• International Journal of Contents
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.40-49
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• 2009

While numerous studies have suggested the significance of uncertainty during the process of information-seeking, less research has investigated user uncertainty in the actual search process using a real system. This study investigated user perceptions of uncertainty in the process of the selection of information retrieval system in the real information-seeking process. Considering the role of commercial Web search engines as supplementary tools for traditional bibliographic databases in academic research environments, this study analyzed the selection behavior of scholarly researchers, who use such search tools for their academic study. The researchers were limited to the discipline of science in order to understand user perceptions in this field. The findings revealed various dimensions, types, and incidents of uncertainty. Variations appeared in different incidents of uncertainty relating to the unique characteristics of the subjects' information-seeking context. The identification of three principal origins of uncertainty based on the different types of uncertainty generated implications to improve information systems and services.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.287-309
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• 2006

While numerous studies have suggested the significance of uncertainty during the process of information-seeking, less research has investigated user uncertainty in the actual search process using a real system. This study investigated user perceptions of uncertainty in the process of the selection of Web search terms in the real information-seeking process. The subjects at the doctoral or post-doctoral level were limited to the discipline of science in order to understand user perceptions in this field. The findings revealed various dimensions, types, and incidents of uncertainty. The typology of uncertainty facilitated an understanding of the subjects' information-seeking context by identifying various aspects of the context that constituted the subjects' uncertainty The identification of two principal origins of uncertainty based on the different types of uncertainty generated implications to improve information systems and services.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.493-513
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• 2014

With the development of related technologies, Location-Based Services (LBS) are growing fast and being used in many ways. Past LBS studies have focused on adoption of LBS because of the fact that LBS users have privacy concerns regarding revealing their location information. Meanwhile, the number of LBS users and revenues from LBS are growing rapidly because users can get some benefits by revealing their location information. Little research has been done on how LBS affects consumers' information search behavior in product purchase. The purpose of this paper is examining the effect of LBS information filtering on buyers' uncertainty and their information search behavior. When consumers purchase a product, they try to reduce uncertainty by searching information. Generally, there are two types of uncertainties - knowledge uncertainty and choice uncertainty. Knowledge uncertainty refers to the lack of information on what kinds of alternatives are available in the market and/or their important attributes. Therefore, consumers having knowledge uncertainty will have difficulties in identifying what alternatives exist in the market to fulfil their needs. Choice uncertainty refers to the lack of information about consumers' own preferences and which alternative will fit in their needs. Therefore, consumers with choice uncertainty have difficulties selecting best product among available alternatives.. According to economics of information theory, consumers narrow the scope of information search when knowledge uncertainty is high. It is because consumers' information search cost is high when their knowledge uncertainty is high. If people do not know available alternatives and their attributes, it takes time and cognitive efforts for them to acquire information about available alternatives. Therefore, they will reduce search breadth. For people with high knowledge uncertainty, the information about products and their attributes is new and of high value for them. Therefore, they will conduct searches more in-depth because they have incentive to acquire more information. When people have high choice uncertainty, people tend to search information about more alternatives. It is because increased search breadth will improve their chances to find better alternative for them. On the other hand, since human's cognitive capacity is limited, the increased search breadth (more alternatives) will reduce the depth of information search for each alternative. Consumers with high choice uncertainty will spend less time and effort for each alternative because considering more alternatives will increase their utility. LBS provides users with the capability to screen alternatives based on the distance from them, which reduces information search costs. Therefore, it is expected that LBS will help users consider more alternatives even when they have high knowledge uncertainty. LBS provides distance information, which helps users choose alternatives appropriate for them. Therefore, users will perceive lower choice uncertainty when they use LBS. In order to test the hypotheses, we selected 80 students and assigned them to one of the two experiment groups. One group was asked to use LBS to search surrounding restaurants and the other group was asked to not use LBS to search nearby restaurants. The experimental tasks and measures items were validated in a pilot experiment. The final measurement items are shown in Appendix A. Each subject was asked to read one of the two scenarios - with or without LBS - and use a smartphone application to pick a restaurant. All behaviors on smartphone were recorded using a recording application. Search breadth was measured by the number of restaurants clicked by each subject. Search depths was measured by two metrics - the average number of sub-level pages each subject visited and the average time spent on each restaurant. The hypotheses were tested using SPSS and PLS. The results show that knowledge uncertainty reduces search breadth (H1a). However, there was no significant correlation between knowledge uncertainty and search depth (H1b). Choice uncertainty significantly reduces search depth (H2b), but no significant relationship was found between choice uncertainty and search breadth (H2a). LBS information filtering significantly reduces the buyers' choice uncertainty (H4) and reduces the negative relationship between knowledge uncertainty and search breadth (H3). This research provides some important implications for service providers. Service providers should use different strategies based on their service properties. For those service providers who are not well-known to consumers (high knowledge uncertainty) should encourage their customers to use LBS. This is because LBS would increase buyers' consideration sets when the knowledge uncertainty is high. Therefore, less known services have chances to be included in consumers' consideration sets with LBS. On the other hand, LBS information filtering decrease choice uncertainty and the near service providers are more likely to be selected than without LBS. Hence, service providers should analyze geographically approximate competitors' strength and try to reduce the gap so that they can have chances to be included in the consideration set.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.95-107
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• 2017

