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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The thesis explores the extent to which interpretive techniques can improve our understanding of the impacts of information systems. Two themes are explored: the capacity of interpretive techniques to evaluate information systems' impacts from within the work context, and the extent to which the process emphasis of the interpretive approach can facilitate learning about information systems and their impacts. The thesis proposes that the impacts of information systems comprise a combination of known or anticipated phenomena and emergent phenomena that cannot be wholly predicted in advance and argues that the value of an information system lies in its effective use, which in turn depends upon its being understood by its users and assimilated into their work. Support for this proposal is provided from the literature and through evaluation of the impacts of the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) on fingerprint work in England and Wales. Deep insight into NAFIS and fingerprint work are provided by the use of Repertory Grid Analysis (RGA) as a content-free data gathering technique, used within the interpretive framework proposed by Walsham (1993). The data generated by RGA are analysed using the protocols proposed by Thomas and Harri-Augstein (1985) which support what they call "self-organised learning". In this way, RGA is used to facilitate learning through evaluation, enabling participants to learn to benefit from information systems. The RGA process and outcomes are described in detail. The contribution of the RGA data to the interpretive approach is discussed and the results compared with those arising from a more orthodox evaluation ofNAFIS. The results demonstrate that orthodox evaluation techniques underestimate the value of an information system by failing to assess the significance of many of the issues and concerns that emerge as it is assimilated into the work setting. The research is shown to have contributed to the evaluation of NAFIS, directly impacting the work of a wide range of users and managers in the fingerprint, police and wider criminal justice communities. The results are also shown to be generalisable to other organisational settings and therefore having implications for both the information systems and wider evaluation communities.

Non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) is a disorder resembling epilepsy, but is caused by psychological processes rather than neurological disturbance. Approximately 15-30% of patients referred to specialist epilepsy centres have NEAD as opposed to epilepsy. Research into NEAD has largely focused on the differential diagnosis of NEAD and identifying risk factors, such as abuse and psychopathology. Whilst this is important, there remains a paucity of research exploring the processes involved in the development and maintenance of NEAD, which contributes to the lack of research investigating treatment effectiveness and prognosis. Furthermore, there remains a paucity of research investigating patient perceptions and experiences, despite such factors influencing prognosis. Subsequently, the current study used repertory grid methodology to explore the largely overlooked domain of how individuals with NEAD construe their world (i.e. how they perceive themselves, others and their disorder). Twelve individuals with a diagnosis of NEAD were recruited from a clinical neuropsychology department within North-West England. This study was an exploratory, cross-sectional study using the repertory grid technique to explore the participants' construals of themselves and others, including construals of their ideal self and self before NEAD. Based on personal construct theory, this method aimed to overcome some of the methodological limitations inherent within NEAD research, by minimising researcher bias, exploring implicit and explicit perceptions and exploring both individual and group perceptions.A case series of grids was presented. Individual and multiple analyses were used to explore participants' construct systems. A data driven approach enabled hypotheses to be developed from the individual grids, which were explored via a composite grid and SocioNet analysis. Despite some themes being identified, the findings revealed the uniqueness of the participants' ways of construing, including a lack of shared understanding amongst the participants. The participants were unhappy with their current self and no longer construed themselves to be the person they were before the onset of NEAD. They also construed themselves as being distinct and/or alienated from others, although some participants construed positive consequences as a result of their NEAD. Whilst most participants agreed with their NEAD diagnosis 'label', they were less accepting of the psychological factors that characterise the diagnosis. Finally, physical health difficulties were construed as being preferable to experiencing mental health difficulties. The findings were discussed in relation to previous research and theoretical implications were highlighted. Clinical implications were highlighted, particularly how the current diagnostic and treatment system for individuals with NEAD may threaten their self-identity. Methodological considerations and recommendations for future research were also suggested. The repertory grid technique was found to be a useful and effective method to investigate the subjective perceptions of individuals with NEAD.

In software visualization, but also in information visualization in general, there is a great need for evaluation of visualization metaphors. To reduce the amount of empirical studies a omputational approach has been applied successfully, e.g., to graph visualization. It is based on measurable aesthetic heuristics that are used to estimate the human perception and the processing of visualizations. This paper lays a foundation for adopting this approach to any field of information visualization by providing a method, the repertory grid technique, to identify aesthetics that are measurable, metaphor-specific, and relevant to the user in a structured and repeatable way. We identified 25 unique aesthetics and revealed that the visual appearance of the investigated visualizations is mainly influenced by the package structure whereby methods are underrepresented. These findings were used to improve existing visualizations.

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Continous improvements (ständiga förbättringar, framöver förkortat CI) har under senare år fått ett stort fokus inom svenska organisationer – först inom tillverknings-industrin och senare inom tjänstesektorn och offentlig sektor. Breddningen av verksamheter som fokuserar på dessa små, kontinuerliga förbättringar innebär också att det även är komplexa, kunskapsintensiva organisationer som använder sig av CI. Majoriteten av den forskning som utförts inom områden relaterade till CI gäller standardiserade och styrda arbetsuppgifter. Utifrån ett systemteoretiskt perspektiv har jag därför valt att studera hur arbetet med CI utformas i en kunskapsintensiv organisation. Hur förhåller sig utformningen av CI då jämfört med de ideal som finns i befintlig litteratur? Som metod för datainsamlingen har jag använt mig av repertory-grid som är en variant av halvstrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet från den studerade organisationen och deras arbete med CI visar på en stor överensstämmelse med tidigare forskning. Det är dock några områden som avviker, framförallt när det gäller lärande och reflektion. I idealfallet är CI ett systematiskt, kontinuerligt och kumulativt arbetssätt som bygger på medarbetarnas engagemang. I en kunskapsintensiv organisation är det framförallt den kumulativa delen som inte uppfylls.