James M. Nyce

Fidelity and validity of simulator training

Through a case study, this article explores a number of theoretical issues related to the often taken for granted relationship between simulator fidelity and the quality and transferability of training in complex, dynamic, safety-critical settings. A counterexample based on mid-fidelity simulation is presented and the assumed coincidence of fidelity and validity is tested, that is the study tests the equation of constructed photorealism (built to mimic reality) and effective development of the competence that operators require to manage situations that involve underspecified problems, time pressure constraints and complex group interaction. The article concludes that such competence development cannot rely only on highly context-specific (photorealistic) environments. Further, it will be argued that lower-fidelity simulation, when appropriately designed, can provide competence development with pedagogical and economic advantages.

Population-based simulations of influenza pandemics: validity and significance for public health policy

OBJECTIVE To examine the validity and usefulness of pandemic simulations aimed at informing practical decision-making in public health. METHODS We recruited a multidisciplinary group of nine experts to assess a case-study simulation of influenza transmission in a Swedish county. We used a non-statistical nominal group technique to generate evaluations of the plausibility, formal validity (verification) and predictive validity of the simulation. A health-effect assessment structure was used as a framework for data collection. FINDINGS The unpredictability of social order during disasters was not adequately addressed by simulation methods; even minor disruptions of the social order may invalidate key infrastructural assumptions underpinning current pandemic simulation models. Further, a direct relationship between model flexibility and computation time was noted. Consequently, simulation methods cannot, in practice, support integrated modifications of microbiological, epidemiological and spatial submodels or handle multiple parallel scenarios. CONCLUSION The combination of incomplete surveillance data and simulation methods that neglect social dynamics limits the ability of national public health agencies to provide policy-makers and the general public with the critical and timely information needed during a pandemic.

How can ergonomics influence design? Moving from research findings to future systems.

Ergonomics design is about the creation of future work. So how can ergonomics research support and inform design if its findings are cast in a language oriented towards current work derived from field observations or laboratory settings? In this paper we assess instances of three different strands (experimental, ethnomethodological, and surveys) of ergonomics research on paper flight strips in air traffic control, for how they analytically confront future work and how they make the findings relevant or credible with respect to future work. How these justifications come about, or how valid (or well argued for) they are, is rarely considered in the ergonomics literature. All three strands appear to rely on rhetoric and argument as well as method and analysis, to justify findings in terms of their future applicability. Closing the gap between research results and future work is an important aim of the ergonomic enterprise. Better understanding of the processes necessary to bridge this gap may be critical for progress in ergonomics research and for the use of its findings in actual design processes.

When only the self is real: theory and practice in the development community

C an cultural analysis play a role in information systems development as it is presently undertaken in the United States? On the one hand, the answer to this question is yes. Cultural analysis has insight to offer into why we design systems the way we do, how systems are understood, used and evaluated, and why we see some systems as powerful or weak. On the other hand, the answer is no. It will not play a role in systems development if by this we mean cultural analysis will become a routine part of any actual design process. In other words, despite claims to the contrary (Blomberg, Giacomi, Mosher and Swenton-Wall, 1993), it seems unlikely that cultural analysis will ever become part of the tool kit developers and programmers habitually draw upon. This is a strong claim, of course, and why we believe it to be true is the subject of this paper.

From contextual inquiry to designable futures: what do we need to get there?

Human-centered systems result when software engineers or developers give attention to the orientations, expectations, and understandings of the people who will be part of the sociotechnical system. Human factors researchers often take certain agendas, terms, and theories for granted or rely on them out of habit. This paper takes a special look at contextual enquiry as a putatively (and indeed potentially) superior way of giving end users a serious say in the procurement process of complex cognitive systems.

Cognitive engineering and the moral theology and witchcraft of cause

In keeping with the concerns of this special issue—while extending its empirical reach—we consider the influence that some fundamental ideas of Western society have had on how we look at failure and accountability in complex systems. We suggest that these may have gone somewhat unnoticed or been neglected by cognitive systems engineering and that this could undermine its agenda.

Who wins? Who loses?: Representation and “restoration” of the past in a rural Romanian community

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that those involved in cultural heritage preservation efforts must look more critically at how preconceived notions of “history” and “tradition” affect both the design and outcomes of preservation efforts. This paper also adds to the limited library and information science (LIS) discourse on the problematic nature of significance as it relates to selecting aspects of cultural heritage for preservation, which is of particular importance to LIS practitioners as they work to help others capture, preserve and represent their traditional knowledge and ways of life.Design/methodology/approach – The argument is based on research carried out in rural Romania in the summer of 2007. Faculty from Ball State University with students from several US universities collected qualitative data using ethnographic methods for an ongoing historic preservation effort in the community of Viscri. In addition to the community case study, the LIS literature on the problem of assignin...