Purpose - In the joint development of new products, buyers and suppliers exchange information to solve various problems. Uncertainty and ambiguity are typical examples. Uncertainty refers to the lack of information to solve the problem, and equivocality refers to the case where the information is interpreted in multiple processes in the process of providing the information. These uncertainty and equivocality cause new products to be delayed in their development and adversely affect quality. However, unfortunately, there is a lack of researches on how the uncertainty and equivocality of such concepts control the results of new product joint development. But, smooth communication and effective exchange of information is not emphasized only in the general organization. The importance of the new product joint development projects to achieve the two organizations' common goals becomes even greater. The purposes of this study are to analyse the effect of supplier's strategy on the NPD performance and moderating effect of uncertainty and equivocality. Research design, data, and methodology - In order to make a contribution to the lack of academic researches in Korea, this study collects data through questionnaires based on organizational information processing theory and previous studies, and conducts empirical analysis. Results - As a result, the product modularization strategy and the strategic supply chain relationship positively influenced the new product development performance - return on investment and ease of manufacturing. And the interaction effect of uncertainty and equivocality with supplier's strategy - product modularity strategy and strategic supply chain management relationship - reduces or negates the influence of product modularization strategy on new product development performance. Conclusions - This implies that it is important to control uncertainty and equivocality in order for the supplier strategy to have a positive effect on new product development performance. It also emphasizes the necessity of sharing information appropriately for companies that do not want to share the information as possible due to their fear of loss of competitive advantage in the joint development of new products. Because this kind of negative policy might let uncertainty and equivocality be happen in new product joint development process.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.191-213
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• 2006

The purpose of this research is to identify the structure among determining factors focusing on knowledge transfer and analyze and prove the causal relation on knowledge transfer in Korean companies and public corporations. The results from the analysis of data collected in this study are as follows. First, forum among organization related factors has the positive relation with uncertainty in a significant level. Second, the higher the knowledge presentation and the ease of use are among information systems related factors, the lower the ambiguity and uncertainty are. Third, among process related factors, unification has the negative relation with ambiguity and uncertainty in a significant level. Fourth, a better manpower employment contributes to a worse ambiguity and uncertainty. Fifth, ambiguity has a negative relation with knowledge transfer. In conclusion, the factors that lower the ambiguity and facilitate knowledge transfer include information systems, unification, and manpower employment. These factors, however, influence on uncertainty, which turns out to be nothing to do with knowledge transfer.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.100-107
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• 2012

While considerable research suggests that users' uncertainty gradually decreases, as they proceed through the information seeking process, others argue that it can arise at any stage of their information seeking process. Reflecting the latter view, this study examined user perceptions of uncertainty in the final stage of users' information seeking process, the stage of search results evaluation. Considering the significance of Web search engines for academic study, this study investigated the relevance decision stage of scholarly researchers in the field of science, who use Web search engines for their academic study. Based on the analysis of the users' uncertainty, this study provided implications to improve information systems and Web contents design.

