Psychometrics in Behavioral Software Engineering: A Methodological Introduction with Guidelines

A meaningful and deep understanding of the human aspects of software engineering (SE) requires psychological constructs to be considered. Psychology theory can facilitate the systematic and sound development as well as the adoption of instruments (e.g., psychological tests, questionnaires) to assess these constructs. In particular, to ensure high quality, the psychometric properties of instruments need evaluation. In this article, we provide an introduction to psychometric theory for the evaluation of measurement instruments for SE researchers. We present guidelines that enable using existing instruments and developing new ones adequately. We conducted a comprehensive review of the psychology literature framed by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. We detail activities used when operationalizing new psychological constructs, such as item pooling, item review, pilot testing, item analysis, factor analysis, statistical property of items, reliability, validity, and fairness in testing and test bias. We provide an openly available example of a psychometric evaluation based on our guideline. We hope to encourage a culture change in SE research towards the adoption of established methods from psychology. To improve the quality of behavioral research in SE, studies focusing on introducing, validating, and then using psychometric instruments need to be more common.

Influence of Industry 4.0 technologies on corporate operation and performance management from human aspects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discover how Hungarian manufacturing companies interpret technology and human resources as driving forces and barriers in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with corporate leaders and applied qualitative content analysis using Atlas.ti software. Findings The authors formulated a new definition of Industry 4.0 which emphasises the role of human factors. The authors identified driving forces (efficiency with speed/information flow/precision) and barriers (technology compatibility, human fears and lack of digital skills) in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation and developed the DIGI-TEcH performance management dimensions. Research limitations/implications Comparison with other countries is limited. Given the exploratory and qualitative nature, further quantitative research would be needed to generalise results. Finally, only manufacturing companies are examined. Practical implications It provides empirical evidence to practitioners to understand concerns about technology and human resource in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation. In addition, corporate performance management can be extended by the developed DIGI-TEcH dimensions. Originality/value This paper reveals key evidence for the uptake of technology and human factors in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation and their impacts on corporate operation and performance. It also provides an insight into a specific country context, which can be a useful benchmark for other Central and Eastern European countries.

A METHODOLOGY FOR CYBER HYGIENE IN SMART GRIDS

Although smart grids offer multiple advantages over traditional grids, there are still challenges to overcome to ensure the quality of service and grid security. In particular, cybersecurity plays an essential role in ensuring grid operation reliability and resilience to external threats. The traditional approach to address cybersecurity issues generally does not consider the human factor as the main component. Recently, the concept of cyber hygiene has emerged, where social and human aspects are fundamental to reduce vulnerabilities and the risk of attacks and breaches. In a similar manner to personal hygiene, which greatly influences people’s health, considering the human factor (i.e., human behaviour, awareness, and training) as a critical cybersecurity component, can significantly improve human operator cybersecurity practices that in turn can result in improved cybersecurity performance. In this paper, the authors propose and test a methodology for implementing cyber hygiene practices in the context of Smart Grid systems, focused on smart metering systems. The results suggest that implementing cyber hygiene practices can improve smart meter cybersecurity and be suitable for implementing other sensitive Smart Grid components. Key Words: Cybersecurity, Cyber Hygiene, Internet of Things, Smart Grid, Smart Meters.

THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY ON ISLAMIC CULTURE AL-TAWHIDI IS A MODEL

The East, with its ontological history, is full of religions, and the spirituality of the eastern mind is evident in its love for the literature of proverbs and wisdom that it was able to formulate, and its sanctification of the word is only due to its magical impact on himself; It is his consolation for his painful reality! It deals with its concepts and religious and worldly matters, and that he did not digest Greek philosophy until after the writers presented it with short sentences with wise meanings from the sayings of its philosophers! It is known that wisdom and proverbs are advice, guidance, advice and exhortation, expressing a subjective experience, length of contemplation and insight into life matters, and they often have moral dimensions and that they are suitable for all human societies in a time and place. The concept of culture is so complex that it includes all human aspects. Speaking about the impact of Greek culture on Arab culture or even the presence of multiple connections, it stems from the phenomenon of influence and influence. Greek philosophy was mixed with Islamic thought and culture in the Abbasid era in general, and Arabic literature in general. In particular, it became one of the tools of expression, and the Greek philosophical culture penetrated into the Arab culture (its terms, concepts and sayings of its philosophers) until it spread in its three types: pure philosophical culture, literary philosophy, and philosophical literature. Islamic Society As the names of Greek philosophers gained popularity among members of society in all its classes! The research focused on the issue of the impact of Muslim writers on the dissemination of Greek philosophical culture in the Abbasid era, taking from Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. 414 AH / 1023 AD) as a model; Although al-Tawhidi was not unique in mixing literature with philosophy; But it is a typical example of the writers of the Abbasid era who were influenced by Greek philosophy and whose literary culture was mixed with Greek philosophy. Greek philosophy has spread among members of the Islamic community by publishing the wisdom, proverbs and sayings of Greek philosophers and scientists. The research was divided into three sections that dealt with the first topic: the relationship between literature and philosophy, while the second topic: the reasons for monotheistic influence on Greek philosophy, and the third topic: it follows the impact of Greek philosophy with the works of monotheism.

