Digital Commons Network^™

Mapping The Factual Genres Of The Japanese Workplace, Elizabeth A. Thomson, Motoki Sano

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on the research project, Mapping the written genres of the Japanese workplace which set out to identify, taxonomise and describe the kinds of factual genres used in the Japanese-speaking workplace. The motivation behind this study originates from a desire to know, understand and ultimately, teach authentic genres which have vocational significance for students of Japanese as a second and or foreign language. The study interviewed and surveyed 21 non-Japanese speaking background employees in Japanese speaking workplaces both in Japan and Australia and collected over 127 workplace documents. This paper will report on the kinds of Japanese language …

Comparative Masculinities: Why Islamic Indonesian Men Are Great Mates And Australian Men Are Girls , Mike Donaldson, P. Nilan, R. Howson

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

There may well be no known human societies in which some form of masculinity has not emerged as dominant, more socially central, more associated with power, in which a pattern of practices embodying the currently most honoured way of being male legitimates the superordination of men over women. This paper shows what a small sample of Indonesian men living in Australia thought of Australian masculinity, revealing much about hegemonic masculinity in Indonesia in the process, and disclosing some uncomfortable uniformities concerning men in both countries.

Consumer Reactions To Different Health Claim Formats On Food Labels, L. Singer, P. G. Williams, Leisa Ridges, S. Murray, Anne Mcmahon

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Health claims on foods act as health messages and have a role in communicating and educating the consumer about diet-disease related issues. Previous studies have suggested that different formats of health claims communicate differently with the consumer. The aim of our study was to investigate whether splitting of the claim (a brief claim at the front package directing consumers to the back of the package where the full health claim is located) and/or endorsement of the claim (by Food Standards Australia New Zealand), have an impact on the acceptance of the claim by the consumer. Participants were recruited by a …

Customer Characteristics’ Influence On Online Trust In Developing Countries: An Examination Of Confidence Level, Mira Kartiwi

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The advent of E-commerce opens an opportunity for fostering an environment that promotes the globalisation of markets throughout the world, especially those in developing countries like Indonesia. The importance of trust as a key facilitator of E-commerce is increasingly being recognized in academic and practitioner communities. However, empirical research in this area has been overwhelmed by contradictory conceptions of the trust construct, while inadequate attention has been paid to the influence of trust constructs on E-commerce development in different cultural environments and settings. Within these constructs, a number of consumer characteristics – such as gender and age – potentially might …

'Equality Before The Law' In Polyethnic Societies: The Construction Of Normative Criminal Law Standards, Luke Mcnamara

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

Criminal justice decision-makers are routinely called upon to formulate and apply normative standards — including adjudication on criminal responsibility, assessments as to the availability of defences, and sentencing determinations. In polyethnic societies such as Australia, the terms in which the relevant standard should be conceived is sometimes challenged by defendants on the basis of their ethnic or religious identity. Such claims are commonly regarded as giving rise to a ‘clash’ — between the objective of valuing and respecting multiculturalism and pluralism, while adhering to ‘fundamental’ liberal principles regarding equality before the law (universality, uniformity and neutrality). This article examines a …

Depression And Substance Abuse: A Rationalization Of A Vicious Cycle, Amnon Levy, J. R. Faria

Faculty of Business - Economics Working Papers

While a mind-altering-substance consumption alleviates current level of depression, it facilitates future depression. Our analysis incorporates this trade off and shows that the stationary state of a consistently overly ambitious sophisticated substance user is improved by impatience, and that this improvement is amplified by the ratio of the instantaneous depression-relief effect to the state-degradation effect of the substance. The analysis also shows that the existence of a supportive personal community leads to permanent cyclical substance consumption when the user is relatively patient.

The Youth Labour Market In Australia – Implications From Work Choices Legislation, Martin O'Brien

Faculty of Business - Economics Working Papers

The youth labour market, comprising the age subgroups 15-19 and 20-24 years, forms a unique segment of the Australian labour market. The issue of youth employment has received attention most recently in 2005 in relation to industrial relations reforms (Work Choices legislation). Because of their relative inexperience, youth are seen as particularly vulnerable and in a weak bargaining position in the case of increasing prevalence of individual bargaining. We start with a review of the labour market for youth in 2005 for males and females compared to prime aged (25-44 years). We then explore specific features of youth employment such …

Optimal Control Of Locusts In Subsistence Farming Areas, Amnon Levy

Faculty of Business - Economics Working Papers

Locust swarms hit subsistence-staple-crop-growing households at random and are not privately controllable. A regional aerial-spraying scheme that supports these households’ livelihood at the least cost is proposed. The properties of this scheme are analysed and two steady states are identified. The saddle one is socio-economically superior to the stable spiral. Simulations reveal that the respective stationary probability of a household’s crop being devoured by the swarm diminishes with the number of households, yield per household, staple crop’s replacement price and spraying efficacy, but rises with the spraying cost coefficient, locusts’ multiplication rate and public planner’s discount rate.

