Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Uk Labour Party Wants To Abolish Private Schools - Could We Do That In Australia?, Paul Andrew Kidson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The UK's Labour Party recently voted in a policy to effectively abolish private schools and integrate them into the state system. This is a courageous move designed to redress social inequity - many of those working in the top levels of the UK government were educated in private schools. Two of Britain's three most recent prime ministers went to the prestigious Eton College, which charges annual fees of more than £40,000. The UK opposition party's plan will likely warm the hearts of similarly minded Australians. Many of the same arguments about educational inequality have been floated in Australia. Many individuals …

What Do Your Earliest Childhood Memories Say About You?, Penny Van Bergen, Amy L. Bird, Rebecca Andrews

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

How Do People Belong In The Pacific? Introduction To This Issue, Camellia B. Webb-Gannon, Jioji Ravulo

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In early 2016, the two editors of this issue met together to discuss our common research interests. At that time, one of us (Jioji Ravulo) was a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Western Sydney University (WSU), and the other of us (Camellia Webb-Gannon) was a Research Fellow in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at the same institution. Camellia, whose research focuses on decolonisation in Melanesia, had recently returned from the 2016 Australian Association for Pacific Studies (AAPS) conference in Cairns at which she had hoped she would meet other researchers of the …

With Apartment Living On The Rise, How Do Families And Their Noisy Children Fit In?, Sophie-May Kerr

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A growing number of Australians live in apartments. The compact city model presents many benefits. However, living close to each other also presents challenges. Rapid growth in apartment developments in recent decades has led to a rise in noise-related complaints and disputes across urban Australia. Households with children are on the front line of such tensions. They are one of the fastest-growing demographics living in apartments. Analysis of the latest census data show, for instance, that families with children under the age of 15 comprise 25% of Sydney's apartment population. Apartment design and cultural acceptance of families in the vertical …

What Are 'Decodable Readers' And Do They Work?, Misty Adoniou, Brian L. Cambourne, Robyn Ewing

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Victorian Coalition has promised $2.8 million for "decodable readers" for schools if they win the upcoming election. Money for books must surely be a good thing. But what exactly is a "decodable reader"? After all, surely all books are decodable. If they weren't decodable they would be unreadable.

Rediscovering Why I Do What I Do: The Benefits Of Explaining Ergonomics To Researchers From Different Disciplines - A Personal Reflection On A Phd Journey, Alison F. Bell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the HFESA 52nd Annual Conference, 26-29 November 2017, Wollongong, Australia

Defining Problematic Pharmaceutical Opioid Use Among People Prescribed Opioids For Chronic Noncancer Pain: Do Different Measures Identify The Same Patients?, Gabrielle Campbell, Raimondo Bruno, Nicholas Lintzeris, Milton Cohen, Suzanne Nielsen, Wayne Hall, Briony K. Larance, Richard P. Mattick, Fiona Blyth, Michael P. Farrell, Louisa Degenhardt

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) are routinely used in diagnosing illicit substance use disorders, but for people taking prescribed opioids they remain controversial. In pain medicine, the concept of "Addiction" is preferred with reduced emphasis on tolerance and withdrawal. This article examines the prevalence and characteristics of pharmaceutical opioid dependence/disorder according to ICD, DSM, and the pain medicine concept of "Addiction," among chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) patients prescribed opioids. In the current study, we used data from a national sample of 1134 people prescribed opioids for CNCP. Past 12-month "Addiction" (based on …

In The Mind Of An Elite Athlete: What Do Sportspeople Think When They Excel?, Christian F. Swann

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Most of us are fascinated by the achievements and successes of elite athletes, who train for years to have the opportunity to reach their goals on the world stage.

These sportspeople show us what's possible for the human body - how fast we can move, how far and high we can jump, how strong or graceful we can be. But what goes on in the mind of an elite athlete performing at their peak?

Athletes' psychological states - the temporary, brief, subjective experiences that happen during exceptional performance - are often collectively described as "the zone". A recent example was …

Do Visual Art Experiences In Early Childhood Settings Foster Educative Growth Or Stagnation?, Gai M. Lindsay

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article offers findings from research that examined the visual art beliefs and pedagogy of early childhood educators and supports reflection about the educational merit of different types of visual art experience offered to children. The range of visual art experiences typically delivered in early childhood education settings varies significantly in method and purpose, yet there is little guidance to support early childhood educators to evaluate the visual art experiences they include in the curriculum or to consider their role as art educators. At the same time, the research literature suggests that pre- school educators lack confidence to make and …

Do Wi-Fi And Mobile Phones Really Cause Cancer? Experts Respond, Simon Chapman, Darren Saunders, Rodney J. Croft, Sarah P. Loughran

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

On 16th February, Catalyst aired an episode on the ABC titled "Wi-Fried", hosted by Dr Maryanne Demasi, claiming that radiation from mobile phones and Wi-Fi may constitute a brain cancer risk. We invited experts who have conducted research into this area to respond to the claims made in the programme.

