doing the study will examine whether racialisation, racism and cultural identity and cultural factors have had any bearing on African Caribbean British women’s 'space to speak' of childhood sexual abuse. The study also explores Black British feminist activism on CSA from the late 1970s- mid 1980s in order to further explore the issue of spaces to speak. The thesis presents findings from 5 in-depth interviews with Black British feminists (Experts); a partial content analysis of British feminist periodicals from 1980s onward; 7 in-depth interviews with African-Caribbean British victim-survivors of CSA and a survey examining Black, Asian and Minority, Ethnic service provision (BAME) in 13 Rape Crisis Centre’s in England and Scotland.

Context. There are several methods of developing software in a systematic, engineering way. One of them are traditional methods such as waterfall. Nowadays, more common are becoming agile methodologies. Agile aims at addressing and improving a communication in software projects. However, customer - supplier communication in software projects still causes many difficulties. Objectives. In this study I wanted to identify basic customer – supplier communication problems that agile practitioners encounter in agile software projects. I also wanted to provide basic guidelines based on identified, prioritized problems and identified, prioritized solutions. Methods. Using recently published journal articles and conference proceedings  I identify customer – supplier communication problems that agile practitioners encounter in agile software projects. In order to identify solutions, and also prioritize the identified problems I used a survey. Then, based on analysis of results of the survey foreseen guidelines were synthesized.  Results. Literature study resulted in the identification of eight customer – supplier communication problems that agile practitioners encounter in agile software projects. The survey provided critical weighted evaluation of the problems and also suggested solutions to the problems. The obtained weighted results were used to develop the basic guidelines together with suggested solutions to each of them. Conclusions. The research was designed to help agile practitioners in their communication with a customer. The obtained results provide basic and starting guidelines that are based on the experience of the agile practitioners. That can be further extended based on future local and individual experience of agile practitioners.

This thesis is an analysis of the under-researched subject of disability in Trinidad and Tobago and presents an understanding of the concepts and contestations of disability as it is lived and experienced by disabled people in T&T. In it disability is explored in the context of identity construction, power relations and self-empowerment, and takes into account the ways in which that identity is shaped by historical events, cultural relations, social interactions and political structures. It identifies the relationships between disability and local social issues through an analysis of the everyday cultural paradigms of religion, kinship, beliefs, rituals, customs and values of the people, and gives particular attention to discrimination within the context of heterogeneity, and the effects that has on disabled people’s contribution to society. The possibilities and limits of claiming a disability identity, and the role of state policy in framing understandings of disability are also explored, as are some of the impacts of those policies on the lives of disabled people. The research took a broadly qualitative approach, drawing on narrative, semi-structured and formal interviews, focus groups, observations and documentary analysis. The research findings and analysis add to the existing disability scholarship by exploring the cultural impositions and social structures that impact on disability experiences in a country of the Global South, and pinpoint some of the limitations present in hegemonic Western discourse when applied in these settings. It highlights the importance of the legacies of colonialism and challenges assumptions that systems of Western modernisation and development can be easily transferred to countries of the South without considering whether or not they are socially or culturally appropriate. The data results have illustrated that disability in T&T is a social construct which diverges in important ways from the dominant Westernised theorisations of disability and in particular, identifies the significance of religion and spirituality in shaping models of reality and value systems, which must be taken into account more fully in disability scholarship, activism and policy in the country.

L'efficacité du transport des marchandises en ville est un sujet complexe préoccupant les autorités locales depuis de nombreuses années. Les enjeux sont immenses, une meilleure organisation du trafic devant permettre d'augmenter la sécurité, réduire les nuisances, minimiser les coûts. La Logistique Urbaine vise à concevoir des systèmes de distribution des marchandises en ville permettant d'acheminer les flux dans les meilleures conditions à la fois pour la communauté et les transporteurs. Cette thèse se deroule dans le cadre du projet ANR MODUM qui propose un système basé sur un anneau de Centres de Distribution Urbains (CDU) situés autour d'une ville. La première partie étudie ce système d'un point de vue stratégique et tactique. Le Multicommodity-Ring Location Routing Problem aborde les décisions concernants l'installation et la connexion en anneau des CDU en simplifiant les détails plus tactiques. Trois méthodes ont été developpées et testées sur un jeu d'instances exhaustif se révélant très efficaces. The Multicommodity-Ring Vehicle Routing Problem est le problème dérivé que l'on obtient quand l'anneau est fixé. Une approche de type Branch&Price est proposée pour ce problème. La deuxième partie porte sur le Vehicle Routing Problem with Intermediate Replenishment Facilities, un problème plus tactique qui se produit dans un système logistique lorsque les véhicules peuvent se recharger auprès des points de remplissage et effectuer plusieurs tournées lors d'une même journée. Plusieurs algorithmes exacts ont été developpés et testés. Les résultats obtenus sur des jeux d'instances tirés de la littérature sont prometteurs. / Urban freight transport is a matter of increasing concern in the economic, commercial, social and environmental operations of our cities, due to the constantly increasing growth and urbanization of the civilization. An improved managem ent of the traffic related to the freight transport can have a positive impact in many respects : security, congestion of the road network, noise and air pollution, costs. City Logistics studies the dynamic management of urban freight transport in order to deliver distribution systems solutions that may be suitable for both the community and freight carriers. This thesis originates from the ANR Project MODUM, which proposes a freight distribution system based on a ring of Urban Distribution Centers (UDCs) located in the outskirts of a city. In the first part, this system is studied from both a strategic and a tactical point of view. The Multicommodity-Ring Location Routing Problem (MRLRP) considers long-term decisions, i.e. the installation of the UDCs and the ring connection, without disregarding more tactical aspects. The MRLRP has been tackled by three solution methods, which proved effective on a large set of test instances. In the second part of the thesis, the Vehicle Routing Problem with Intermediate Replenishment Facilities (VRPIRF) is studied. The VRPIRF is a more tactical problem that arises in City Logistics each time both the multi-trip and the multi-depot features, i.e. the possibility for a vehicle to be reloaded at one of a set of facilities, are present. Several exact algorithms, namely two of type Branch&Cut and two of type Branch& Price, have been developed for this problem. computational experiments on benchmark instances taken from the literature have been conducted to assess their performance, leading to very promising results.

This thesis explores the structure, demographics, and history of gangs in British Columbia (BC), Canada, through a social constructionist lens. The purpose of this research is for the reader to consider the current state of gangs in BC as inherently different from other places in the world, to assist in understanding why there may be misconceptions, and to promote the research and implementation of more appropriate context-specific interventions. Building on previous work conducted as a Vancouver Police officer of over 27 years, I participated in field observations with gang units in Toronto and Hobbema, Canada; Chicago and Los Angeles, USA; and London, England. I also examined gang typologies and definitions in academic literature as a segment of the historical context of gang research and highlight how these bodies of literature contribute to the social construction of gangs. A historical review of media-reported gang violence in BC from 1903 to 2012 demonstrates that gang violence is not a new phenomenon, and its history is an essential element in the constructed concept of the gang. As well, I conducted semi-structured interviews with participants who either police gangs, work with gangs, or were former gang members to get their perspectives on the issue. The research findings highlight that gangs in BC are distinct from other locations. Whereas traditional at-risk youth dominate gangs elsewhere, BC has a large number of youth involved in gangs who do not appear to possess the typical antecedents to gang involvement. Because of these differences, it is crucial that anti-gang initiatives and policies be adapted to the BC context to effectively reduce gang activity and ultimately eliminate gangs.