Download or read book Decision Synthesis written by Stephen R. Watson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers a comprehensive overview of the theory of decision making and its practical application in decision analysis.

Download or read book Executive Decision Synthesis written by Victor Tang and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-09-03 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a practice-driven, yet rigorous approach to executive management decision-making that performs well even under unpredictable conditions. It explains how executives can employ prescribed engineering design methods to arrive at robust outcomes even when faced with uncontrollable uncertainty. The book presents the paradigm and its main principles in Part I; in Part II it illustrates how to frame a decision situation and how to design the decision so that it will produce its intended behavior. In turn, Part III discusses in detail in situ case studies on executive management decisions. Lastly, Part IV summarizes the book and formulates the key lessons learned.

Download or read book Evidence Synthesis for Decision Making in Healthcare written by Nicky J. Welton and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-04-12 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the evaluation of healthcare, rigorous methods of quantitative assessment are necessary to establish interventions that are both effective and cost-effective. Usually a single study will not fully address these issues and it is desirable to synthesize evidence from multiple sources. This book aims to provide a practical guide to evidence synthesis for the purpose of decision making, starting with a simple single parameter model, where all studies estimate the same quantity (pairwise meta-analysis) and progressing to more complex multi-parameter structures (including meta-regression, mixed treatment comparisons, Markov models of disease progression, and epidemiology models). A comprehensive, coherent framework is adopted and estimated using Bayesian methods. Key features: A coherent approach to evidence synthesis from multiple sources. Focus is given to Bayesian methods for evidence synthesis that can be integrated within cost-effectiveness analyses in a probabilistic framework using Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation. Provides methods to statistically combine evidence from a range of evidence structures. Emphasizes the importance of model critique and checking for evidence consistency. Presents numerous worked examples, exercises and solutions drawn from a variety of medical disciplines throughout the book. WinBUGS code is provided for all examples. Evidence Synthesis for Decision Making in Healthcare is intended for health economists, decision modelers, statisticians and others involved in evidence synthesis, health technology assessment, and economic evaluation of health technologies.

Download or read book Judgment Decision and Choice written by Howard Rachlin and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book views both cognitive and behavioural theories and experiments in an historical and philosophical context. Current theory and practice are presented as part of an ongoing effort to understand voluntary human behaviour with roots as deep as those of western civilization. Cognitive and behavioural approaches are viewed as complementary (rather than competing) descriptions of judgement, decision and choice.

Download or read book Planning with Markov Decision Processes written by Mausam Natarajan and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-06-01 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) are widely popular in Artificial Intelligence for modeling sequential decision-making scenarios with probabilistic dynamics. They are the framework of choice when designing an intelligent agent that needs to act for long periods of time in an environment where its actions could have uncertain outcomes. MDPs are actively researched in two related subareas of AI, probabilistic planning and reinforcement learning. Probabilistic planning assumes known models for the agent's goals and domain dynamics, and focuses on determining how the agent should behave to achieve its objectives. On the other hand, reinforcement learning additionally learns these models based on the feedback the agent gets from the environment. This book provides a concise introduction to the use of MDPs for solving probabilistic planning problems, with an emphasis on the algorithmic perspective. It covers the whole spectrum of the field, from the basics to state-of-the-art optimal and approximation algorithms. We first describe the theoretical foundations of MDPs and the fundamental solution techniques for them. We then discuss modern optimal algorithms based on heuristic search and the use of structured representations. A major focus of the book is on the numerous approximation schemes for MDPs that have been developed in the AI literature. These include determinization-based approaches, sampling techniques, heuristic functions, dimensionality reduction, and hierarchical representations. Finally, we briefly introduce several extensions of the standard MDP classes that model and solve even more complex planning problems. Table of Contents: Introduction / MDPs / Fundamental Algorithms / Heuristic Search Algorithms / Symbolic Algorithms / Approximation Algorithms / Advanced Notes

