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DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO
SEMINAR ACTIVITIES





SYSTEMS SEMINAR - Friday, May 14, 1982.

Dr. Mildred L. Shaw of Middlesex Polytechnic, London, Eng-
land,  will  speak on "Computerizing the Initial Stages of
Systems Analysis - Eliciting the User's Model".

TIME:  3:30 PM

ROOM:  M&C 5158



ABSTRACT

The initial stages of Systems Analysis involve moving from
an unstructured problem often without explicit representa-
tion to a well defined set  of  root  definitions  of  the
relevant systems underlying the problem.  The later stages
of modeling, simulation, solution definition and algorithm
creation  are all ones in which the computer itself can be
a significant aid to the systems  analyst.   However,  the
initial stage of identifying and expressing the problem is
one which appears less amenable to computer-based methods.
This  presentation  is concerned with interactive computer
techniques for interviewing those concerned with the prob-
lem  situation  in a structured fashion that elicits their
views of the problem without imposing any external vocabu-
lary or structure.  The technique used is based on comput-
er elicitation of repertory grids  with  on-line  analysis
and  feedback  to  create  an exploratory dialogue.  Tech-
niques for analysing data from a group of  individuals  to
show  their  common  perspective, variations in vocabulary
and social network structure will also be  presented  with
examples of industrial applications.