Performance of eHealth Data Sources in Local Influenza Surveillance:A 5-Year Open Cohort Study

Background There is abundant global interest in using syndromic data from population-wide health information systems—referred to as eHealth resources—to improve infectious disease surveillance. Recently, the necessity for these systems to achieve two potentially conflicting requirements has been emphasized. First, they must be evidence-based; second, they must be adjusted for the diversity of populations, lifestyles, and environments. Objective The primary objective was to examine correlations between data from Google Flu Trends (GFT), computer-supported telenursing centers, health service websites, and influenza case rates during seasonal and pandemic influenza outbreaks. The secondary objective was to investigate associations between eHealth data, media coverage, and the interaction between circulating influenza strain(s) and the age-related population immunity. Methods An open cohort design was used for a five-year study in a Swedish county (population 427,000). Syndromic eHealth data were collected from GFT, telenursing call centers, and local health service website visits at page level. Data on mass media coverage of influenza was collected from the major regional newspaper. The performance of eHealth data in surveillance was measured by correlation effect size and time lag to clinically diagnosed influenza cases. Results Local media coverage data and influenza case rates showed correlations with large effect sizes only for the influenza A (A) pH1N1 outbreak in 2009 (r=.74, 95% CI .42-.90; P<.001) and the severe seasonal A H3N2 outbreak in 2011-2012 (r=.79, 95% CI .42-.93; P=.001), with media coverage preceding case rates with one week. Correlations between GFT and influenza case data showed large effect sizes for all outbreaks, the largest being the seasonal A H3N2 outbreak in 2008-2009 (r=.96, 95% CI .88-.99; P<.001). The preceding time lag decreased from two weeks during the first outbreaks to one week from the 2009 A pH1N1 pandemic. Telenursing data and influenza case data showed correlations with large effect sizes for all outbreaks after the seasonal B and A H1 outbreak in 2007-2008, with a time lag decreasing from two weeks for the seasonal A H3N2 outbreak in 2008-2009 (r=.95, 95% CI .82-.98; P<.001) to none for the A p H1N1 outbreak in 2009 (r=.84, 95% CI .62-.94; P<.001). Large effect sizes were also observed between website visits and influenza case data. Conclusions Correlations between the eHealth data and influenza case rates in a Swedish county showed large effect sizes throughout a five-year period, while the time lag between signals in eHealth data and influenza rates changed. Further research is needed on analytic methods for adjusting eHealth surveillance systems to shifts in media coverage and to variations in age-group related immunity between virus strains. The results can be used to inform the development of alert-generating eHealth surveillance systems that can be subject for prospective evaluations in routine public health practice.

Community analysis needs ethnography: an example from Romania

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of using qualitative research methods, such as ethnography, in community analysis within the library and information science (LIS) community.Design/methodology/approach – The authors review the LIS literature on community analysis up to May 2004, critique a representative case study and compare its results to what emerged from the research carried out in rural Romania summer of 2004. Students and faculty from Emporia State University and Ball State University in May 2004 gathered qualitative data on the rural information infrastructure and the information needs and of residents in the Romanian community of Lunca Ilvei. The research team used ethnographic methods to collect data and found this method to be effective in the analysis and understanding of the communitys information behavior.Findings – Community analysis in LIS has relied primarily on quantitative methods. While quantitative methods can give the researcher some information a...

The Raw is Cooked : Data in Intelligence Practice

This article looks at some common assumptions and associated work practices within a military intelligence community. There intelligence practitioners use the term “raw data” as a common sense category, as a word that describes information they want or have gained access to. The practical and organizational processes that inform the construction of the term raw data are unpacked here. Examples presented are based on interviews, field observations, and document reviews. Theoretical descriptions and models of work, for example, the intelligence cycle, construction, and the use of computer databases, assume that work in this community starts with raw data. However, this data has already been (prior) processed by the work practices, political, practical, and other decisions even before data collection occurs. The technology and attendant categories and practices instrumentalize a certain world view. The model used frames not just the collection and organization of the institution’s knowledge but those categories that inform how this institution organizes, legitimizes, and enacts its work, data, and knowledge. Given the kinds of opponents nations have to face today, intelligence practitioners and those who study their work have to understand practice, action, and contexts often quite different from ones own.