Download or read book Evidence Synthesis for Decision Making in Healthcare written by Nicky J. Welton and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-05-29 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the evaluation of healthcare, rigorous methods of quantitative assessment are necessary to establish interventions that are both effective and cost-effective. Usually a single study will not fully address these issues and it is desirable to synthesize evidence from multiple sources. This book aims to provide a practical guide to evidence synthesis for the purpose of decision making, starting with a simple single parameter model, where all studies estimate the same quantity (pairwise meta-analysis) and progressing to more complex multi-parameter structures (including meta-regression, mixed treatment comparisons, Markov models of disease progression, and epidemiology models). A comprehensive, coherent framework is adopted and estimated using Bayesian methods. Key features: A coherent approach to evidence synthesis from multiple sources. Focus is given to Bayesian methods for evidence synthesis that can be integrated within cost-effectiveness analyses in a probabilistic framework using Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation. Provides methods to statistically combine evidence from a range of evidence structures. Emphasizes the importance of model critique and checking for evidence consistency. Presents numerous worked examples, exercises and solutions drawn from a variety of medical disciplines throughout the book. WinBUGS code is provided for all examples. Evidence Synthesis for Decision Making in Healthcare is intended for health economists, decision modelers, statisticians and others involved in evidence synthesis, health technology assessment, and economic evaluation of health technologies.

Download or read book The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta Analysis written by Harris Cooper and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2019-06-14 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research synthesis is the practice of systematically distilling and integrating data from many studies in order to draw more reliable conclusions about a given research issue. When the first edition of The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis was published in 1994, it quickly became the definitive reference for conducting meta-analyses in both the social and behavioral sciences. In the third edition, editors Harris Cooper, Larry Hedges, and Jeff Valentine present updated versions of classic chapters and add new sections that evaluate cutting-edge developments in the field. The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis draws upon groundbreaking advances that have transformed research synthesis from a narrative craft into an important scientific process in its own right. The editors and leading scholars guide the reader through every stage of the research synthesis process—problem formulation, literature search and evaluation, statistical integration, and report preparation. The Handbook incorporates state-of-the-art techniques from all quantitative synthesis traditions and distills a vast literature to explain the most effective solutions to the problems of quantitative data integration. Among the statistical issues addressed are the synthesis of non-independent data sets, fixed and random effects methods, the performance of sensitivity analyses and model assessments, the development of machine-based abstract screening, the increased use of meta-regression and the problems of missing data. The Handbook also addresses the non-statistical aspects of research synthesis, including searching the literature and developing schemes for gathering information from study reports. Those engaged in research synthesis will find useful advice on how tables, graphs, and narration can foster communication of the results of research syntheses. The third edition of the Handbook provides comprehensive instruction in the skills necessary to conduct research syntheses and represents the premier text on research synthesis. Praise for the first edition: "The Handbook is a comprehensive treatment of literature synthesis and provides practical advice for anyone deep in the throes of, just teetering on the brink of, or attempting to decipher a meta-analysis. Given the expanding application and importance of literature synthesis, understanding both its strengths and weaknesses is essential for its practitioners and consumers. This volume is a good beginning for those who wish to gain that understanding." —Chance "Meta-analysis, as the statistical analysis of a large collection of results from individual studies is called, has now achieved a status of respectability in medicine. This respectability, when combined with the slight hint of mystique that sometimes surrounds meta-analysis, ensures that results of studies that use it are treated with the respect they deserve....The Handbook of Research Synthesis is one of the most important publications in this subject both as a definitive reference book and a practical manual."—British Medical Journal When the first edition of The Handbook of Research Synthesis was published in 1994, it quickly became the definitive reference for researchers conducting meta-analyses of existing research in both the social and biological sciences. In this fully revised second edition, editors Harris Cooper, Larry Hedges, and Jeff Valentine present updated versions of the Handbook's classic chapters, as well as entirely new sections reporting on the most recent, cutting-edge developments in the field. Research synthesis is the practice of systematically distilling and integrating data from a variety of sources in order to draw more reliable conclusions about a given question or topic. The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis draws upon years of groundbreaking advances that have transformed research synthesis from a narrative craft into an important scientific process in its own right. Cooper, Hedges, and Valentine have assembled leading authorities in the field to guide the reader through every stage of the research synthesis process—problem formulation, literature search and evaluation, statistical integration, and report preparation. The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis incorporates state-of-the-art techniques from all quantitative synthesis traditions. Distilling a vast technical literature and many informal sources, the Handbook provides a portfolio of the most effective solutions to the problems of quantitative data integration. Among the statistical issues addressed by the authors are the synthesis of non-independent data sets, fixed and random effects methods, the performance of sensitivity analyses and model assessments, and the problem of missing data. The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis also provides a rich treatment of the non-statistical aspects of research synthesis. Topics include searching the literature, and developing schemes for gathering information from study reports. Those engaged in research synthesis will also find useful advice on how tables, graphs, and narration can be used to provide the most meaningful communication of the results of research synthesis. In addition, the editors address the potentials and limitations of research synthesis, and its future directions. The past decade has been a period of enormous growth in the field of research synthesis. The second edition Handbook thoroughly revises original chapters to assure that the volume remains the most authoritative source of information for researchers undertaking meta-analysis today. In response to the increasing use of research synthesis in the formation of public policy, the second edition includes a new chapter on both the strengths and limitations of research synthesis in policy debates

