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An Introduction To Queueing Theory

This document discusses queueing theory, which is the mathematical study of waiting in lines. A basic queueing system consists of an arrival process, the queue, the service process, and departures. Queueing models are used to determine the best use of limited resources in situations like waiting in lines at stores, waiting for a computer to perform a task, or waiting for an automated car wash. Key aspects of characterizing a queueing system include the arrival process, customer behavior, how customers are serviced, service discipline, and the waiting room.

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Paulene Gacayan
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93 views3 pages

An Introduction To Queueing Theory

This document discusses queueing theory, which is the mathematical study of waiting in lines. A basic queueing system consists of an arrival process, the queue, the service process, and departures. Queueing models are used to determine the best use of limited resources in situations like waiting in lines at stores, waiting for a computer to perform a task, or waiting for an automated car wash. Key aspects of characterizing a queueing system include the arrival process, customer behavior, how customers are serviced, service discipline, and the waiting room.

Uploaded by

Paulene Gacayan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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An Introduction to Queueing Theory

Queueing theory is the mathematical study of queueing, or waiting in lines. Queues


contain customers (or “items”) such as people, objects, or information. Queues form when there
are limited resources for providing a service. For example, if there are 5 cash registers in a grocery
store, queues will form if more than 5 customers wish to pay for their items at the same time.

A basic queueing system consists of an arrival process (how customers arrive at the queue, how
many customers are present in total), the queue itself, the service process for attending to those
customers, and departures from the system.

Mathematical queueing models are often used in software and business to determine the best
way of using limited resources. The following situations are examples of how queueing theory
can be applied:

 Waiting in line at a bank or a store


 Waiting for a customer service representative to answer a call after the call has been
placed on hold
 Waiting for a train to come
 Waiting for a computer to perform a task or respond
 Waiting for an automated car wash to clean a line of cars

Characterizing a Queueing System:

 Arrival process. The arrival process is simply how customers arrive. They may come into
a queue alone or in groups, and they may arrive at certain intervals or randomly.
 Behavior. How do customers behave when they are in line? Some might be willing to wait
for their place in the queue; others may become impatient and leave. Yet others might
decide to rejoin the queue later, such as when they are put on hold with customer service
and decide to call back in hopes of receiving faster service.
 How customers are serviced. This includes the length of time a customer is serviced, the
number of servers available to help the customers, whether customers are served one by
one or in batches, and the order in which customers are serviced, also called service
discipline.
 Service discipline refers to the rule by which the next customer is selected. Although
many retail scenarios employ the “first come, first served” rule, other situations may call
for other types of service. For example, customers may be served in order of priority, or
based on the number of items they need serviced.

 Waiting room. The number of customers allowed to wait in the queue may be limited
based on the space available.

Reference: Lim, A. (2018, October 18). An Introduction to Queuing Theory. Retrieved


from https://www.thoughtco.com/queuing-theory-4171870
What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?
Abstract
This paper aims to clarify the meaning, and explain the utility, of the case study method,
a method often practiced but little understood. A “case study,” I argue, is best defined as
an intensive study of a single unit with an aim to generalize across a larger set of units.
Case studies rely on the same sort of covariational evidence utilized in non-case study
research. Thus, the case study method is correctly understood as a particular way of
defining cases, not a way of analyzing cases or a way of modeling causal relations. I show
that this understanding of the subject illuminates some of the persistent ambiguities of
case study work, ambiguities that are, to some extent, intrinsic to the enterprise. The
travails of the case study within the discipline of political science are also rooted in an
insufficient appreciation of the methodological tradeoffs that this method calls forth. This
paper presents the familiar contrast between case study and non-case study work as a
series of characteristic strengths and weaknesses—affinities—rather than as antagonistic
approaches to the empirical world. In the end, the perceived hostility between case study
and non-case study research is largely unjustified and, perhaps, deserves to be regarded
as a misconception. Indeed, the strongest conclusion to arise from this methodological
examination concerns the complementarity of single-unit and cross-unit research
designs.

Reference: Gerring, J. (2004). What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for? American Political
Science Review, 98(2), 341-354. doi:10.1017/S0003055404001182

What is a case study?


Case study is a research methodology, typically seen in social and life sciences. There is no one
definition of case study research. However, very simply… ‘a case study can be defined as an
intensive study about a person, a group of people or a unit, which is aimed to generalize over
several units. A case study has also been described as an intensive, systematic investigation of a
single individual, group, community or some other unit in which the researcher examines in-
depth data relating to several variables.

Researchers describe how case studies examine complex phenomena in the natural setting to
increase understanding of them. Furthermore, when describing the steps undertaken while using
a case study approach, this method of research allows the researcher to take a complex and
broad topic, or phenomenon, and narrow it down into a manageable research question(s). By
collecting qualitative or quantitative datasets about the phenomenon, the researcher gains a
more in-depth insight into the phenomenon than would be obtained using only one type of data.

Reference: Heale, R. & Twycross, A. (2018) What is a case study? Evidence-Based Nursing
2018;21:7-8.
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

PR-HW-01

DATE ISSUED: 29 JANUARY 2019


DATE DUE: 31 JANUARY 2019
DATE GIVEN: 31 JANUARY 2019

GACAYAN, PAULENE O. AR/EnP DONNA R. TABANGIN


STUDENT INSTRUCTOR

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