A qualitative image description grammar with automatic image fitting and object modelling algorithms is presented. The grammar is based on assigning a square sub-region of an image one of a finite number of qualitative labels, based on the occurrence of object boundaries within this region and how these intersect the region boundary. In the general case there is an infinite number of such label...

As noticed in some recent work, describing and diagnosing temporal behavior and faults is an important, but complex task. In this paper we discuss a new approach based on a subset of Allen's interval algebra, which extends previous work by allowing both the representation of qualitative temporal behavior (including symptoms over time) and the diagnosis of these systems.

In this paper we develop a language for representing complex qualitative preferences among problem solutions. We use ranked knowledge bases to represent prioritized goals. A basic preference description, that is a ranked knowledge base together with a preference strategy, defines a preference relation on models which represent problem solutions. Our language allows us to express nested combinat...

Thick description of qualitative findings is critical to improving the transferability research as it allows researchers assess their applicability other contexts and settings. However, what thick entails how should be carried out often missing or insufficiently described. While expert may familiar with concept, wide variety meanings interpretations in literature make difficult for novice under...

This discussion of data analysis in qualitative research addresses the question of how authors describe this aspect of their research. I suggest that the tradition of organization of research papers from quantitative research is not a good fit for writing qualitative research. I argue for less jargon and more detailed description, with the analytic process integrated into the findings and inter...

Qualitative reasoning has been proven a powerful technique to represent the relations between components and objects of physical processes. This technique is of great interest for simulation of biological processes where detailed quantitative information is not available and only qualitative or fuzzy statements about the nature of interactions are known. Model building is an inevitable and time...

Description of trajectories has been dealt in quantitative terms by means of mathematical formulas. Human beings do not use formulas to describe the trajectories of objects in movement, for instance, for shooting or catching a ball. Common sense reasoning about the physical world has been commonly solved by qualitative models. However, no qualitative model about trajectories of objects in movem...

The potential for qualitative representation of trends in the context of process diagnosis and control is evaluated in this paper. The technique for qualitative description of the data series is relatively new to the field of process monitoring and diagnosis and is based on the cubic spline wavelet decomposition of the data. It is shown that the assessed qualitative description of trends can be...