• Proceedings of the Korean Operations and Management Science Society Conference
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• 1990.04a
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• pp.272-288
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• 1990

The uncertainty quantification process in probabilistic Risk Assessment usually involves a specification of the uncertainty in the input data and the propagation of this uncertainty to the final risk results. The distributional sensitivity analysis is to study the impact of the various assumptions made during the quantification of input parameter uncertainties on the final output uncertainty. The uncertainty importance of input parameters, in this case, should reflect the degree of changes in the whole output distribution and not just in a point estimate value. A measure of the uncertainty importance is proposed in the present paper. The measure is called the distributional sensitivity measure(DSM) and explicitly derived from the definition of the Kullback's discrimination information. The DSM is applied to three typical discrimination information. The DSM is applied to three typical cases of input distributional changes: 1) Uncertainty is completely eliminated, 2) Uncertainty range is increased by a factor of 10, and 3) Type of distribution is changed. For all three cases of application, the DSM-based importance ranking agrees very well with the observed changes of output distribution while other statistical parameters are shown to be insensitive.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.321-331
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• 2015

Purpose: Purpose of this study was to identify the effect of structured information on immediate preoperative anxiety and uncertainty for women undergoing total laparoscopic hysterectomy. Methods: Sixty women who were admitted for total laparoscopic hysterectomy were recruited at a university hospital in Gyeonggi-do from June to October 2014. Thirty women were assigned to either the experimental or the control group. Women in the experimental group were provided structured information, which consisted of visual and auditory materials about surgical preparation and process, practical experience on devices such as IV-PCA pump and Inspiro-meter and actual experience on route to go to the operating room. State-anxiety, uncertainty, and blood pressure and pulse rate as biological indicators were measured before and after the intervention to examine the effect. Results: Significant group differences were found on state anxiety, uncertainty, including ambiguity, inconsistency, and unpredictability at the holding area. There was a significant difference on pulse rate in the operating room between the two groups. Conclusion: Findings demonstrated that the structured information provided for women undergoing laparoscopic hysterectomy preoperatively was effective on immediate preoperative anxiety and uncertainty. Nurses may contribute to decreasing patients' anxiety and uncertainty by utilizing this structured information preoperatively.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.161-167
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• 2021

This paper presents the method to quantitatively evaluate the uncertainty of the semi-empirical Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) model for Himawari-8/AHI. The uncertainty of BRDF modeling was affected by various issues such as assumption of model and number of observations, thus, it is difficult that evaluating the performance of BRDF modeling using simple uncertainty equations. Therefore, in this paper, Monte-Carlo method, which is most dependable method to analyze dynamic complex systems through iterative simulation, was used. The 1,000 input datasets for analyzing the uncertainty of BRDF modeling were generated using the Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) Radiative Transfer Model (RTM) simulation with MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) BRDF product. Then, we randomly selected data according to the number of observations from 4 to 35 in the input dataset and performed BRDF modeling using them. Finally, the uncertainty was calculated by comparing reproduced surface reflectance through the BRDF model and simulated surface reflectance using 6S RTM and expressed as bias and root-mean-square-error (RMSE). The bias was negative for all observations and channels, but was very small within 0.01. RMSE showed a tendency to decrease as the number of observations increased, and showed a stable value within 0.05 in all channels. In addition, our results show that when the viewing zenith angle is 40° or more, the RMSE tends to increase slightly. This information can be utilized in the uncertainty analysis of subsequently retrieved geophysical variables.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.48-56
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of visual information on nursing management to elderly total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used in this study. Participants of this study were 60 elderly patients with TKA admitted to one hospital: the control group (30) between July and September, 2013, and the experimental group (30) between April and July, 2013. Anxiety and uncertainty were determined at baseline and at 3 days after TKA in both groups. Results: Two days after the visual information, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in anxiety and uncertainty compared with the control group. Conclusion: The results of this study show that providing visual information was effective in decreasing postoperative patient anxiety and uncertainty in elderly TKA patients. Therefore, when an elderly patient is hospitalized for TKA, positive and systematic provision of visual information may provide a positive effect by reducing postoperative patient anxiety and uncertainty.