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Pushing The Boundaries Of Traditional Methodological Approaches In Conducting Research In Tourism And Social Sciences: A Religious And Pilgrimage Tourism Case Study, Vreny Enongene Jun 2018

Pushing The Boundaries Of Traditional Methodological Approaches In Conducting Research In Tourism And Social Sciences: A Religious And Pilgrimage Tourism Case Study, Vreny Enongene

Conference papers

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance and usefulness of non-standardised research methodological approaches to knowing / knowledge development in tourism research, and in the social sciences in general. Crucial in that, extant research efforts have been characterised by stringent laid-down methodological and philosophical assumptions. Concurrently, an extensive review of extant methodological approaches to knowledge development within the religious and pilgrimage tourism scholarship (RPTS) revealed that studies have been guided by generic ontological and epistemological philosophical assumptions. Franklin and Crang (2001, p.6) concurred the above as they observed ‘a tendency for studies of tourism researchers to follow …


An Empirical Estimation Of Statistical Inferences For System Dynamics Model Parameters, Mohammed Mesabbah, Wael Rashwan, Amr Arisha Dec 2014

An Empirical Estimation Of Statistical Inferences For System Dynamics Model Parameters, Mohammed Mesabbah, Wael Rashwan, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

For system dynamics simulation (SD) models, an estimation of statistical distributions for uncertain parameters is crucial. These distributions could be used for testing models sensitivity, quality of policies, and/or estimating confidence intervals for these parameters. Assumptions related to normality, independence and constant variation are often misapplied in dynamic simulation. Bootstrapping holds a considerable theoretical advantage when used with non-Gaussian data for estimating empirical distributions for unknown parameters. Although it is a widely acceptable approach, it has had only limited use in system dynamics applications. This paper introduces an application of Direct Residual Bootstrapping (DRBS) for statistical inference in system dynamic …


Integrating Simulation Modelling And Value Stream Mapping For Leaner Capacity Planning Of An Emergency Department, Esmat Swallmeh, Ayman Tobail, Waleed Abo-Hamad, James Gray, Amr Arisha Jul 2014

Integrating Simulation Modelling And Value Stream Mapping For Leaner Capacity Planning Of An Emergency Department, Esmat Swallmeh, Ayman Tobail, Waleed Abo-Hamad, James Gray, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Recently, the application of lean thinking in healthcare has grown significantly in response to rising demand, caused by population growth, ageing and high expectations of service quality. However, insufficient justifications and lack of quantifiable evidence are the main obstacles to convince healthcare executives to adopt lean philosophies. This paper presents a real application of the successful implementation of a methodology that integrates Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and simulation modelling to improve an emergency department (ED) of a University hospital in Dublin. Appling lean approach in operations will minimize the patient waiting time and improve service time. VSM points out to …


Towards Operations Excellence: Optimising Staff Scheduling For New Emergency Department, Amr Arisha, Waleed Abo Hamad Jun 2013

Towards Operations Excellence: Optimising Staff Scheduling For New Emergency Department, Amr Arisha, Waleed Abo Hamad

Conference papers

This paper presents a case study of an Emergency Department of a public hospital in Dublin, and uses an integrated approach to determine optimal staffing levels to meet the challenges of its dynamic patient demand levels. A comprehensive stochastic model is developed to incorporate patients care pathways and the resources required along their treatment journeys. Analytical Hierarchical Process is utilised to enable decision makers to set their preferences for the facility’s strategic objectives. Evolutionary algorithms are applied to optimise staff schedules. The resulted optimized schedules maintains continuity of care delivery for patients while ensuring a balanced equilibrium among available staff.


Capacity Planning For Elderly Care In Ireland Using Simluation Modeling, Mohamed Ragab, Waleed Abo Hamad, Amr Arisha Nov 2012

Capacity Planning For Elderly Care In Ireland Using Simluation Modeling, Mohamed Ragab, Waleed Abo Hamad, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Global population aging is creating an immense pressure on healthcare facilities making them unable to cope with the growing demand for elderly healthcare services. Current demand-supply gaps result in prolonged waiting times for patients and substantial cost burdens for healthcare systems due to delayed discharges. This paper describes a project aimed at presenting modeling and simulation to address elderly care pathways within the Irish healthcare sector. The management of frail patients admitted to acute hospitals and the introduction of the new intermediate care beds are alternative interventions that healthcare executives are interested in simulating to examine their impact on the …


Economic Risk Assessment Using The Fractal Market Hypothesis, Jonathan Blackledge, Marek Rebow Jan 2010

Economic Risk Assessment Using The Fractal Market Hypothesis, Jonathan Blackledge, Marek Rebow

Conference papers

This paper considers the Fractal Market Hypothesi (FMH) for assessing the risk(s) in developing a financial portfolio based on data that is available through the Internet from an increasing number of sources. Most financial risk management systems are still based on the Efficient Market Hypothesis which often fails due to the inaccuracies of the statistical models that underpin the hypothesis, in particular, that financial data are based on stationary Gaussian processes. The FMH considered in this paper assumes that financial data are non-stationary and statistically self-affine so that a risk analysis can, in principal, be applied at any time scale …


Learning Without Default: A Study Of One-Class Classification And The Low-Default Portfolio Problem, Kenneth Kennedy, Brian Mac Namee, Sarah Jane Delany Aug 2009

Learning Without Default: A Study Of One-Class Classification And The Low-Default Portfolio Problem, Kenneth Kennedy, Brian Mac Namee, Sarah Jane Delany

Conference papers

This paper asks at what level of class imbalance one-class classifiers outperform two-class classifiers in credit scoring problems in which class imbalance, referred to as the low-default portfolio problem, is a serious issue. The question is answered by comparing the performance of a variety of one-class and two-class classifiers on a selection of credit scoring datasets as the class imbalance is manipulated. We also include random oversampling as this is one of the most common approaches to addressing class imbalance. This study analyses the suitability and performance of recognised two-class classifiers and one-class classifiers. Based on our study we conclude …


The Effect Of Different Inputs To Factor Analysis: An Example Using Service Quality In Uk Branch Banking, Joseph Coughlan, Estelle Shale, Robert Dyson Feb 2007

The Effect Of Different Inputs To Factor Analysis: An Example Using Service Quality In Uk Branch Banking, Joseph Coughlan, Estelle Shale, Robert Dyson

Conference papers

Factor analysis has long been used in service quality research to understand the dimensions of the construct. This research reinvestigates this construct using two different methodologies (classical test theory and item response theory) in order to assess the homogeneity of the dimensions across the methodologies in a retail branch banking sample taken from a larger network in the UK. The findings show that the two methodologies give different results. Furthermore the choice of correlation matrix to input into Confirmatory Factor Analysis may be more important than is currently thought in the literature as they give different results in this sample.


Bar Raising Or Navel-Gazing?:The Effectiveness Of Self-Study Programmes In Eading To Improvements In Institutional Performance, Deirdre Lillis Jan 2006

Bar Raising Or Navel-Gazing?:The Effectiveness Of Self-Study Programmes In Eading To Improvements In Institutional Performance, Deirdre Lillis

Conference papers

Higher Education Institutes worldwide are investing significant resources in self study programmes to improve institutional performance, to enhance quality and to meet external stakeholder demands. The institutional impacts of both internally and externally mandated self study programmes is an area where little empirical research exists. A key question is whether self study programmes are effective (or otherwise) in leading to improvements in institutional performance and the reasons why. Covering an eight year period, from 1997–2006, this paper reports on the use of systematic evaluation methodology (Rossi et al., 2003) to evaluate the effectiveness of three self study programmes in leading …