Evaluating Decision Support and Expert Systems - Hardcover

Adelman, Leonard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471548014 ISBN 13: 9780471548010

Publisher: Wiley-Interscience, 1991

Synopsis

Decision Support Systems Engineering Andrew P. Sage This practical guide describes the everyday nuts-and-bolts to building a decision support system that unites the concerns of both system designers and users. Beginning with an outline of the generic components of a decision support system, readers are given a technologically rigorous, yet clear, tour of its assembly line basics. Data-base management systems, model-base management systems, and dialog generation and management systems are clearly described, with emphasis on how these make a decision support system feasible and practical. 1991 (0 471-53000-X) 360 pp. Software Systems Engineering Andrew P. Sage and James D. Palmer This unique text provides a thorough introduction to all aspects of the developmental life cycle of software production. For those interested in applying a systems-based approach to software development, Software Systems Engineering discusses key aspects of such an approach—from software quality, software reliability, and development environments, to integration, maintenance, management, and cost analysis. The book’s practical look features a set of tools instrumental to success in each life cycle phase, as well as a taxonomy of methods for making the productivity tools available and subject to wider use. 1990 (0 471-61758-X) 544 pp. Design for Success A Human-Centered Approach to Designing Successful Products and Systems William B. Rouse Drawn from methods tested in a wide array of industries—aviation, the process and power industries, manufacturing, the marine industry, and communications—this important text details how to design products and systems that are market-driven and user-oriented. Using a variety of methods and tools illustrated with case studies, Design for Success outlines a concrete, human-centered approach to the design of complex systems. This new approach to system design includes a look at understanding users’ needs, design and engineering evaluation of product and systems, and more. 1991 (0 471-52483-2) 304 pp.

About this title

About the Author

About the author LEONARD ADELMAN is Associate Professor of Systems Engineering at George Mason University. Dr. Adelman has had extensive experience in both theoretical and applied aspects of decision research. His primary research areas are individual and group decision processes and the development and evaluation of decision support systems and expert systems. Over the last ten years, Dr. Adelman has managed projects funded by the Army Research Institute, the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Air Systems Command, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Science Foundation. He was a Senior Principal Associate of Decision Science Consortium, Inc., Manager of the Decision Sciences Section of PAR Government Systems Corporation and is regarded as one of the leading consultants to industry on decision research. Dr. Adelman received his BA in psychology from Florida State University, and MA and PhD degrees in psychology from the University of Colorado.

From the Inside Flap

Evaluation is, all too often, treated as an afterthought, an activity tacked onto the end of the system development process. Yet, when effectively integrated into the design and development process, evaluation is an unqualifiedly powerful tool, the all-important control mechanism that keeps the development process firmly on track. Evaluating Decision Support and Expert Systems is an innovative and comprehensive look—from the user’s perspective—at how to perform effective evaluations of decision support systems and expert systems. Not only does this important guide provide an understanding of the fundamental methods required to perform effective evaluations, it also demonstrates how to efficiently incorporate them into the design and development process. Evaluating Decision Support and Expert Systems is the first text to provide a multifaceted approach to evaluating decision support and expert systems. This important three-pronged approach includes subjective, technical, and empirical evaluation methods, all of which are clearly integrated into a prototype blueprint for developing decision support systems and expert systems. The character and specifics of each evaluation method are examined in detail, including such highlights as:

• An examination of five subjective evaluation methods, with illustrations on how two were used in a development effort for the U.S. Air Force
• The four classes of technical evaluation methods, including those used for formal software testing and verification
• The use of experiments, quasi-experiments, and case studies to empirically assess whether the system actually improves performance

Evaluating Decision Support and Expert Systems also clearly shows how to manage the multifaceted approach so as to ensure project control. The basic issues in managing the test and evaluation process, the key elements for effective testing, and how to use test documentation as a control tool are explained in accessible, hands-on style. For professionals in system design, users and developers, managers in industry and business, and graduate students interested in building effective controls into every phase of system design and development, Evaluating Decision Support and Expert Systems is the essential guide to learning how.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471548014
• ISBN 13: 9780471548010
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248