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2001

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Design And Specification Of Dynamic, Mobile And Reconfigurable Multiagent Systems, Athie L. Self Mar 2001

Design And Specification Of Dynamic, Mobile And Reconfigurable Multiagent Systems, Athie L. Self

Theses and Dissertations

Multiagent Systems use the power of collaborative software agents to solve complex distributed problems. There are many Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methodologies available to assist system designers to create multiagent systems. However, none of these methodologies can specify agents with dynamic properties such as cloning, mobility or agent instantiation. This thesis starts the process to bridge the gap between AOSE methodologies and dynamic agent platforms by incorporating mobility into the current Multiagent Systems Engineering (MaSE) methodology. Mobility was specified within all components composing a mobile agent class. An agent component was also created that integrated the behavior of the components …

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A Model For Palladium Catalyzed Destruction Of Chlorinated Ethenes In Contaminated Groundwater, Christopher M. Stoppel Mar 2001

A Model For Palladium Catalyzed Destruction Of Chlorinated Ethenes In Contaminated Groundwater, Christopher M. Stoppel

Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater contamination by chlorinated ethenes is a widespread environmental problem. Conventional remediation technologies have shortcomings that have prompted further research into the development of novel treatment technologies. A palladium/ alumina catalyst in the presence of dissolved molecular hydrogen (referred to hereafter as a PD/H2 system) has been demonstrated to rapidly destroy chlorinated ethene contaminated groundwater. First-order kinetics have been used to model chlorinated ethene destruction in a PD/H2 reactor. However, catalyst deactivation and regeneration are important processes that also need to be modeled in order to better understand their effect on treatment efficiency. This study presents a model …

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Selecting Optimal Control Portfolios To Improve Army Aviation Safety, Sarah E. Shelton Mar 2001

Selecting Optimal Control Portfolios To Improve Army Aviation Safety, Sarah E. Shelton

Theses and Dissertations

The Army is concerned with maintaining safe operations in tight of increasing operational demands. The Army Safety Center's goal, as approved by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Tech no logy, is to reduce accident severity by 50% in the next decade. The Safety Center chartered the Aviation Safety Investment Strategy Team to evaluate accidents to determine their hazards, or contributing conditions, and their controls, or reduction measures. This study specifically targets the force-modernized aircraft, AH-64 Apache, CH/MH-47 Chinook, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, and UH-60 Black Hawk. This research takes a look at selecting the best portfolios of controls …

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Transforming Analysis Models Into Design Models For The Multiagent Engineering Systems (Mase) Methodology, Clint H. Sparkman Mar 2001

Transforming Analysis Models Into Design Models For The Multiagent Engineering Systems (Mase) Methodology, Clint H. Sparkman

Theses and Dissertations

Agent technology has received much attention in the last few years because of the advantages that multiagent systems have in complex, distributed environments. For multiagent systems are to be effective, they must be reliable, robust, and secure. AFIT's Agent Research Group has developed a complete lifecycle methodology, called Multiagent Systems Engineering (MaSE), for analyzing, designing, and developing heterogeneous multiagent systems. However, developing multiagent systems is a complicated process, and there is no guarantee that the resulting system meets the initial requirements and will operate reliably with the desired behavior. The purpose of this research was to develop a semi-automated formal …

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A Verification And Validation Assessment Of Rapid Availability Prototyping For Testing Operational Readiness, Gurhan Tarman Mar 2001

A Verification And Validation Assessment Of Rapid Availability Prototyping For Testing Operational Readiness, Gurhan Tarman

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the world, new techniques are developed to test and evaluate systems. The Department of Defense and the US Air Force conduct numerous studies into the reliability and maintainability of current and future weapons systems in an effort to understand the reliability, maintainability, and availability (RM&A) costs of these systems. Furthermore, they must verify RM&A characteristics of systems, which are still in the development phase. The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) is responsible for testing new equipment to ensure their RM&A characteristics meet specifications. Rapid Availability Prototyping for Testing Operational Readiness (RAPTOR) is the software tool developed …

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Minimum Distance Estimation For Time Series Analysis With Little Data, Hakan Tekin Mar 2001

Minimum Distance Estimation For Time Series Analysis With Little Data, Hakan Tekin

