III-CXT: Process Families and Their Application to Online Dispute Resolution

这项研究将评估生成的方法来创建家庭的过程，通过生成家庭的在线争议解决（ODR）过程，并通过在国家调解委员会（NMB）使用它们进行评估。生成的方法将由NMB规范的过程目标，这将根据不同的权重的有形目标，如解决特定的冲突，和这样的无形目标，如授权和关系的建立不同的重点。过程族将通过将过程关注点的不同组合（如协调、代理行为和工件流）绑定到一个高级元过程框架中来生成。生成的过程实例还将包括指定的仪器和测量工具。这将促进NMB和项目研究人员对过程的评估，并将为评估整体生成方法奠定基础。这种方法将需要一种过程定义语言，其特点是明确的关注点分离。一个例子是Little-JIL过程定义语言，在麻省大学开发的，这将被用作本研究的基础。该项目将增加对过程生成和过程技术的理解，同时也为NMB创建有用的过程，以及一个上级框架，用于社会科学实验，包括争议解决过程和一般过程。该项目小组包括计算机科学研究人员、一名网上解决专家、争议解决研究人员和国家管理局的代表。该团队已经成功地对以前的一个项目进行了NSF资助的研究，其结果表明需要在这里提出的研究。智力优势：这个项目继续探索使用软件工程的观点和技术来处理过程作为严格定义的对象的价值。这里讨论的主要问题是进程族的管理。以前的研究表明，像NMB这样的组织需要一系列的过程，而不是一个单一的过程，而且这些过程可能并不总是旨在生产一个单一的产品，也不是一个有形的。使用一个过程定义语言具有干净的关注点分离似乎是一个很有前途的方式来解决这些需求，这种方法将在本研究中追求和评估，从而作出重要贡献，了解正式的过程。将建立一个程序生成框架，用于生成供国家管理局使用和评价的真实的网上解决程序。这些程序的严格性和精确性，以及将其纳入评价工具，将有助于对以精确记录的方式不同的程序进行比较。这将是对社会科学研究的一个重要贡献，支持社会科学家对程序进行精确实验的能力，网上解决程序被用作第一个例子。更广泛的影响：所提供的网上解决程序将在许多方面对国家管理局具有相当大的价值。这些程序将提高NMB处理航空和铁路行业纠纷的效率。他们还将作为NMB可以用来培训新人员的援助。这些程序的明确性和准确性将使其成为持续讨论和评价的适当主题，从而提高解决冲突的效力。此外，NMB的成功将证明这些想法和方法适用于负责解决争端的其他数十个政府机构。

This research will evaluate a generative approach to creating families of processes, by generating families of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) processes, and evaluating them through use at the National Mediation Board (NMB). The generative approach will be guided by NMB specifications of process goals, which will vary in emphasis according to different weightings of both tangible goals, such as resolving a specific conflict, and such nontangible goals as empowerment and relationship-building. The process families will be generated by binding different combinations of process concerns, such as coordination, agent behaviors, and artifact flows, into a high-level metaprocess framework. The generated process instances will also include specified instrumentation and measurement vehicles. This will facilitate the evaluation of the processes by NMB and project researchers and will form the foundation for evaluation of the overall generative approach. This approach will require a process definition language that features clear separation of concerns. An example is the Little-JIL process definition language, developed at UMass, which will be used as the basis for this research. The project will add to understanding of process generation and process technology in general, while also creating useful processes for the NMB, and a superior framework for social science experimentation with dispute resolution processes as well as processes in general. The project team includes computer science researchers, an ODR expert, dispute resolution researchers, and representatives from the NMB. The team has conducted successful NSF-funded research on a previous project, whose results indicate the need for the research proposed here. Intellectual Merit: This project continues the exploration of the value of using software engineering perspectives and technology to deal with processes as rigorously definable objects. The main issue addressed here is the management of families of processes. Previous research indicates that organizations like NMB require families of processes, rather than a single process, and that such processes may not always be aimed at producing a single product nor one that is tangible. Use of a process definition language featuring clean separation of concerns seems to be a promising way to address these needs, and that approach will be pursued and evaluated in this research, thus making an important contribution to understanding the formal nature of processes. A process generation framework will be built and used to generate real ODR processes that will be used and evaluated by the NMB. The rigor and precision of these processes, and their incorporation of vehicles for evaluation, will facilitate the comparison of processes that differ in precisely documented ways. This will be an important contribution to social science research, supporting the ability of social scientists to perform precise experimentation with processes, with ODR processes being used as a first example. Broader Impact: The ODR processes provided will be of considerable value to the NMB in a number of ways. The processes will improve NMB's effectiveness in dealing with disputes in the airline and railroad industries. They will also serve as an aid that NMB can use to train new personnel. The clarity and precision of the processes will render them suitable subjects for ongoing discussion and evaluation, leading to improvements in conflict resolution effectiveness. Moreover, success at the NMB will demonstrate the applicability of these ideas and approaches to the dozens of other government agencies responsible for dispute resolution.