1-Write a brief essay describing how each of the 16 reference disciplines provides support for and inform IS/IT practice.
AA: Behavioral Science
What are the Behavioral Sciences?
Our most narrowly focused discipline, Psychology, studies the human mind, thought and cognition; the development of the self through the life span; and the relation of the individual to the group. Sociology continues the discussion, with its focus on group behaviors and social institutions. Anthropology takes the widest possible focus, incorporating the entire scope of humanity through time and across the world.
AB: Computer Science
Computer Science AB includes all the topics of Computer Science A, as well as a more formal and a more in-depth study of algorithms, data structures, and data abstraction. For example, binary trees are studied in Computer Science AB but not in Computer Science A. The use of recursive data structures and dynamically allocated structures is fundamental to Computer Science AB.
AC: Decision Theory
Statistics.
the theory of making decisions based on assigning probabilities to various factors and assigning numerical consequences to the outcome.
AD: Information Theory
Information theory or communication theory, mathematical theory formulated principally by the American scientist Claude E. Shannon to explain aspects and problems of information and communication. While the theory is not specific in all respects, it proves the existence of optimum coding schemes without showing how to find them. For example, it succeeds remarkably in outlining the engineering requirements of communication systems and the limitations of such systems.
In information theory, the term information is used in a special sense; it is a measure of the freedom of choice with which a message is selected from the set of all possible messages. Information is thus distinct from meaning, since it is entirely possible for a string of nonsense words and a meaningful sentence to be equivalent with respect to information content.
AE: Organizational Theory
Is a learning organization “like a living organism, consisting of empowered, motivated employees, living in a clearly perceived symbiosis, sharing the feeling of a common destiny and profit, striving towards jointly defined goals, anxious to use every opportunity to learn from situations, processes and competition in order to adapt harmoniously to the changes in their environment and to improve continuously their own and their company?s competitive performance” (Otala 1995, p. 163)? Or is it an aspiration often viewed cynically by staff who don?t believe the rhetoric is sincere (Garratt 1999)? Does it offer individuals liberation and empowerment to maximize their full potential as innovative, intelligent workers (Fenwick 1995)? Or is it a tool that can turn into a weapon (Marsick and Watkins 1999)? This Myths and Realities examines different views of the learning organization, both in theory and in practice.
Cullen (1999) dates the current popularity of the learning organization from Peter Senge and his five disciplines characterizing learning organizations (personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking). The learning organization can be described as “an organizational culture in which individual development is a priority, outmoded and erroneous ways of thinking are actively identified and corrected, and the purpose and vision of the organization are clearly understood and supported by all its members. Within this framework, the application of systems thinking enables people to see how the organization really works; to form a plan; and to work together openly, in teams, to achieve that plan” (Worrell 1995, p. 352). That characterization of the learning organization has powerful intuitive appeal and promise (Fenwick 1995).
AF: Management Theory
AG: Language Theories
language, systematic communication by vocal symbols. It is a universal characteristic of the human species. Nothing is known of its origin, although scientists have identified a gene that clearly contributes to the human ability to use language. Scientists generally hold that it has been so long in use that the length of time writing is known to have existed (7,900 years at most) is short by comparison. Just as languages spoken now by peoples of the simplest cultures are as subtle and as intricate as those of the peoples of more complex civilizations, similarly the forms of languages known (or hypothetically reconstructed) from the earliest records show no trace of being more ?primitive? than their modern forms.
AH: Systems Theory
AI: Research
Ai Research is a leading artificial intelligence research project. At Ai, we’re creating a new form of life. Our expanding web site is an essential part of the emerging global discussion about artificial intelligence. On this website, we showcase the state of the art in patterm-matching conversational machines, demonstrated by Alan, and in reinforcement learning algorithms, demonstrated by HAL. Use our forums, original papers, online labs, demos and links to explore what’s happening both at Ai (the project) and in AI (the field).
AJ: Social Science
social science, term for any or all of the branches of study that deal with humans in their social relations. Often these studies are referred to in the plural as the social sciences. Although human social behavior has been studied since antiquity, the modern social sciences as disciplines rooted in the scientific method date only from the 18th cent. Enlightenment. Interest at first centered on economics, but by the 19th cent. separate disciplines had been developed in anthropology, political science, psychology, and sociology. The 19th cent. was characterized by the development of wide-ranging theories(e.g., the work of Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, and Herbert Spencer). Developments in the 20th cent. have moved in these directions: the improvement and increased use of quantitative methods and statistical techniques; increased use of the empirical method, as opposed to general theorizing; and the direct practical application of social science knowledge. Social science departments are now firmly established in universities, and social scientists are increasingly called upon to advise industries and governments for future planning.
