This paper surveys and evaluates some techniques for eliciting requirements of computer-based systems, paying particular attention to how they deal with social issues. The methods surveyed include introspection, interviews, questionnaires, and protocol, conversation, interaction, and discourse analyses. Although they are relatively untried in Requirements Engineering, we believe there is much promise in the last three techniques, which grew out of ethnomethodology and sociolinguistics. In particular, they can elicit tacit knowledge by observing actual interactions in the workplace, and can also be applied to the system development process itself.

this article, we identify and discuss how such influences impact the adoption and use of traceability. The results reported in this article are based on data from a series of empirical studies conducted over four years with the goals of capturing the current practices and trends in requirements traceability, developing reference models to guide improved practice, and understanding the factors that facilitate or impede traceability practice. The primary research question explored in this article is: What are the critical factors that influence the practice of requirements traceability? The study is guided by the theoretical framework for understanding the issues around the adoption of CASE tools developed by Orlikowski [5]. This framework, developed using the grounded theory approach, considers a wide range of factors, including the social context, the motivations and actions of the participants, and the implementation process in systems development

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The concept of a community of practice (CoP) is prevalent in several venues for teachers’ professional development, especially in online environments. However, there are few descriptive accounts that effectively represent a CoP in a manner that will be of use to other designers. In order to illuminate potential difficulties which may arise when attempting to design a framework to characterize or to build a CoP, this study describes the dynamics of five dualities (specific areas of tension) that were identified during the design and testing period of the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), a Web-based community for teachers ’ professional development. During the three-year design trajectory of the ILF, these five dualities emerged from and characterized the interactions between the participating teachers and the site designers. As part of the data collection for this study, we conducted document analyses, interviews with designers, researchers, and teachers, and observations of online and face-to-face meetings. The findings of this study are intended to help future Web-designers both to better realize the full potential of online professional development environments and to avoid potential design development issues which may hamper the utility or participation rates in newly created CoPs.

Many phenomena related to software development are qualitative in nature. Relevant measures of such phenomena are often collected using semi-structured interviews. Such interviews involve high costs, and the quality of the collected data is related to how the interviews are conducted. Careful planning and conducting of the interviews are therefore necessary, and experiences from interview studies in software engineering should consequently be collected and analyzed to provide advice to other researchers. We have brought together experiences from 12 software engineering studies, in which a total of 280 interviews were conducted. Four areas were particularly challenging when planning and conducting these interviews; estimating the necessary effort, ensuring that the interviewer had the needed skills, ensuring good interaction between interviewer and interviewees, and using the appropriate tools and project artifacts. The paper gives advice on how to handle these areas and suggests what information about the interviews should be included when reporting studies where interviews have been used in data collection. By sharing experience, knowledge about the accomplishments of software engineering interviews is increased and hence, measures of high quality can be achieved. 1

factual errors, for correction in future editions. We would also welcome any other suggestions, additions or amendments that would enhance this publication. 3 Evaluation Cookbook PREFACE Background The original idea for the cookbook came from the LTDI consultative group. Their suggestion was that we should try and produce a practical guide that would be aimed at lecturers who were interested in evaluating materials for their effectiveness in achieving specific learning objectives. From this initial concept, we hope that we have now developed a resource from which readers can pick and mix from a range of ideas and suggestions and through this process, design an evaluation study to suit their own specific needs. The development of the cookbook Cookbook contributors were selected on the basis of their wide experience in carrying out evaluations of teaching and learning interventions and we feel that this is reflected in both th

This paper explores the issues that influence the diffusion of innovation as it relates to the adoption of e-commerce by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It seeks to identify factors facilitating and inhibiting such adoption across contexts – regional, small city and large city. This analysis is cross cultural so the impact of differing economic and cultural issues also will be identified in this research. Whilst it is generally accepted that the strategic use of information technology (IT) is vital in the marketplace, the rate of such uptake between small and large businesses varies. This research seeks to identify the reasons for this variation. It is critical to understand such factors so that steps can be taken to redress inequity of uptake that might be identified. The paper endeavours to explore factors that are needed to facilitate and encourage IT adoption and so positively influence user acceptance and use of IT innovations in SMEs. Reasons for such uptake as well as strategic approach to the adoption of e-commerce, and variations regarding same also will be considered. The paper examines existing theory as it pertains to the diffusion of innovation acknowledging the perspective of regional and urban SMEs in various cultural contexts. Empirical investigation exploring this diffusion, the rate of and approach to the uptake by SMEs is planned using a case study methodology. 1

The Internet can be considered a strategic research site in which to study fundamental social and psychological processes. In fact, online communication systems structure interaction in new ways with dramatic effect on the types of social organizations that emerge from people using them.

.......................................................... ix Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................ 1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................... 6 OPAC Interfaces ........................................... 6 Bibliographic Displays ....................................... 9 Bibliographic Content 9 Bibliographic Display Format 13 The Technique of Focus Groups ............................. 17 The Use of Focus Groups in Library and Information Science ....... 18 3 METHODOLOGY ............................................... 21 Research Design .......................................... 21 Host Library .............................................. 23 Apparatus ............................................... 24 Material ................................................. 25 Questionnaire 25 Sample Displays 27 Focus Group Script 30 Procedure ............................................... 32 Participant Recruitment 32 Focus Group Sessions 33...

Direct contact with users can provide a valuable resource for designers, who often design products for use outside their own experience. Design research is currently being undertaken, which is concentrating on developing a training package and guide for the use of focus groups during the designing process – aimed at both undergraduate and practising designers. The initial stage of the project investigated the resources available to designers with particular emphasis on those resources that were regularly utilised. This paper reports the results of a series of interviews with practising industrial designers – to examine methods used during the concept generation stage, and highlight designers ’ perceptions toward focus group methods. 1 FOCUS GROUPS FOR USER CENTRED DESIGN A focus group is a collection of individuals that have been brought together to discuss a particular topic, issue or concern. A moderator (a chair) provides a framework and structure to the meeting, integrating open-ended questions to promote discussion. The method relies upon the interaction between the individuals, encouraging synergy within the group (1). Focus groups assist in qualitative data collection, providing detailed insights into individuals’