Theses and Dissertations

Minimum distance estimate is a statistical parameter estimate technique that selects model parameters that minimize a good-of-fit statistic. Minimum distance estimation has been demonstrated better standard approaches, including maximum likelihood estimators and least squares, in estimating statistical distribution parameters with very small data sets. This research applies minimum distance estimation to the task of making time series predictions with very few historical observations. In a Monte Carlo analysis, we test a variety of distance measures and report the results based on many different criteria. Our analysis tests the robustness of the approach by testing its ability to make predictions when …

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Multicast Algorithms For Mobile Satellite Communication Networks, Ryan W. Thomas Mar 2001

Multicast Algorithms For Mobile Satellite Communication Networks, Ryan W. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

With the rise of mobile computing and an increasing need for ubiquitous high speed data connections, Internet-in-the-sky solutions are becoming increasingly viable. To reduce the network overhead of one-to-many transmissions, the multicast protocol has been devised. The implementation of multicast in these Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations is a critical component to achieving an omnipresent network environment. This research examines the system performance associated with two terrestrial-based multicast mobility solutions, Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) with mobile IP and On Demand Multicast Routing Protocol (ODMRP). These protocols are implemented and simulated in a six plane, 66 satellite LEO constellation. …

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Gss Technology As A Moderator Of Influence And Perceived Expertise, Kevin V. Thompson Mar 2001

Gss Technology As A Moderator Of Influence And Perceived Expertise, Kevin V. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Group Support System (355) research has found this content and process anonymity influence problem solving groups. However, previous studies report mixed results on how OSS technology changes social influence processes and recognition of expertise which affect group performance. This thesis explored content and process anonymity's affect on influence and perceived expertise using three treatments to derive possible explanations for the mixed results found in previous GSS research. The study developed a theoretical model of influence, perceived expertise, and performance. Using structural equation modeling the study tested the relationships between expertise and participation rates, and overall group performance. An experiment was …

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A Reactive Tabu Search Metaheuristic Extension Of The Air Refueling Tanker Assignment Problem, Umit Hilmi Tekelioglu Mar 2001

A Reactive Tabu Search Metaheuristic Extension Of The Air Refueling Tanker Assignment Problem, Umit Hilmi Tekelioglu

Theses and Dissertations

The Combined Mating and Ranging Planning System (CMARPS) is the system used by AMC to schedule air refueling for deployments from the continental U.S. to other parts of the world. The tool developed by Capehart (2000) got results similar to CMARPS in less time. Capehart's tool allows AMC to input several receiver groups consisting of various aircraft types and numbers. Each receiver group contains a point of origin and destination, with the option of providing one waypoint along the path, a ready to load date (RLD) and required delivery date (RDD). The user is also able to specify the locations …

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Brac To The Future: An Analysis Of Past Savings From Base Closings, Charles S. Tapp Ii Mar 2001

Brac To The Future: An Analysis Of Past Savings From Base Closings, Charles S. Tapp Ii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses regression to analyze the savings resulting from the previous four rounds of BRAC in terms of their effect on each of the Air Force budget appropriations. For each appropriation, while the number of major installations initially appears to be a significant determinant in explaining the change in the budget, the number of bases becomes insignificant if a surrogate for Air Force mission requirements is included as the explanatory variable. We tested three surrogate measures for mission requirements: number of flying hours, number of aircraft, and number of active duty personnel. In each case, we found the number …

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Implementation And Analysis Of The Parallel Genetic Rule And Classifier Construction Environment, David M. Strong Mar 2001

Implementation And Analysis Of The Parallel Genetic Rule And Classifier Construction Environment, David M. Strong

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses the Genetic Rule and Classifier Construction Environment (GRaCCE), which is an alternative to existing decision rule induction (DRI) algorithms. GRaCCE is a multi-phase algorithm which uses evolutionary search to mine classification rules from data. The current implementation uses a genetic algorithm based 0/1 search to reduce the number of features to a minimal set of features that make the most significant contributions to the classification of the input data set. This feature selection increases the efficiency of the rule induction algorithm that follows. However, feature selection is shown to account for more than 98 percent of the …

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Relating Initial Budget To Program Growth With Rayleigh And Weibull Models, Eric J. Unger Mar 2001

Relating Initial Budget To Program Growth With Rayleigh And Weibull Models, Eric J. Unger

