BSAD 8020 / ISQA 8060 - RESEARCH IN MIS

1. Answer all parts thoroughly.
   
   • Describe a problem facing an IS/IT manager that could be addressed by a formal research project.
   • Present a research proposal for developing recommendations to resolve the problem. Include proposed hypotheses and schematic diagram.
   • Critique the proposal.

2. Answer all parts thoroughly.
   
   • Describe a problem facing an IS/IT manager that could be addressed by a formal research project.
   • Present a research proposal for developing recommendations to resolve the problem. Include proposed hypotheses and schematic diagram.
   • Indicate the statistics you would use to test the proposed hypotheses and defend your choices.

1. Describe a Message Trace Diagram (MTD) and how it can be used to document CRC sessions. Be sure to address the relationship between the MTD and the CRC card.

2. Write a set of programming guidelines for COBOL that encompasses structured programming, information hiding, and other aspects of maintainability.

• Compare and contrast Coad and Yourdon's O-O Analysis and Design Methodology with the traditional Waterfall methodology. Discuss the differences between these two methodologies and the implications of those differences for project planning, staffing, and communication.

1. Discuss in detail the 802.3 LAN standards: their physical topology, medium access control, standard data rates, types of cable available, and any other characteristics. Also, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of traditional 802.3 LAN standards, and the future technology trends that will address the problems you have identified.

2. Assume that you are the CIO of a global multi-national company with its world headquarters in Omaha. You need to create a wide area network that interconnects 100 branch and main offices throughout the world. The network will be used primarily for e-mail, voice-mail (integrated voice/data), and Intranet computing. Identify possible services available at the physical and data link layers and compare them from different perspectives (ex. cost, quality of service, security, etc.).

1. Data access middleware a enables a client process to request and receive data from, ideally, multiple server DBMS, typically provided by different vendors. Describe the principal obstacles to interoperability that a middleware solution must overcome. How does data access middleware overcome these differences? Describe the major approaches to solving this problem, and conditions under which each choice is most appropriate. For each of the approaches you mention, name a standard or product that employs that approach.

2. Some industry observers claim that client/server computing today is being defined by the convergence of three major trends: the Internet, transaction processing, and object-orientation. Discuss the factors that are driving each of these trends, the kinds of technologies that are being developed where the three trends converge, and the implications of these trends and technologies for corporate computing infrastructure and applications architecture.

1. For the following scenario, product an ER diagram, a set of appropriately normalized tables, and SQL queries for the three questions shown.

   WZZZ is a radio station that plays light (some might say, sleepy) rock and jazz. The station airs two basic kinds of commercials, those that are produced by the customer (that is, the organization whose product or service is being advertised) and are given to the station in the form of a audio tape, and those that are created with the help of the station staff. Each commercial has a unique identifier, a title, a duration (20-sec, 30-sec, 45-sec), and a creation date. For commercials that are produced in-house, the station maintains data about which staff members worked on the commercial and the number of hours each staff member spent on the commercial. Each in-house commercial has to be associated with at least one, but possibly several staff members, and each staff member may work on one, or no, in-house commercials. A contract is drawn up with the customer for each commercial. This contract specifies the frequency with which the commercial is to air (for example, once an hour), the first and last dates on which it is to air, and the time slot during which the commercial is to air. There are four different time-slots: AM (from 6 a.m. to noon) PM (from noon to 6 p.m.), Evening (from 6 p.m. to midnight) and Night (from midnight to 6 a.m.). The contract can specify a different frequency for each time-slot. Each commercial must be specified to run in at least one time-slot. WZZZ maintains basic data about each customer, such as their name, address, contact person, and telephone. Finally, WZZZ keeps a detailed listing of when different commercials are played so that they can prove that they have honored the terms of the contract. This each station log entry for a particular commercial indicates the date and time of a particular airing.

   1. List the times at which commerical #CRNT-87364 has played.
   2. List the number of 20-second commercials.
   3. Which commercials from Jane's Jewels are both produced in-house and also run during the Night time-slot?

2. What are the objectives of database design? Discuss the process of database design and the techniques that can be used to achieve a good design. In particular, discuss normalization and its role. Finally, some of the objectives of database design may conflict with each other and require tradeoffs. Give examples of such tradeoffs, and how one might go about resolving such conflicts.