Download or read book Decision Making written by David E. Bell and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1988-10-28 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compilation of different approaches--normative, descriptive,and prescriptive--develops this integrated analysis of decision-making that emphasizes the contributions of various disciplinary interests.

Download or read book Systematic Reviews written by Cynthia Diane Mulrow and published by ACP Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The use and creation of systematic reviews, with a discussion on their value, and information on how to locate, appraise and use them, and on state-of-the-art methods for conducting them.

Download or read book Decision Making with the Analytic Network Process written by Thomas L. Saaty and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-05-14 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Analytic Network Process (ANP), developed by Thomas Saaty in his work on multicriteria decision making, applies network structures with dependence and feedback to complex decision making. This new edition of Decision Making with the Analytic Network Process is a selection of the latest applications of ANP to economic, social and political decisions, and also to technological design. The ANP is a methodological tool that is helpful to organize knowledge and thinking, elicit judgments registered in both in memory and in feelings, quantify the judgments and derive priorities from them, and finally synthesize these diverse priorities into a single mathematically and logically justifiable overall outcome. In the process of deriving this outcome, the ANP also allows for the representation and synthesis of diverse opinions in the midst of discussion and debate. The book focuses on the application of the ANP in three different areas: economics, the social sciences and the linking of measurement with human values. Economists can use the ANP for an alternate approach for dealing with economic problems than the usual mathematical models on which economics bases its quantitative thinking. For psychologists, sociologists and political scientists, the ANP offers the methodology they have sought for some time to quantify and derive measurements for intangibles. Finally the book applies the ANP to provide people in the physical and engineering sciences with a quantitative method to link hard measurement to human values. In such a process, one is able to interpret the true meaning of measurements made on a uniform scale using a unit.

Download or read book Network Meta Analysis for Decision Making written by Sofia Dias and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-03-19 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical guide to network meta-analysis with examples and code In the evaluation of healthcare, rigorous methods of quantitative assessment are necessary to establish which interventions are effective and cost-effective. Often a single study will not provide the answers and it is desirable to synthesise evidence from multiple sources, usually randomised controlled trials. This book takes an approach to evidence synthesis that is specifically intended for decision making when there are two or more treatment alternatives being evaluated, and assumes that the purpose of every synthesis is to answer the question "for this pre-identified population of patients, which treatment is 'best'?" A comprehensive, coherent framework for network meta-analysis (mixed treatment comparisons) is adopted and estimated using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods implemented in the freely available software WinBUGS. Each chapter contains worked examples, exercises, solutions and code that may be adapted by readers to apply to their own analyses. This book can be used as an introduction to evidence synthesis and network meta-analysis, its key properties and policy implications. Examples and advanced methods are also presented for the more experienced reader. Methods used throughout this book can be applied consistently: model critique and checking for evidence consistency are emphasised. Methods are based on technical support documents produced for NICE Decision Support Unit, which support the NICE Methods of Technology Appraisal. Code presented is also the basis for the code used by the ISPOR Task Force on Indirect Comparisons. Includes extensive carefully worked examples, with thorough explanations of how to set out data for use in WinBUGS and how to interpret the output. Network Meta-Analysis for Decision Making will be of interest to decision makers, medical statisticians, health economists, and anyone involved in Health Technology Assessment including the pharmaceutical industry.