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on completed defense R&D shows that contract expenditures can be fit well with a Rayleigh model. With fixed outlay rates, as prescribed by the OSD comptroller, the budget profile must have most of the funds in the early years to produce Rayleigh-distributed expenditures. R&D programs with more delayed funding profiles may also produce expenditures that a Rayleigh model fits through schedule slips and cost overruns. This research tests how well the initial funding profile produces Rayleigh-distributed expenditures that can be related to the program's final cost overrun and schedule slips. Based only on the initial budget profile, we …

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Development Of Predictors For Cloud-To-Ground Lightning Activity Using Atmospheric Stability Indices, Kenneth C. Venzke Mar 2001

Development Of Predictors For Cloud-To-Ground Lightning Activity Using Atmospheric Stability Indices, Kenneth C. Venzke

Theses and Dissertations

A detailed examination was performed on several commonly applied atmospheric stability indices and lightning activity from 1993 to 2000 to determine the indices usefulness as predictive tools for determining cloud-to-ground lightning activity. Predetermined radii of 50 nautical miles around upper-air stations in the Midwest U.S. were used for the lightning summaries. Also explored is an improvement upon the commonly accepted thresholds of the stability indices as general thunderstorm indicators. An improvement was found and new threshold ranges were developed for relating stability index values to lightning occurrence. Traditional statistical regression methods failed to find a significant predictive relationship. By examining …

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Computational Investigation Of Aeromechanical Hcf Effects In A Compressor Rotor, Andrew L. White Mar 2001

Computational Investigation Of Aeromechanical Hcf Effects In A Compressor Rotor, Andrew L. White

Theses and Dissertations

High-Cycle Fatigue is a major problem facing the gas turbine industry today. It has been investigated by many researchers, using many different methods. Due to its highly complex nature, designers still do not have adequate tools to accurately predict the onset of high-cycle fatigue. A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes program was used to perform a study of the unsteady aerodynamics on a compressor rotor. The effect of aerodynamic detuning on the forced response of a rotor blade was compared to a baseline tuned rotor case. Detuning consisted of a ten percent decrease in circumferential spacing between alternate pairs of blades. The high-cycle …

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Investigation Of Gravity Waves Via The Rotational Temperature Of Hydroxyl Nightglow, Erin C. Willingham Mar 2001

Investigation Of Gravity Waves Via The Rotational Temperature Of Hydroxyl Nightglow, Erin C. Willingham

Theses and Dissertations

Measurement of the vibration and rotation bands of mesospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH) has been conducted during the past two decades using ground-based and space-based interferometers to take temperature and wind measurements from 70-100km in altitude. Gravity waves that pass through the mesosphere can be measured by determining the variance over time of the rotational temperature of the OH emissions. Several attempts were made to take spectrum measurements of the nightglow from hydroxyl radicals in the mesosphere using a custom hardware configuration that included a telescope and grating monochrometer optimized for the visible and near infrared. Quantifying gravity wave activity was …

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Technology Selection For Enhancing F-16 Capability: An Analysis Using Value Focused Thinking, Cihangir Yay Mar 2001

Technology Selection For Enhancing F-16 Capability: An Analysis Using Value Focused Thinking, Cihangir Yay

Theses and Dissertations

This study, with support of the Aeronautical Systems center, builds a scientific decision support system intended for Air Combat Command. Past decision-making techniques are discussed and their limitations are explained. Two multiattribute decision-making techniques, analytical hierarch process and value focused thinking, are studied. Due to limitations of analytical hierarchy process, value focused thinking is accepted as the best fit for our problem. A value hierarchy model is developed using value focused thinking for selecting the most beneficiary F-16 engine modifications depending on Air Combat Command values. Ten modifications are ranked using value model to validate the process. Cost is involved …

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Models For Data Source Tracking With Xml, Teoman Yoruk Mar 2001

Models For Data Source Tracking With Xml, Teoman Yoruk

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Research arch Laboratory, Sensors Directorate Electronic Warfare Simulation Branch (APRL/SNZW) is responsible for developing and maintaining real-world and hypothetical scenarios for an array of threat engagement simulation systems. The general for scenario creation involves mapping from real-world databases and operations plans to specific fields in the input files represent the scenario. As part of the AFRL/SNZW's overall initiative for the development of a Concurrent Engineering Real-Time database CORrelation tool (CERCORT), as important to the scenario files themselves is the capability to trace hack to the source of data for the scenario fields. Acquiring this capability consequently results …

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Quantitative Validation Of A Model Of Chlorinated Ethene Natural Attenuation, Harold C. Young Mar 2001

Quantitative Validation Of A Model Of Chlorinated Ethene Natural Attenuation, Harold C. Young

