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Theses and dissertations (Accounting and Informatics)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/4

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End date: 2008Has files: Yes

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    An investigation into performance testing for e-commerce web-based applications
    (2005) Mhlabane, Michael J.; Petkov, Doncho
    This thesis investigates the applicability of certain software testing methodologies as the basis from which the new field of Web-based application testing can arise. In particular, it concentrates on performance testing issues and Web application testing, as these are responsible for ensuring the survival of a business organization in the new global competitive age presented by the Web and Internet technology.
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    A systematic framework for the evaluation of rural telecommunications infrastructure
    (2002) Nepal, Thiruthlall; Petkov, Doncho
    The evaluation of telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas is a complex and messy problem that involves many tangible and intangible factors. Some of them are technical in nature while others are soft, involving social, cultural and political aspects of the problem. The evaluation requires, inter alia, societal intervention, and since societies reflect a multiplicity and diversity of values and goals, the intervention should confront these realities
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    A modelling approach to elephant and tree population dynamics for a small game farm
    (2005) Stretch, Anne-Marie
    Throughout Africa, growing human populations and resulting loss of wildlife habitat is a critical issue for most animal species. It is more and more common for privately owned small or medium sized farms to reintroduce wildlife on their land and such protected areas are fast becoming the only refuges available to wild animals. However a comprehensive understanding of the complex ecological processes taking place is vital for the effective management of restricted areas and the conservation of biodiversity. Due to the enormous complexity of an ecological system and the long periods of the related dynamics, it is very difficult to analyse the interaction between animals and plant populations without suitable computer models. In this thesis, the dynamics between elephant and trees (a major food source) are considered using computer simulations.
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    An investigation into the nature and extent of the adoption of RFID in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa
    (2008) Thakur, Surendra
    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) allows for the wireless transfer of data between a small electronic transmitting tag and a reader without the necessity of line-of-sight. A feature of RFID, is that this read operation may occur over long distances and that multiple reads may occur. The aim of this study is to analyse the nature and extent of RFID adoption in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. The study fits within the theory of innovation diffusion and is concerned with issues around technology diffusion, adoption rates, and its associated critical success factors. The estimation of RFID diffusion rate in the study is based on a telephonic survey of 140 companies. The respondents were chosen from a marketing database that had extensive information on South African companies. Size was determined to be the selection criterion as the literature indicates that size is the most compelling concomitant to innovativeness. In this study, size was deemed to be companies that had more than 50 PC’s in one geographic unit, of the company, in KwaZulu-Natal. The key research result locates the RFID diffusion rate in KwaZulu-Natal to be around 19% which corresponds to points beyond the “chasm” as defined by innovation diffusion theory. The second phase of the study comprised the administration of a questionnaire to two groups of IT professionals with the aim of comparing perceptions and other characteristics between the two groups. The 140 respondents were asked to submit as many professional staff as they could for an in-depth interview. The result was that 21 companies submitted 30 candidates. This yielded the two groups: the Adopter sample with 14 respondents, and the non-adopter sample with 16 respondents. The analysis of results shows the two groups have similar views on many strategic factors such as privacy, security, cost and standards etc. Adopters perceive that the following factors impacts RFID adopting decisions more (than non-adopters): Turnover, Having labour cost savings, RFID ubiquity, It will take as long for my company to adopt RFID as it did for barcode, RFID cost awareness. On the other hand non-adopters felt that the following factor impacts non-adoption of RFID Technology unproven or immature, Human skills non-availability, Implementation costs, Corporate resistance, and, Support Concerns.
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    A comparative study of the job functions of university and university of technology graduates and diplomates in special libraries and engineering firms
    (2008) Rajagopaul, Athena; Raju, Jayarani
    This study investigated the job functions of university and university of technology graduates and diplomates in the staff structures of special libraries and engineering firms in KwaZulu-Natal. The objective of the study was to draw on possible trends and best practices in the latter for the Library and Information Services (LIS) work environment, as engineering like LIS draws its personnel from both traditional universities and universities of technology (UoT). Hence, the main target population for the study was university and UoT graduates and diplomates in special libraries and engineering firms in KZN. Graduates and diplomates were chosen for inclusion in the study using a census because of the smallness of the staff complements in these organizations. Two sets of self-administered questionnaires were distributed, one to graduates/diplomates and the other to employers in the selected organizations. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Findings of the study revealed inconsistencies with the National Diploma: Library and Information Studies (ND: LIS) where these diplomates occupy paraprofessional as well as professional positions in special libraries whilst engineering graduates and diplomates tend to occupy job titles according to their highest academic qualifications. In both special libraries as well as in the engineering environment there is much task overlap and downshifting of job functions between paraprofessional and professional university and UoT graduates and diplomates. This study has revealed a valuable best practice from the engineering discipline for the LIS profession, which is that of professional registration. Professional registration of engineering staff with the Engineering Council of South Africa is a statutory requirement in the engineering profession and allows for the growth and development of those in the profession. It is recommended that the LIS profession, and the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) specifically, investigate a mechanism for professional registration of library and information workers.