Download or read book Source Modeling Techniques for Quality Enhancement in Statistical Parametric Speech Synthesis written by K. Sreenivasa Rao and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-13 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a statistical parametric speech synthesis (SPSS) framework for developing a speech synthesis system where the desired speech is generated from the parameters of vocal tract and excitation source. Throughout the book, the authors discuss novel source modeling techniques to enhance the naturalness and overall intelligibility of the SPSS system. This book provides several important methods and models for generating the excitation source parameters for enhancing the overall quality of synthesized speech. The contents of the book are useful for both researchers and system developers. For researchers, the book is useful for knowing the current state-of-the-art excitation source models for SPSS and further refining the source models to incorporate the realistic semantics present in the text. For system developers, the book is useful to integrate the sophisticated excitation source models mentioned to the latest models of mobile/smart phones.

Download or read book Advances in Automation III written by Andrey A. Radionov and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-18 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reports on innovative research and developments in automation. Spanning a wide range of disciplines, including communication engineering, power engineering, control engineering, instrumentation, signal processing and cybersecurity, it focuses on methods and findings aimed at improving the control and monitoring of industrial and manufacturing processes as well as safety. Based on the International Russian Automation Conference, held on September 5–11, 2021, in Sochi, Russia, the book provides academics and professionals with a timely overview of and extensive information on the state of the art in the field of automation and control systems, and fosters new ideas and collaborations between groups in different countries.

Download or read book Evidence synthesis for health policy and systems written by World Health Organization and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2018-08-14 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research written by Michael Saini and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews meets an urgent need to use knowledge derived from qualitative studies to inform practice, research, and policy. Despite the contingent nature of evidence gleaned from synthesis of qualitative studies, systematic synthesis is an important technique and, used judiciously, can deepen understanding of the contextual dimensions that emerge from qualitative research. This pocket guide presents an overview for planning, developing, and implementing qualitative synthesis within existing protocols and guidelines for conducting systematic reviews. The authors also explore methodological challenges, including: the philosophical tensions of integrating qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews; the balance of comprehensive and iterative information retrieval strategies to locate and screen qualitative research; the use of appraisal tools to assess quality of qualitative studies; the various approaches to synthesize qualitative studies, including interpretive, integrated, and aggregative; and the tensions between the generalizability and transferability of findings that emerge from qualitative synthesis. Social work researchers, educators, and doctoral students who are interested in systematic reviews will find the step-by-step format of this book invaluable for conducting their reviews, both in the form of rapid evidence assessments and in high-quality critical reviews.

Download or read book Logic Based Program Synthesis and Transformation written by Pierre Flener and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-05-21 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Logic-Based Program Synthesis and Transformation, LOPSTR'98 held in Manchester, UK in June 1998. The 16 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected during three rounds of inspection from a total of initially 36 extended abstracts submitted. Also included are eight short papers. Among the topics covered are logic specification, mathematical program construction, logic programming, computational logics, inductive program synthesis, constraint logic programs, and mathematical foundations.

Download or read book A Resource for Developing an Evidence Synthesis Report for Policy making written by Leena Eklund Karlsson and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2017-09-27 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evidence syntheses use multidisciplinary and intersectoral sources of evidence to support policy-making. The Health Evidence Network (HEN) has supported and strengthened the use of evidence in health policy-making in the WHO European Region since 2003. The HEN synthesis report series responds to public health questions by summarizing the best available global and local findings from peer-reviewed and grey literature as well as policy options and proposes general directions strategies and actions for consideration. This resource has been developed to outline key approaches methods and considerations for a HEN evidence synthesis to support the systematic and routine use of the best available evidence for decision-making relevant to the needs of public health decision-makers. It proposes approaches that hold both scientific rigour and practical applicability for individuals and institutions that perform commission review and/or publish evidence syntheses.