This paper proposes a theoretical method for qualitative trend curve analysis, supposing the situation that data quality is poor and the amount of data is very large. Here the ‘trend curve’ means, for example, a sequence of monthly temperature over twelve months at a location. The paper first defines ‘qualitative’ characteristics of a trend curve in terms of isomorphic relations. Second, these ...

Chaos and oscillations continue to capture the interest of both the scientific and public domains. Yet despite the importance of these qualitative features, most attempts at constructing mathematical models of such phenomena have taken an indirect, quantitative approach, for example, by fitting models to a finite number of data points. Here we develop a qualitative inference framework that allo...

Qualitative and quantitative serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) tests are used to diagnose pregnancy. We assessed physicians' perceptions and compared turnaround times (TATs) and performance characteristics of both tests. We surveyed 1,058 physicians about their perceptions of hCG tests. Seven months of TAT data were analyzed. hCG was measured in all qualitative samples. Pregnancy status ...

Here, I compare the content, characteristics of participants, and the methods used in qualitative health research with qualitative inquiry in general. Special problems that occur when conducting research in an institution, with the emotional content when participants are ill, in pain, or dying, will be discussed. What concerns for the investigator, for the researcher as a person, and methodolog...

This study explores the processes and characteristics that comprise successful boundary objects. Through a longitudinal exploration of an extensive qualitative database, we identify characteristics of both successful boundary objects and the processes by which they are created. It further discusses the life cycle of a boundary object, and the challenges associated with the use of boundary objec...

The problem of classification of documents of complex interdisciplinary character with high level of informational noise is considered. The set of classification domains is supposed to be fixed. A domain is defined by an appropriate keyword list. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics, as well as visual presentations used for such classification are discussed. A program Text Recognizer ba...

In this paper, the knowledge of qualitative relations between device parameters and characteristics, are incorporating to guide genetic algorithm to exploiting in the promising space. It makes device synthesis be more efficiently in searching for feasible design space, which satisfies the desired characteristics.