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    Validating cohesion metrics by mining open source software data with association rules
    (2008) Singh, Pariksha; Eyono Obono, Seraphin Desire; Petkov, Doncho
    Competitive pressure on the software industry encourages organizations to examine the effectiveness of their software development and evolutionary processes. Therefore it is important that software is measured in order to improve the quality. The question is not whether we should measure software but how it should be measured. Software measurement has been in existence for over three decades and it is still in the process of becoming a mature science. The many influences of new software development technologies have led to a diverse growth in software measurement technologies which have resulted in various definitions and validation techniques. An important aspect of software measurement is the measurement of the design, which nowadays often means the measurement of object oriented design. Chidamer and Kemerer (1994) designed a metric suite for object oriented design, which has provided a new foundation for metrics and acts as a starting point for further development of the software measurement science. This study documents theoretical object oriented cohesion metrics and calculates those metrics for classes extracted from a sample of open source software packages. For each open source software package, the following data is recorded: software size, age, domain, number of developers, number of bugs, support requests, feature requests, etc. The study then tests by means of association rules which theoretical cohesion metrics are validated hypothesis: that older software is more cohesive than younger software, bigger packages is less cohesive than smaller packages, and the smaller the software program the more maintainable it is. This study attempts to validate existing theoretical object oriented cohesion metrics by mining open source software data with association rules.
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    An investigation of the impact of human cognition on the acquisition of computer programming skills by students at a university
    (2008) Ranjeeth, Sanjay
    This study aimed to explore the impact of cognitive ability on the understanding of computer programming by students enrolled for a programming course at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The rationale for this study is provided by the general perception held by the academic community that computer programming is a difficult faculty to master. This assertion is corroborated by reports of high failure rates in computer programming courses at tertiary institutes. A literature review was undertaken to investigate the contribution of other factors on the ability to achieve competence in computer programmer. Based on the outcome of the literature review, this study argues that cognitive ability warrants a higher priority relative to the other factors. As a strategy, cognitive science theory was consulted to establish a framework to quantify competency in computer programming. On the basis of this endeavour, two protocols were identified to facilitate the quantification process. The first was the “deep and surface” protocol used in previous studies to ascertain students’ cognitive style of understanding for computer programming. The second was an error analysis framework which was developed as part of the current study. These protocols were used as frameworks to underpin the data collection phase of the study. This study found that at least 50% of the students enrolled in a computer programming course adopt a superficial approach to the understanding of computer programming. In order to explain this phenomenon, a cognitive ability test was administered. Here it was established that at least 39% of these students have not reached a level of cognitive development that will enable the invocation of abstract thought. The study also found that this inability to handle abstractionism, an essential requirement for success in computer programming, is reflected in the severity of errors made in computer programming assessment tasks.
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    Membership of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) among library and information service workers in KwaZulu-Natal
    (2007) Khomo, Musawenkosi Phumelelo
    The objectives of the study were: 1) to investigate the extent to which workers in library and information services in KwaZulu-Natal are members of LIASA; and 2) if there are substantial numbers of LIS workers who are not currently members, then what are the possible reasons for this? The study surveyed three types of library services in KwaZulu-Natal, namely, academic, public and special libraries with 330 LIS workers participating in the study. A census was done of LIS workers in special libraries and in academic libraries of public higher education institutions in KZN. Simple random sampling was used in selecting public libraries in KZN for participation in the study. All staff in the selected sample of public libraries were surveyed. The research instrument used was a self-administered questionnaire. It was established that a significant number of LIS workers in all three types of libraries surveyed in KZN are currently not members of LIASA for various reasons. LIASA has been unable to draw significant membership from the support staff category in LIS services despite its constitution claiming to embrace all LIS workers. The study recommends that LIASA market itself more aggressively to increase membership levels particularly in the public library sector and among support staff in all LIS services. It also recommends that LIASA should consider involving itself in the industrial concerns of the LIS sector.
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    The development of a method to assist in the transformation from procedural languages to object oriented languages with specific reference to COBOL and JAVA
    (2002) Wing, Jeanette Wendy
    Computer programming has been a science for approximately 50 years. It this time there havebeen two major paradigm shifts that have taken place. The first was from “spaghetti code” to structured programs. The second paradigm shift is from procedural programs to object oriented programs. The change in paradigm involves a change in the way in which a problem is approached, can be solved, as well as a difference in the language that is used. The languages that were chosen to be studied, are COBOL and Java. These programming languages were identified as key languages, and the languages that software development are the most reliant on. COBOL, the procedural language for existing business systems, and Java the object oriented language, the most likely to be used for future development. To complete this study, both languages were studied in detail. The similarities and differences between the programming languages are discussed. Some key issues that a COBOL programmer has to keep in mind when moving to Java were identified.
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    Understanding the influence of a second language on the academic performance of learners in information technology : a case study of isiZulu-speaking English second language learners in KwaZulu-Natal
    (2007) Njobe, Mandisa Purity
    Over the years, computers have been introduced to many South African classrooms in an attempt to improve education, and this is true for Previously Technologically Disadvantaged (PTD) schools in Kwazulu-Natal with learners whose first language is isiZulu. However, frameworks of computer learning vary widely and there is a crucial need to understand how specific situational conditions either facilitate or constrain the implementation of computer-supported learning in these schools. This thesis discusses research undertaken to document the process of introducing localised OpenOffice.org.za software with an isiZulu interface into Information Technology education at PTD schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province. The thesis also documents the process of introducing a dual language medium in Information Technology at the Durban University of Technology. The study investigates the English language as one of the possible causes of the lack of understanding of computers by English second language learners.