Digital Commons Network^™

Upgrading Search Strategy Skills: Unit One: Developing Search Strategies For Online Searching: A Continuing Professional Development Course For Library And Information Service Managers, Gulten S. Wagner

Research outputs pre 2011

Information retrieval systems are complex systems requiring specialised training. The process of translating an information request into the language of a computer in an online, CD-ROM or network environment is called a search strategy development. Information retrieval systems operate on the principle of a set of matching functions taking place at high speed. The skill and knowledge of the searcher are the main determinants in obtaining the best results from an information retrieval system.

The Voice Of Edith Cowan: Australia's First Woman Parliamentarian 1921-1924, Harry C.J. Phillips

Research outputs pre 2011

On 12 March 1996 the Honourable Justice French, as Chancellor of Edith Cowan University, led a rededication ceremony of the Edith Cowan Clock Tower. This occasion, the seventy-fifth anniversary of Edith Cowan's election to the Legislative Assembly, was immediately followed by a breakfast at the nearby Parliament of Western Australia. During the evening a touring exhibition of Edith Cowan's life was launched titled "A Tough Nut to Crack". Then five days later Professor Geoffrey Bolton spoke at St George's Cathedral to celebrate a "Life of Service" by Edith Cowan.

The Voice of Edith Cowan is another contribution to the anniversary. …

The Australian Family Farm: Is It Soon To Be An Illusive Myth?, Fiona M.H. Mckenzie

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper examines the challenges faced by Western Australian rural enterprises since 1961 and the effects of economic and demographic change on the agricultural industry over the last thirty years.

Increasing capitalisation and technological advances have led to major shifts in the way the business of farming is conducted. There is evidence to suggest that these changes have contributed to an oversupply of agricultural products, the development of large-scale agri-business firms and a general depopulation of the agricultural sector.

The family farm has always been considered the backbone of Australian agriculture but there is evidence to suggest that in this …

International Review Of Women And Leadership: Volume 2 Number 2, Leonie V. Still (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

This issue represents the culmination of two years of publishing. In that time we have had a special issue on Women and Politics, and have published contributions from Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America. Each issue has had its own distinct flavour. Each issue has also had a diverse range of contributions. A number of ground-breaking articles have been published, while several reviews have handled different aspects of the status of women in a number of fields. The diversity and depth of the contributions illustrates that the field of women and leadership is …

Women And Leadership Working Paper Series: Paper No. 6: Women In International Assignments: The Australian Experience, Catherine R. Smith, Leonie V. Still

Research outputs pre 2011

Businesses are increasingly operating within an international environment, where the human and financial costs of failure are more serious than the domestic arena, and expatriate failure is reported to be a persistent and recurring problem for multinational corporations (Scullion, 1994). The successful implementation of global strategies depends heavily upon the existence of an adequate pool of nationally and internationally experienced managers with a diversity of talent. Adler ( 1993a, p55) has argued that "the option of limiting international management to one gender is an arm-chair 'luxury' that no company can afford". Given the need to develop global teams with a …

International Networking: Education, Training And Change, Nerida F. Ellerton (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

The decision to inaugurate the International Networking Conference to focus on education, training and change was a direct result of the Higher Education/UNESCO Conference which was held in Cyprus in 1992. I was given the opportunity of delivering a paper on some of the problems associated with managing an internationally respected performing arts institution in the most remote capital city in the world-Perth, Western Australia.

Upon my return to Perth I broached the notion of conducting an international conference in Western Australia which would highlight issues and problems relative to higher education programs in Australia, Asia and the Indian Ocean …

Women In Leadership Project: Research Register, Linley Lord, Leanne Burton

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

International Review Of Women And Leadership: Special Issue, Volume 2 Number 1: Women And Politics, Marian Sawer

Research outputs pre 2011

This year is the 75th anniversary of the election of Edith Cowan to the Western Australian parliament, the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament. It is highly appropriate that the International Review of Women and Leadership should commemorate this anniversary with a special issue dedicated to women and politics. This has enabled us to use Edith Cowan's experience of parliamentary politics as a prism through which to examine continuing dilemmas of women's representation in public life - including concepts of women's interests, equality and difference, separatism versus integration and independence versus partisanship...

