Ribeiro, F J L T (1995) Assessment of applications for the house renovations grants system: An IT support framework. PhD thesis, University of Salford, UK.
Abstract
This thesis describes the development of a knowledge-based framework for supporting human experts from the Department of Environmental and Consumer Services of the Salford City Council in assessing applications for the current house renovation grant system(HRGS). The resulting system implements an architecture which integrates case-based reasoning processes with other problem solving methods. In addition, the system's architecture integrates different types of knowledge which are required by the problem solving methods. Some of the main features of the system's architecture are its modularity and its independence from the implementation shell. The system was implemented using Kappa-PC which is a shell designed for implementing knowledge-based systems. The implementation followed the Client Centred Approach method. A number of lessons were learned from the implementation process. The implementation was carried out together with the verification and validation of the system. The verification and validation methods employed allowed the author to focus the evaluation on different features and components of the system. A number of test cases were employed during the validation. Client's experts and other independent experts were involved in the validation of the system. Each validation step was followed by refinement of the main system's components. This research has demonstrated that various problem solving methods are required for performing the different tasks of the assessment of applications for the HRGS. The implemented system has been reasonably successful in demonstrating that a single framework which integrates various methods can be used for supporting human experts in assessing applications for the FIRGS. Therefore, the system has proved to perform as accurately as human experts do for all of the tasks. The system has been described as very promising by the Client's experts.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Brandon, P |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case-based reasoning; client; problem solving; reasoning; renovation; test cases |
| Index terms: | validation, problem solving, reasoning, case-based reasoning, modularity, renovation, test case, implementation, knowledge-based system |
| Subjects: | design flexibility, renovation and retrofit, professional development, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, decision-making and reasoning, professional practice, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Design Practice, Information Management, Research Practice, Procurement, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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