Theses and Dissertations

Chlorinated ethenes are among the most prevalent groundwater contaminants at hazardous waste sites nationwide. In an attempt to manage the risks posed by these contaminants, while controlling costs, monitored natural attenuation (MNA) is being considered as a remediation strategy at many sites. MNA relies on naturally occurring physical, chemical, and biological processes in the subsurface to reduce the risk posed by the contamination. The implementation of MNA, however, requires a detailed understanding of these processes, and how they impact contamination at a particular site. One way to gain this understanding is through contaminant fate and transport modeling. In this study, …

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Review: Finite And Infinite Goods: A Framework For Ethics, David J. Baggett Mar 2001

Review: Finite And Infinite Goods: A Framework For Ethics, David J. Baggett

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

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Effects Of Concentration And Temperature On The Coupled Heat And Mass Transport In Liquid Mixtures, Yaşar Demirel, Stanley I. Sandler Mar 2001

Effects Of Concentration And Temperature On The Coupled Heat And Mass Transport In Liquid Mixtures, Yaşar Demirel, Stanley I. Sandler

Papers in Thermal Mechanics

Using published experimental data on the thermal conductivity, mutual diffusivity, and heats of transport, the degree of coupling between heat and mass flows has been calculated for binary and ternary nonideal liquid mixtures. The binary mixtures consist of two types: the first is six systems of six-to-eight-carbon straight and branched chain alkanes in chloroform and in carbon tetrachloride; and the second is mixtures of carbon tetrachloride with benzene, toluene, 2-propanone, n-hexane, and 11-octane. The ternary mixture considered is toluene-chlorobenzene-bromobenzene. The published data are available at 35°C, 30°C, and 35°C and ambient pressure. Using the linear nonequilibi-ium thermodynainics (LNET) and the …

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Influence Of Size Of Sporocyst Inoculum Upon The Size And Number Of Sarcocysts Of Sarcocystis Falcatula Which Develop In The Brown-Headed Cowbird, Melanie P. Hemenway, Michael L. Avery, Pam E. Ginn, Sarah Schaack, John B. Dame, Ellis C. Greiner Mar 2001

Influence Of Size Of Sporocyst Inoculum Upon The Size And Number Of Sarcocysts Of Sarcocystis Falcatula Which Develop In The Brown-Headed Cowbird, Melanie P. Hemenway, Michael L. Avery, Pam E. Ginn, Sarah Schaack, John B. Dame, Ellis C. Greiner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The influence of the number of sporocysts in the inoculum of Sarcocystis falcatula on the morphology of the sarcocysts has not been reported in the literature. To determine if there is a relationship, different number of sporocysts were inoculated orally into wild-caught cowbirds. After 14 weeks, the cowbirds were euthanised and muscle tissue was examined grossly and by histologic sections. Sarcocysts were compared based on the numbers which developed and their sizes. There was a linear increase in the number of sarcocysts as the size of the inoculum increased, however, the size of the sarcocysts became smaller with the increase …

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Evolution In The Information Age: Rediscovering The Nature Of The Organism, Daniel R. Brooks Mar 2001

Evolution In The Information Age: Rediscovering The Nature Of The Organism, Daniel R. Brooks

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The newest synthesis of evolutionary thought is emerging, and promises to return evolutionary biology to Darwin’s panoramic view of life. The key element is a long-standing dualism in evolutionary theory. This dualism has a long history within evolutionary biology, being manifested under guises such as: (1) the nature of the organism and the nature of the conditions, (2) internal and external, or intrinsic and extrinsic, factors, (3) production and exchanges, (4) boundary and initial conditions, (5) metabolism and replication, (6) energy and information, and (7) costs and benefits, and conflict and resolution. A partially retrospective review suggests that there is …

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Empirical Studies Of A Prediction Model For Regression Test Selection, Mary Jean Harrold, David Rosenblum, Gregg Rothermel, Elaine Weyuker Mar 2001

Empirical Studies Of A Prediction Model For Regression Test Selection, Mary Jean Harrold, David Rosenblum, Gregg Rothermel, Elaine Weyuker

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Regression testing is an important activity that can account for a large proportion of the cost of software maintenance. One approach to reducing the cost of regression testing is to employ a selective regression testing technique that 1) chooses a subset of a test suite that was used to test the software before the modifications, then 2) uses this subset to test the modified software. Selective regression testing techniques reduce the cost of regression testing if the cost of selecting the subset from the test suite together with the cost of running the selected subset of test cases is less …