Re-Conceiving Ability In Physical Education: A Social Analysis, Jan Wright, L. Burrows

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

In this paper we explore how ‘ability’ is currently conceptualised in physical education and with what effects for different groups of young people. We interrogate approaches to theorizing ability in physical education that draw on sociological and phenomenological ‘foundations’ together with notions of ability as ‘physical’ and ‘cultural capital’ drawn from the work of Bourdieu. We also look to data we and others have collected across a number of empirical projects to ask: where do we find talk about what we might identify as ‘ability’ in the context of physical education and sport; how is it talked about? and in …

The Working Class, Mike Donaldson

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Globalisation has, if anything, made the inequality between classes even more obvious over the last two decades, and class has again become a the topic of lively discussion. Inequalities between classes are accelerating and class has come to play a greater role in the life of ordinary people over the last three decades. With this increasing polarisation have come changes in the composition of the working class itself. This paper traces the origins of the concept and uses some of the ideas of Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci to define the working class today and to elucidate its size, dimensions, …

Predicting Financial Literacy In Australia, A. C. Worthington

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Logit models are used to predict financial literacy using the 2003 ANZ Survey of Adult Financial Literacy in Australia. Financial literacy is defined in terms of mathematical ability and the understanding of financial terms. Factors examined include gender, age, ethnicity, occupation, education, income, savings and debt. Financial literacy is found to be highest for persons aged between 50 and 60 years, professionals, business and farm owners, and university/college graduates. Literacy is lowest for the unemployed, females, and those from a non-English speaking background with a low level of education.

Workplace Bullying - A Complex Issue Neeing Ir/Hrm Research?, Diana J. Kelly

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Workplace bullying encompasses a wide array of targeted, persistent and destructive behaviours, usually by managers towards their subordinates. It is an extensive and seemingly growing phenomenon which is costly to individuals, workplaces and organisations. The costs for organisations include productivity loss, turnover, and increased legal and insurance costs. There are also considerable costs to individuals and the ethical capital of organisations, but this is more difficult to measure. Curiously IR and HRM scholars have rarely undertaken systematic investigation or analysis of the issue, despite the fact that it appears to be an issue squarely within the purview of these disciplines. …

Constructions Of Gender In Computer Magazine Advertisements: Confronting The Literature, N. F. Johnson, L. Rowan, J. Lynch

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Previous studies (Sofia, 1998; 2002; Turner & Hovenden, 1997; Weinstein, 1998) discussed the power relations surrounding the advertisements for computers in computing magazines, in particular deconstructing the imagery and text which manifested the dominant digital discourse of power (Millar, 1998). In these studies, the authors found that women were positioned as incapable and impotent users of computers. The authors examined a number of New Zealand and Australian home computing magazines published in 2003 and 2004, looking for evidence of the gendered nature of technology or examples of any form which would constitute discrimination against women or other identity categories. The …

The “Culture System” In Dutch Indonesia 1830–1870: How Rawls’S Original Position Ethics Were Violated, Parulian Silaen, Ciorstan J. Smark

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The “Culture System” was enforced in Java and other parts of Indonesia by the Dutch colonial government between 1830 and 1870. Under this system, Indonesian farmers were forced to put aside part of their land and labour for growing cash crops such as sugar, coffee, indigo, tobacco and pepper, so that they could pay their land tax to the Dutch.

This paper examines the ramifications of two aspects of the Culture System and the policies that allowed its administration. The first of these is the segregation of education and access to higher-level employment on the grounds of race. The second …

The Last Discrimination: Gay Men And Lesbians In The Classroom, H. W. Collier, R. Perrin, C. B. Mcgowan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A democracy can only be strong when the rights of all the people are protected. If given the opportunity; individuals or groups that promote intolerance, hate, and bigotry will in time deny rights to all. Discrimination is at least as old as recorded history. The Roman Empire and Classical Greek society created a class system. Some were citizens; males only of course as women were treated more like property; others were slaves and traded and owned by others. Some were free men. However, during the early centuries of the Roman Empire and during virtually all of the Classical Greek period, …