Young Lions : The Changing Face Of South African Youth Politics 1944-1994, Jubalane Matsebula

Theses : Honours

The changing face of South African youth politics and the construction of youth identities in official discourse has always been an area of interest. During the struggle against apartheid, the youth category was contested by two diametrically opposed sets of discourse: the liberatory and the conservative. This study is about Black youth politics from 1944 to 1994 with especial reference to the changes in discourses of liberation and the construction of youth within these discourses. It explores the role of young people in the liberation struggle, how they were constituted by others and how they constituted themselves. This study posits …

Nonresidential Father Perception Of Father-Child Relationships: An Exploratory Analysis Of Family Functioning, Wendy J. Nicholls

Theses : Honours

Nonresidential father experiences of family life with their children lack attention in the literature. Nonresidential fathers often suffer considerably, as they attempt to continue their parenting role with limited access lime. Consequently, their relationships with their children may suffer, sometimes resulting in visitation ceasing altogether. Father contact is important to the developmental and psychological well-being of children, yet is often hindered by restricted access, distance, parental conflict and the father's emotional state. Nonresidential father perspectives of family life with their children are explored in this study, to gain insight into nonresidential father experiences. This study replicated a study conducted by …

The Effects Of A Sense Of Humour On Empathic-Responses : Testing Positive And Negative Affect As Mediating Variables, Michael Francis Sheehan

Theses : Honours

Research investigating individual differences in empathy-related responding has shown sympathy (an other oriented response involving concern) and perspective taking (the psychological adoption of another's point of view) to be related to emotional regulation and more positive affect, and personal distress (an egoistic reaction to another's distress) to be associated with overarousal and more negative affect Separate research investigating the stress-moderating effects of humour has linked coping humour to reduced negative affect and the maintenance of positive affect. The present study tested a model that hypothesised that coping humour would have an indirect affect on each empathy-related variable through positive and …

Someone's Calling Your Swatch: Youth, Technology And Power, Su-Lyn Tan

Theses : Honours

Common assumptions about youth and youth culture exist in academic, as well as other adult cultures. These assumptions underlie policy decisions, programming choices, and even the way we (as adults) treat youth. This study proposes to examine Singaporean youth and their use of pagers, in terms of Foucauldian theories of power; in an attempt to draw critical attention to these common assumptions. The intention is to explore the ambiguities of such common assumptions as sites of power relations; relations that are inherent to all societies in one way or another. The pager is not a conventional focus for communication research. …

Reading Dolly : The Reading Practices Of Adolescent Girls, Suzanne Fleming

Theses : Honours

In recent years the representation and participation of women in the media has received a great deal of attention. So too, has the area of language and gender. Research and discussions around these two fields intersect to provide a context for this research project. Unlike any study located to date, this study provides a theoretical exploration of practices girls employ when reading Dolly, an Australian teen magazine aimed at adolescent females. The project involves 11 year-eight girls from two metropolitan schools and aims to answer questions regarding the reading practices they employ when reading Dolly, the meanings they make with …

Bullying In Schools : An Extension And Replication Of Schoolchildren's Attitudes And Helping Behaviour Toward Victims Of Bullying, Kathy Elliott

Theses : Honours

A replication and extension of Rigby and Slee's (1991) study, was conducted in rural Western Australia to investigate age and gender differences in schoolchildren's attitudes and behaviour toward victims of bullying. One hundred and seventy two students (93 Females, 79 males) participated in the study, comprising of, Year 3, Year 7, Year 8, and Year 12 students. Three written, anonymous questionnaires were used: (i) The Peer Relations Questionnaire (Rigby & Slee, 1994) and (ii) the Pro-Victim Scale (Rigby & Slee, 1991) examined students peer interactions and attitudes toward victims; and a self-developed questionnaire, (iii) the Victim Questionnaire, was ased to …

The Causes And Consequences Of Interactions Between Aboriginal And Non-Aboriginal Primary School Children From The Perspective Of Their Parents, Catherine M. Brennan

Theses : Honours

Racism is found in all societies but is a particular problem in post-colonial immigrant majority societies where the indigenous population have been dispossessed of their land and experience social injustices. Aboriginal people are the most disadvantaged group in Australian society and despite the current policies of self-determination and cultural pluralism they remain at the bottom of all social indicators. The aim of this study is to examine the causes and consequences of racism against Aboriginal children from the perspective of their parents. To do this a case-study of seven Aboriginal parents with primary school aged children was undertaken to see …

Intergenerational Contact And Children's Perceptions Of Seniors, Jacqueline L. Carmichael

Theses : Honours

The exploration of issues relating to intergenerational contact and children's perceptions of seniors has received little attention in the area of gerontology. This study employed a survey research approach, utilising a questionnaire to explore this topic. This survey was given to a group of one hundred and six students in Year Six and Seven in a metropolitan Western Australian primary school. The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between intergenerational contact and the perceptions held by primary school aged children about seniors. Previous findings demonstrate that there was either no relationship between the variables or only a …

An Investigation Of Agency In Children's Own Narrative Writing Before And After Exposure To Counter-Sexist Texts, Jane Nolan

Theses : Honours

This research focuses on the issue of gender in education. It looks at the role counter-sexist texts play in the formation, consolidation and interruption of children's gender ideology. It initially investigates whether or not counter-sexist texts can change agency in children's writing by analysing children's own narrative writing. Then it seeks to shed light on the ways that children respond to these types of texts by using transcripts from discussion sessions.

