Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: hardware verification; language; timing diagrams; aspect-oriented programming. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58).

Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-54). Also available via the Internet.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M.T.S.C.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 25).

Traditional methods of evaluating quality in computer end user documentation have been subjective in nature, and have not been widely used in practice. Attempts to quantify quality and more narrowly define the essential features of quality have been limited -- leaving the issue of quality largely up to the writer of the user manual. Quantifiable measures from the literature, especially Velotta (1992) and Brockman (1990), have been assembled into a set of uniformly weighted metrics for the measurement of document quality. This measure has been applied to the end user documentation of eighty-two personal computer packages. End user documentation is defined in terms of paper documents only. The research examined only those manuals that were titled “user guide,” “training manual,” “tutorial,” or similar title. The research examined six categories of software: applications, graphics, utilities, spreadsheets, databases, and word processing. Following the recommendation of Duffy (1985), a panel of experts was assembled and asked to evaluate several of the 82 end user manuals in order to determine what correlation exists between the set of metrics and the subjective opinion of experts. The eighty-two documents in the sample were scored by the metrics using a convenient random sampling technique. This technique was selected based the consistency of the material in commercial software manuals and the methods of Velotta (1992). Data from the metrics suggest that there is little correlation between quality, category, price, page length, version number, and experience. On a scale of 0.0 to 1.0, the minimum total score from the metrics was .2; the maximum score .83; the mean total score was. 70; the median .697 with a standard deviation of .093. The distribution is slightly skewed and leptokurtic (steeper than a normal curve). The metrics further suggest a declining score as the integration of sentences into chapters and chapters into the document progresses. Of the metrics two consistently had lower scores: those relating to the transition between sections of the document; and the reference tools provided. Though not conclusive, the analysis of data from the panel of experts compared with the model results suggests only a moderate correlation. However, by varying the weighting scheme, it is possible to improve model performance - essentially by "tuning" the model to match the sample data from the panelists. Further research would be required to verify if these weights have more global application.

Microcomputer software users require varying degrees of instructional assistance to effectively operate the software they purchase. Chapter I recognizes that this demand for quality documentation places a burden upon software suppliers to expend additional time, energy, and money to satisfy users. This research recommends a set of procedural guidelines for microcomputer software suppliers to follow as a means of supplementing basic documentation techniques. Literature regarding microcomputer software documentation is an item of increasing demand in today's technical marketplace. The literature review, Chapter II, reveals that the most significant improvement in the documentation process has been the development of two specific reference standards, physical layout and instructional components. Chapter III describes the research experiment used in obtaining information regarding the documentation associated with two current microcomputer word processing programs. Four university students provided background information regarding the personal characteristics, attributes, associated with a given user population. The research experiment evolved from a comprehensive documentation review to a structured data collection process. Chapter IV indicates that the discrepancy between actual and expected research gains justifies improving data collection techniques and recommending specific procedural guidelines for future documentation reviews. The final chapter provides a detailed analysis of the research experiment and conclusions related to the documentation's effectiveness. Additionally, it proposes procedural guidelines designed to improve the experiment's data collection techniques. These guidelines can help future documentation writers more accurately gauge user capabilities and limitations. / Master of Science

Hardware engineers frequently create formal specification documents as part of the verification process. Doing so is a time-consuming and error-prone process, as the primary documents for communications and standards use a mixture of prose, diagrams and tables. We would like this process to be partially automated, in which the engineer's role would be to refine a machine-generated skeleton of a specification's formal model. We have created a preliminary intermediate language which allows specifications to be captured using formal semantics, and allows an engineer to easily find, understand, and modify critical portions of the specification. We have converted most of ARM's AMBA AHB specification to our language; our representation is able to follow the structure of the original document.

The objectives of this study were (1) to identify and describe task-based documentation; (2) to identify and describe any purported changes in users attitudes when IT migration was preceded by task-based documentation; (3) to suggest implications of task-based documentation on users attitude toward IT acceptance. Questionnaires were given to 150 university students. Of these, all 150 students participated in this study. The study determined the following: (1) if favorable pre-implementation attitudes toward a new e-mail system increase, as a result of training, if users expect it to be easy to learn and use; (2) if user acceptance of an e-mail program increase as expected perceived usefulness increase as delineated by task-based documentation; (3) if task-based documentation is more effective than standard help menus while learning a new application program; and (4) if training that requires active student participation increase the acceptance of a new e-mail system. The following conclusions were reached: (1) Positive pre-implementation attitudes toward a new e-mail system are not affected by training even if the users expect it to be easy to learn and use. (2) User acceptance of an e-mail program does not increase as perceived usefulness increase when aided by task-based documentation. (3) Task-based documentation is not more effective than standard help menus when learning a new application program. (4) Training that requires active student participation does not increase the acceptance of a new e-mail system.

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