Gender And Attitude Toward An International Career: A Survey Of Russian Nationals, H. W. Collier, R. E. Jones, Carl B. Mcgowan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines attitudes of Russian MBA students toward international careers and finds that gender is not an issue but that respondents with family constraints were less favorable toward an international career. Respondents who are male, single, or with no children were slightly favorable toward international careers. Women and respondents with spouses without a career were neutral toward international careers. Respondents who were married, respondents with children, and respondents with a spouse with a career, were slightly unfavorable toward an international career. The results of this survey indicate that Russian MBA students are, on average, only slightly favorable toward international …

Small Business Adoption Of E-Commerce: A Comparison Of B2b And B2c Businesses, Robert Macgregor, Deborah Bunker, Lejla Vrazalic

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines why both B2B and B2C small businesses adopt of E-commerce. It provides an examination of the association between B2B/B2C adoption and other organizational and managerial factors by questioning small business managers about business sector, market focus, gender of the CEO and educational level of the CEO. It also examines the groupings and priorities of criteria used in the decision-making process to adopt E-commerce, to determine whether differences exist between those small businesses that operate primarily in a B2B mode and those that operate primarily in a B2C mode.

General Design Bayesian Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Yihua Zhao, John Staudenmayer, Brent Coull, M. Wand

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Linear mixed models are able to handle an extraordinary range of complications in regression-type analyses. Their most common use is to account for within-subject correlation in longitudinal data analysis. They are also the standard vehicle for smoothing spatial count data. However, when treated in full generality, mixed models can also handle spline-type smoothing and closely approximate kriging. This allows for nonparametric regression models (e.g., additive models and varying coefficient models) to be handled within the mixed model framework. The key is to allow the ran dom effects design matrix to have general structure; hence our label general design. For continuous …

Developing A Culturally Specific E-Learning Website, Penelope Mcfarlane

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

The development of culturally influenced Websites for e-commerce has a great deal of research associated with it. Not a lot of work has been done on culturally specific Websites for e-learning. This paper will explore the theories of Hofstede, Hall and others as well as the web prototype theory of St Amant in the development of such sites for Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Dubai. Sites for these countries have been developed for the Faculty of Informatics and student responses have been surveyed. It is felt that students would perform at a higher level if the e-learning interface was designed with …

The Affective Characteristics Of Underachieving Gifted Children, Roselyn M. Dixon, Rhonda Craven, Andrew Martin

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Underachievement has long been recognised as a problem for some gifted children. In such cases, the potential of these children may be a loss to society. Indeed, it has been argued that these individuals not only turn out to be relatively non-productive members of adult society but also they have potential personal problems. In spite of its importance there has been little research into underachieving gifted children since the seminal studies of Whitmore (1980). The aim of this research was to investigate the affective characteristics of achieving and underachieving intellectually gifted children. In particular, the three affective characteristics were academic …

Development Of Food Groupings To Guide Dietary Advice In People With Diabetes, L. J. Gillen, Linda C. Tapsell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Foods commonly consumed by 16 adults with diabetes were grouped according to macrinutrient value and type of fat to form 13 categories of which 10 would form the focus of dietary advice. Dietary modeling demonstrated that the food group pattern provided adequate nutrition and low variation in dietary targets. Idealised proportions of fat types were achieved only when daily servings of foods such as oils, nuts, oily fish and soy were included. The food groupings proved appropriate for dietary advice for diabetes.

Older Women’S "Ways Of Doing”: Strategies For Successful Ageing, Alison Wicks

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper discusses older women’s “ways of doing” which are occupational strategies that facilitate successful ageing by maintaining participation in meaningful occupations. The paper adopts an occupational perspective of health. This particular view of people as occupational beings who need to participate in personally meaningful occupations for their health and well being is central to occupational science, which provides the paper’s theoretical framework. The occupational strategies were identified in a life history study exploring the occupational life course six rural Australian women. The study data were the women’s life stories, which were narratively analysed from occupational and feminist perspectives. Analysis …

Conceptual And Practical Issues In Qualitative Research: Reflections On A Life History Study, Alison Wicks, G. Whiteford

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Although qualitative research is becoming increasingly popular as a means of understanding not only occupation but also a range of other human health related phenomena, the complex conceptual underpinnings of the paradigm remain relatively unexplored in the literature. This article addresses such a perceived gap. Context specificity, emic perspectives, its iterative nature and power relations are four distinct conceptual dimensions of qualitative research which are discussed. The article also includes reflections on conceptual dimensions and practical issues in relation to a qualitative study which adopted a life history approach. These reflections highlight how the conceptual dimensions underpinning qualitative research guide …

Stages Of Recovery Instrument: Development Of A Measure Of Recovery From Serious Mental Illness., Retta Andresen, Peter Caputi, Lindsay G. Oades