AK: Management Science
AL: Artificial Intelligence
Grid computing is emerging as key enabling infrastructure for science. A key challenge for distributed computation over the Grid is the synthesis on-demand of end-toend scientific applications of unprecedented scale that draw from pools of specialized scientific components to derive elaborate new results. In this paper, we outline the technical issues that need to be addressed in order to meet this challenge, including usability, robustness, and scale. We describe Pegasus, a system to generate executable grid workflows given a high-level specification of desired results. Pegasus uses Artificial Intelligence planning techniques to compose valid end-to-end workflows, and has been used in several scientific applications. We also outline our design for a more distributed and knowledge-rich architecture.
artificial intelligence (AI), the use of computers to model the behavioral aspects of human reasoning and learning. Research in AI is concentrated in some half-dozen areas. In problem solving, one must proceed from a beginning (the initial state) to the end (the goal state) via a limited number of steps; AI here involves an attempt to model the reasoning process in solving a problem, such as the proof of a theorem in Euclidean geometry. In game theory (see games, theory of), the computer must choose among a number of possible ?next? moves to select the one that optimizes its probability of winning; this type of choice is analogous to that of a chess player selecting the next move in response to an opponent’s move. In pattern recognition, shapes, forms, or configurations of data must be identified and isolated from a larger group; the process here is similar to that used by a doctor in classifying medical problems on the basis of symptoms. Natural language processing is an analysis of current or colloquial language usage without the sometimes misleading effect of formal grammars; it is an attempt to model the learning process of a translator faced with the phrase ?throw mama from the train a kiss.? Cybernetics is the analysis of the communication and control processes of biological organisms and their relationship to mechanical and electrical systems; this study could ultimately lead to the development of ?thinking? robots (see robotics). Machine learning occurs when a computer improves its performance of a task on the basis of its programmed application of AI principles to its past performance of that task.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the study of computer systems and devices that simulate or operate in a way that is usually associates with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, intelligent processing, understanding symbolic information and pattern recognition, and producing knowledge. Although AI is commonly viewed as a branch of computer science, AI is multi-disciplinary because it combines several branches of learning including algorithms, heuristics, databases, artificial languages, natural language processing, and theoretical computer science. It also has close ties with psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, biology, mathematical logic, system studies, business intelligence, and knowledge management.
AM: Economic Theory
AN: Ergonomics
What is ergonomics? Most people have heard of ergonomics and think it is something to do with seating or with the design of car controls and instruments. It is…but it is much more! Ergonomics is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects, systems and environment for human use. Ergonomics comes into everything which involves people. Work systems, sports and leisure, health and safety should all embody ergonomics principles if well designed.
AO: Political Science
political science, the study of government and political processes, institutions, and behavior. Government and politics have been studied and commented on since the time of the ancient Greeks. However, it is only with the general systematization of the social sciences in the last 100 years that political science has emerged as a separate definable area of study. Political science is commonly divided into a number of subfields, the most prominent being political theory, national government, comparative government, international relations, and special areas shared with other social sciences such as sociology, psychology, and economics. In practice, these subfields overlap. Political theory encompasses the following related areas: the study of the history of political thought; the examination of questions of justice and morality in the context of the relationships between individuals, society, and government; and the formulation of conceptual approaches and models in order to understand more fully political and governmental processes. The study of national government focuses on the political system of the researcher’s particular country, including the legal and constitutional arrangements and institutions; the interaction of various levels of government, other social and political groups, and the individual; and proposals for improving governmental structure and policy. Comparative government covers many of the same subjects but from the perspective of parallel political behavior in several countries, regions, or time periods. International relations deals both with the more traditional areas of study, such as international law, diplomacy, political economy, international organizations, and other forms of contact between nation states, and with the development of general, scientific models of international political systems. None of the political science subfields can be clearly separated. All of them, for example, deal with questions closely associated with political theory. Valuable and sophisticated discussions of almost all the areas of political science, including the areas now generally classified under such titles as political sociology, can be found throughout intellectual history as far back as Plato and Aristotle. Through the centuries, the questions of political science have been discussed in contexts varying with the changing perspectives of the time. During the Middle Ages, for example, the major concerns revolved around the problem of where the state stood in relation to man and his God. Karl Marx, on the other hand, viewed political questions in the context of society’s economic structure. Modern political science stresses the importance of using political concepts and models that are subject to empirical validation and that may be employed in solving practical political problems.
AP: Psychology
psychology, science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment. Psychologists study processes of sense perception, thinking, learning, cognition, emotions and motivations, personality, abnormal behavior, interactions between individuals, and interactions with the environment. The field is closely allied with such disciplines as anthropology and sociology in its concerns with social and environmental influences on behavior; physics in its treatment of vision, hearing, and touch; and biology in the study of the physiological basis of behavior. In its earliest speculative period, psychological study was chiefly embodied in philosophical and theological discussions of the soul.