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Network Formalism For Modeling Functionally Gradient Piezoelectric Plates And Stacks And Simulations Of Rainbow Ceramic Actuators, Robert W. Schwartz, A. Ballato, John Ballato Mar 2001

Network Formalism For Modeling Functionally Gradient Piezoelectric Plates And Stacks And Simulations Of Rainbow Ceramic Actuators, Robert W. Schwartz, A. Ballato, John Ballato

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A simple network representation is given for a stack of thin, homogeneous piezoelectric plates, executing a single thickness mode of motion. All plates may differ in thickness and material properties, including dielectric loss, ohmic conductivity, and viscous loss. Each plate is driven by a thickness-directed electric field, and all stack elements are connected electrically in series. Functionally gradient single plates and composites are readily modeled by the network, to a desired precision, using a sequence of circuit elements representing stepwise variations in material properties and layer thicknesses. Simulations of RAINBOW (reduced and internally biased oxide wafer) ceramics are given.

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Optimal Currency Basket Pegs For Developing And Emerging Economies, Joseph P. Daniels, Peter Toumanoff, Marc Von Der Ruhr Mar 2001

Optimal Currency Basket Pegs For Developing And Emerging Economies, Joseph P. Daniels, Peter Toumanoff, Marc Von Der Ruhr

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

The exchange rate arrangement represents an important policy choice for emerging and transitional economies as they strive to become stable and market-driven. A wide variety of arrangements have emerged, ranging from currency boards, basket-currency pegs and single-currency pegs to floating rates. Recently the IMF has recommended that, if the exchange value of a currency is to be pegged, it is better to peg to a basket of currencies rather than a single currency. Nonetheless, there has been little theoretical research on the management and optimal design of basket-peg arrangements. In this paper we extend the small-country macroeconomic model of Turnovsky …

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Vertical And Horizontal Transcendence, Ursula Goodenough Mar 2001

Vertical And Horizontal Transcendence, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

Transcendence is explored from two perspectives: the traditional concept wherein the origination of the sacred is “out there,” and the alternate concept wherein the sacred originates “here.” Each is evaluated from the perspectives of aesthetics and hierarchy. Both forms of transcendence are viewed as essential to the full religious life.

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Imaging Connection March 2001, Chester F. Carlson Center For Imaging Science Mar 2001

Imaging Connection March 2001, Chester F. Carlson Center For Imaging Science

RIT Digital Archives

Satellites May Comb Earth for Wildfires||CIS Grad Trains Shuttle Crews||CIS Plays Key Role in NASA’s Airplane Observatory||Update: The Center’s Outreach Activities||RIT Scientists Shine Light on 10th Century Document||Rhody Returns From Sabbatical||Gatley Named Interim COS Dean||Distance Learning Continues Full Speed Ahead||Spectral Sensing Lab Wins Major Navy Grant

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Surfactant-Assisted Synthesis Of Semiconductor Nanotubes And Nanowires, Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao, A. Govindaraj, F. L. Deepak, N. A. Gunari, Manashi Nath Mar 2001

Surfactant-Assisted Synthesis Of Semiconductor Nanotubes And Nanowires, Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao, A. Govindaraj, F. L. Deepak, N. A. Gunari, Manashi Nath

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Nanotubes and nanowires of CdSe and CdS have been obtained from solutions containing a surfactant such as Triton 100-X. They have been characterized by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and optical spectroscopy.

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Montana Kaimin, March 1, 2001, Associated Students Of The University Of Montana Mar 2001

Montana Kaimin, March 1, 2001, Associated Students Of The University Of Montana

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

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Comparative Analysis Of Traditional Versus Computer-Based Survey Instrument Response, Albert E. Franke Iv Mar 2001

Comparative Analysis Of Traditional Versus Computer-Based Survey Instrument Response, Albert E. Franke Iv

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if survey medium (paper versus computer) affected responses and response rates in Air Force personnel. The study compared responses and response rates from 900 randomly selected Air Force active-duty members using a paper-based survey, a computer-based survey, and a more complex computer-based survey. The first computer-based survey minimized the differences between itself and the paper-based survey to more accurately quantify any bias due solely to the computer medium. The more complex survey served to maximize differences between itself and the other computer-based survey to more accurately quantify any bias due to programmatic …

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