Intellectual landscape of research on change management: a bibliometric analysis

Purpose This study aims to illustrate an overarching picture of the knowledge base on change management, including contributing authors, institutions and countries. The study also aims to elicit the intellectual structure of the knowledge base using science mapping. Design/methodology/approach The authors engaged 1,457 published documents, generated from a SCOPUS search, to analyse research conducted in the area of change management. Bibliometric indicators such as authors, institutions and countries were used in the analysis. Additionally, science mapping analyses such as keyword co-occurrence and co-citation were also performed using VOSviewer. Findings The findings indicated that scholarly work in the field of change management is on the rise. Furthermore, while the contribution from different regions of the world was observed, the most impactful scholarly works came from the West and Asia. Finally, it was found that research on change management could be classified into four schools of thought; engineering and information and communication technology (ICT) industry, organisational aspects of change, leadership aspects of change and human aspects of change. Originality/value This study contributes to the knowledge base on change management by creating an intellectual landscape of the existing research. The results demonstrated that the existing literature on the topic forms four broad clusters of knowledge and that the ICT industry is the current epicentre of research in this area. These findings could benefit researchers, as well as practitioners in streamlining their actions towards the most relevant and critical areas on the topic of change management.

Unsettled Issues in Remote Operation for On-road Driving Automation

On-road vehicles equipped with driving automation features—where a human might not be needed for operation on-board—are entering the mainstream public space. However, questions like “How safe is safe enough?” and “What to do if the system fails?” persist. This is where remote operation comes in, which is an additional layer to the automated driving system where a human remotely assists the so-called “driverless” vehicle in certain situations. Such remote-operation solutions introduce additional challenges and potential risks as the entire vehicle-network-human now needs to work together safely, effectively, and practically. Unsettled Issues in Remote Operation for On-road Driving Automation highlights technical questions (e.g., network latency, bandwidth, cyber security) and human aspects (e.g., workload, attentiveness, situational awareness) of remote operation and introduces evolving solutions. The report also discusses standards development and regulations—both of which are needed to provide frameworks for the deployment of driving automation with remote operation.

Implementing pedagogies of care in online teacher education

Research shows that students who believe their teachers are caring for them are more likely to engage with the class and exhibit higher levels of self-esteem and well-being. What we learn from the past should guide our present practice to pave the way for a more authentic relationship with our students in the future. This paper reports a case study of how a ‘pedagogy of care’ was implemented in a first-year large teacher-education unit of study at an Australian university during the transition to fully online learning and teaching in response to the pandemic. The paper reports the strategies adopted by the teaching team and the results of an online survey conducted with the students about their experience of the transition. The qualitative survey responses were organised into themes that illustrated how students perceived teacher care. According to the students, teachers cared when they organised consistent synchronous sessions, provided opportunity for interaction between students, recorded lectures, were lenient, modified assessment, marked assessments quickly, exhibited positivity, and acknowledged challenges due to COVID-19. These themes were then classified into two broad categories on a continuum ranging between the delivery of the unit to interpersonal or human aspects.

The impact of transformational leadership on the strategic success – An applied in universities in the North sector of Jordan –: أثر اَلْقِيَادَة اَلتَّحْوِيلِيَّة في تحقيق اَلنَّجَاح اَلْاسترَاتِيجِي – دِرَاسَة مَيْدَانِيَّة في اَلْجَامِعَات اَلْعَامِلَة في إِقْلِيم شِمَال الأردن –

The study was aimed to identify the impact of transformational leadership on the strategic success in a university in the North sector of Jordan. A questionnaire was developed as a main tool for collection data. Sample was selected by proportional stratified. The study used descriptive and descriptive statistical methods to analyze their data. The study found the level of application of transformational leadership and the strategic success came a medium degree. And there is a statistically significant impact on the level of transformational leadership in the strategic success, and it was explained (%67) of the variation in the strategic success. The study recommends the necessity to encouraging leaders in universities to continue practicing the application of the transformational leadership style because of its advantages and impact on the effectiveness of universities through adopting policies and systems that work on renewed and continuous improvement, and increasing attention to social and human aspects that motivate and motivate workers.

Some current objectives and the main role of judicial psychology in modern society

Legal psychology is an interdisciplinary field related to general psychology, social psychology and the science of law and is concerned with the issues of the human aspects of jurisprudence. The psychological nature of legal issues indicates the needs for and the importance of review theoretical and practical-applied objectives. The purpose of this article is to examine the classical objectives of legal psychology, to identify new objectives and to elucidate the main role of forensic psychology in modern society. The results obtained by the method of comprehensive analysis and narrative description indicate the importance of emphasizing the role of interdisciplinary investigations in forensic psychology adjusted to reality, identifying new paradigms and specific methodologies for studying behavior in the judicial process. Studies in forensic psychology that refer to the problems caused by the decisions of the judge or defendant and the identified solutions have extended to the psychology of consent, which indicates the need for epistemological and methodological updating of the object of study in legal psychology.