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: In order to realize the vision of recovery-orientated mental health services, there is a need for a model and a method of measuring recovery as the concept is described by mental health consumers. A preliminary five-stage model based on consumer accounts was developed in an earlier study by the authors. This next stage of the research program describes the development and initial testing of a stage measure which, when validated, can be used in testing that model. Method: Existing measures of recovery were reviewed to assess their concordance with the model, and a new measure, the Stages of Recovery …

Prevalence Of Low Serum Folate And Vitamin B12 In An Older Australian Population, Victoria M. Flood, Wayne T. Smith, Karen L. Webb, Elena Rochtchina, Valerie Anderson, Paul Mitchell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To examine the prevalence of low serum folate and vitamin B12, in association with elevated serum homocysteine, in a representative sample of older Australians. Methods: During 1997-2000, 3,508 persons aged 50+ years were examined in a population-based cohort study conducted in two postcodes, west of Sydney, Australia. Of these, 2,901 participants (82.7%) provided fasting blood for estimates of serum folate, vitamin B12 and total homocysteine. Results: Low serum B12 (<185 pmol>/L) was found in 22.9% of participants and low serum folate (<6.8 nmol/L) in 2.3% of participants. Among those people with very low serum vitamin B12 (<125 pmol/L) and low serum folate, 51% had elevated homocysteine. Conclusions: Low serum levels of vitamin B12 and elevated serum homocysteine are relatively frequent in older Australians. Implications: Appropriate public health action should be considered to reduce the prevalence of low serum vitamin B12 and elevated homocysteine in older Australians.

Vitamin B12 In Older Australians, Victoria M. Flood

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The prevalence of low blood levels of the vitamins folate and B12 increase as people age and can lead to several potential poor health outcomes. Low folate can cause gastrointestinal tract disturbances and megaloblastic anaemia (reduced number of abnormally large red blood cells). Low vitamin B12 can also cause anaemia as well as neuropathy (nerve damage) with problems such as difficulties with walking, tingling of the hands and feet, and cognitive decline such as memory loss. We recently published data about a population-based group of 2901 older people in the Blue Mountains, aged 50 years and over, collected as part …

Methodological Difficulties In A Systematic Review Of Social Marketing For Sun Protection: Implications For Research And Practice, Sandra C. Jones, Keryn Johnson

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on a systematic review of all published skin cancer primary prevention interventions aimed at improving the sun protection of children and adolescents, from 1980 to 2005. This was undertaken to inform the development of future social marketing campaigns for the prevention of skin cancer. Rather than reporting the findings of the review, in terms of conclusions drawn about the effectiveness of interventions, this paper focuses on the systematic review process itself - identifying and discussing the methodological difficulties that arose in conducting this review. These difficulties, from lack of information on the development and theoretical background of …

Cannabis-Induced Psychosis-Like Experiences Are Associated With High Schizotypy, Emma Barkus, John Stirling, Richard Hopkins, Shon Lewis

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have suggested that cannabis use is a risk factor for developing schizophrenia. We tested the hypothesis that cannabis use increases the likelihood of psychosis-like experiences in non-clinical participants who scored highly on a measure of schizotypy. METHOD: The psychological effects of cannabis were assessed in 137 healthy individuals (76% female, mean age 22 years) using a newly developed questionnaire concerned with subjective experiences of the drug: the Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire. The questionnaire has three subscales: Pleasurable Experiences, Psychosis-Like Experiences and After-Effects. Respondents also completed the brief Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. RESULTS: Cannabis use was reported by 72% of …

Benefits Of Ict Adoption And Use In Regional General Medical Practices: A Pilot Study, Robert Macgregor, Peter Hyland, Charles Harvie, Boon-Chye Lee, Andrew Dalley, Sangeetha Ramu

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents a pilot study of benefits derived from information and communications technology (ICT) adoption and use in medical practices in regional Australia. The study involved 122 regional medical practitioners. The results show that like the more general small businesssector, the perception of certain benefits is associated with the size of the practice (in terms of employee levels) and/ or the gender of the respondent practitioner.

Computer-Based Nursing Documentation In Nursing Homes: A Feasibility Study, Ping Yu, Yiyu Qiu, Patrick A. Crookes

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

The burden of paper-based nursing documentation has led to increasing complaints and decreasing job satisfaction amongst aged-care workers in Australian nursing homes. The automation of nursing documentation has been identified as one of the possible strategies to address this issue. A major obstacle to the introduction of IT solutions, however, has been a prevailing doubt concerning the ability and/or the willingness of aged-care workers to accept such innovation . This research investigates the attitudes of aged-care workers towards adopting IT innovation. Questionnaire survey were conducted in 13 nursing homes around the Illawarra and Sydney regions in Australia. The survey found …