The sample consisted of 20 students from a Western Australian state primary school. These students were randomly distributed into a control and experimental group. Each week, for a period …

The Impact On Juries Of Pre-Recording Children's Evidence, Josephine Hubble

Theses : Honours

The impact on juries of pre-recording children's evidence was investigated. University undergraduate students (N = 123; 91 females, 32 males) volunteered to participate in the study as mock jurors. Participants either watched a videotape or read a transcript of a simulated trial involving a child sexual abuse case. Participants who watched the videotape saw the child give evidence either by closed circuit television or by a pre-re-cording. Participants who read the transcript were advised the child's evidence had been given via closed circuit television or had been pre-recorded. After viewing the videotape or reading the transcript, participants completed a questionnaire …

Patterns Of Anger, Attribution, And Appraisal, Andrew J. Ellis

Theses : Honours

A single study investigates two cognitive theories of anger arousal, and the hostile attribution bias (HAB) phenomenon from the aggression literature. It was argued that the role of B. Weiner’s (1985, 1986) casual attribution dimension of intentionality has been underestimated in anger arousal; and it was hypothesised that when attributions of intentionality increase anger arousal increases. R. S. Lazarus and K. A. Smith's ( 1988) appraisal theory holds that emotions arc aroused in response to personally relevant events, and without this appraisal process causal attibutions are insufficient to evoke emotions. Based on this it was hypothesised that appraisal components are …

An Examination Of The Influence Of Court Interpreters Upon Attributions Of Defendant And Plaintiff Culpability, Grace Frances

Theses : Honours

An expressed reluctance of the courts to employ interpreters has been challenged on the basis that a failure to provide such assistance to the Non-English Speaking (NES) witness contravenes the principles of natural justice. Further, NES defendants risk being misunderstood and incapacitated in their ability to effectively communicate the intended meaning of the evidence they are giving. In order to determine whether the presence of an interpreter exerts influence upon attributions of culpability given to a NES defendant, it was .important to identify whether evaluations were based on the interpreter's presence or on the defendant's ethnicity. Therefore, three trial conditions …

The Role Of Social Support Networks In The Independent Functioning Of Elderly Persons, Maree Gabbedy

Theses : Honours

There is conclusive evidence which highlights the importance of physical and mental health in the ability of elderly persons to function within society, and elderly persons who require services to maintain their independence, are assumed to have lower levels of functioning than persons who do not apply for, or require assistance. Individuals, however, are rarely totally independent, as most people are involved in social networks, where the reciprocal exchange of money, emotional support, goods and services are exchanged with friends family and neighbours. This study, examined the role of social support networks in the independent functioning of the elderly, in …

Self-Concept Differences Between Bullied And Non-Bullied Children, Wendy Forrest

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to compare bullied and non-bullied children in order to ascc1tain whether the two groups varied on specific self-concept factors. The theoretical position was that low self-concept was related to bullying and as such, bullied children would score lower on a stipulated self-concept test. The sample comprised fifty-three bullied and fifty-three non-bullied children from grades six to nine, selected from three large state city schools and six large state country schools with similar socio-economic status. The students were allocated to the "bullied" and "non-bullied" groups by class teachers using specified criteria. All fifty-three bullied children …

Identification As A Motivator Of Environmentally Responsible Tourist Behaviour, Steve Sertis

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examined the use of information in motivating environmentally responsible behaviour. In light of the ineffectiveness of traditional educational methods that have focussed upon affecting behaviour by changing attitudes through the manipulation of cognitive variables, an attempt was made to produce a sense of identification with the Rottnest Island Quokka using the tripartite model of motivational bases of attitudes developed by Hills (1993 ). This model used to determine whether different kinds of information would produce changes in environmental behaviour. Three groups of tourists were given either no information; factual information, consistent with current educational techniques used to influence …

Affective And Cognitive Bases Of Attitudes Toward Environmental Issues, Julie A. Pooley

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This present study seeks to determine the bases of our attitudes toward environmental issues. Is it what we think and believe (cognition) about the environment that determines our attitudes or is it what we feel (affect) that informs us. Previous literature indicates that in some areas affect may be a better predictor of attitudes than cognition. Furthermore the environmental education literature suggests that affect may be a key entry point for environmental education Using Zanna & Rempel's (1988) attitude structure model, the present study seeks to replicate and extend the work of Eagly, Mladinic and Otto (1994) using a free …