Why Do Smokers Try To Quit Without Medication Or Counselling? A Qualitative Study With Ex-Smokers, Andrea L. Smith, Stacy M. Carter, Simon Chapman, Sally M. Dunlop, Becky Freeman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective When tobacco smokers quit, between half and two-thirds quit unassisted: that is, they do not consult their general practitioner (GP), use pharmacotherapy (nicotine-replacement therapy, bupropion or varenicline), or phone a quitline. We sought to understand why smokers quit unassisted. Design Qualitative grounded theory study (in-depth interviews, theoretical sampling, concurrent data collection and data analysis). Participants 21 Australian adult ex-smokers (aged 28-68 years; 9 males and 12 females) who quit unassisted within the past 6 months to 2 years. 12 participants had previous experience of using assistance to quit; 9 had never previously used assistance. Setting Community, Australia. Results Along …

Why Experts Can Do What They Do: The Effects Of Exogenous Resources On The Domain Impact Level Of Activities (Dila), Tobias Debatin, Manuel Hopp, Wilma Vialle, Albert Ziegler

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In many domains, it is estimated that approximately 10,000 hours of planned learning activities are required to reach an expert level of performance. However, this poses a challenge for learners to balance such extensive learning times with the demands of everyday life. In our study we focused on activities in the domain of chess. We hypothesized that chess-related activities could be better integrated in an individual's life if exogenous resources - specified in the educational capital approach (Ziegler & Baker, 2013) - are sufficiently available. In order to test this hypothesis we introduced the concept of the Domain Impact Level …

Why Do People Access News With Mobile Devices? Exploring The Role Of Suitability Perception And Motives On Mobile News Use, Hongjin Shim, Kyung Han You, Jeong Kyu Lee, Eun Go

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Using self-reported survey data (N = 281), the present study explores the structural relationships among mobile users' perceptions of the suitability of two types of mobile news (political feature news and entertainment news), users' motivations for mobile news usage, and their behavioral patterns. Our findings show that two types of perceived suitability for mobile news, particularly for political feature news, are strongly associated with all dimensions of motivations for mobile news usage. Furthermore, as predicted, our findings show that the information-seeking motive is the very factor that determines mobile news usage. The results also reveal that the accessibility motive mediates …

Do Neighbourhood Socioeconomic Circumstances Not Matter For Weight Status Among Australian Men? Multilevel Evidence From A Household Survey Of 14 691 Adults, Xiaoqi Feng, Andrew Wilson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: A recent analysis of the Australian National Health Survey (2011-2012) reported that the patterning of overweight and obesity among men, unlike for women, was not associated with neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage. The purpose of this study was to examine whether this gender difference in potential neighbourhood 'effects' on adult weight status can be observed in analyses of a different source of data. Design, setting and participants: A cross-sectional sample of 14 693 people aged 18 years or older was selected from the 2012 wave of the 'Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia' (HILDA). Three person-level outcomes were considered: (1) …

Reforming The Legal Definition Of Rape In Victoria - What Do Stakeholders Think?, Wendy Larcombe, Bianca Fileborn, Anastasia Powell, Nicola Henry, Natalia K. Hanley

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Internationally and in Australia, rape law reforms in recent decades have had mixed outcomes. As a result, when the Victorian government began consulting on another round of major reforms in this area, the authors designed a qualitative research project to investigate whether a proposed change to the definition of rape is likely to clarify and simplify the law, as intended. This article draws on a series of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders who have extensive practice- or research-based expertise in criminal justice processing of rape cases. We analyse their perceptions and interpretations of a proposed definition of rape, which would require …

What Might Geohumanities Do? Possibilities, Practices, Publics, And Politics, Harriet Hawkins, Lou Cabeen, Felicity Callard, Noel Castree, Stephen Daniels, Dydia Delyser, Hugh Munro Neely, Peta Mitchell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article draws together seven practitioners and scholars from across the diffuse GeoHumanities community to reflect on the pasts and futures of the GeoHumanities. Far from trying to circle the intellectual wagons around orthodoxies of practice or intent, or to determine possibilities in advance, these contributions and the accompanying commentary seek to create connections across the diverse communities of knowledge and practice that constitute the GeoHumanities. Ahead of these six contributions a commentary situates these discussions within wider concerns with interdisciplinarity and identifies three common themes-possibilities practices, and publics-worthy of further discussion and reflection. The introduction concludes by identifying a …

Do We Need Specific Disaster Management Education For Social Work?, Lesley L. Cooper, Lynne Briggs

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Social workers play important roles in disaster rescue, recovery and preparation for future disasters. However, their professional education has few elements that prepare them for specific disaster management roles and activities. This paper provides a review of the activities of social workers in disasters in the Asia Pacific, identifies specific training needs, and notes gaps in education and training. Based on this, curriculum initiatives are proposed that go beyond formal education based on concepts and principles of disaster management to include simulations and practice scenarios reflecting the complexities associated with disaster management in the health, community and human services areas.

Practice Preferences Of Pre-Graduation Allied Health Professionals: Do Graduates Want To Work Where The Workforce Is Needed?, Anne Cusick, Elisha Crichton, Rosalind Bye

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Poster presented at Health Services Research: Evidence-based practice, 1-3 July 2014, London, United Kingdom

Do Low-Income Neighbourhoods Have The Least Green Space? A Cross-Sectional Study Of Australia's Most Populous Cities, Thomas Astell-Burt, Xiaoqi Feng, Suzanne Mavoa, Hannah M. Badland, Billie Giles-Corti

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background

An inequitable distribution of parks and other ‘green spaces’ could exacerbate health inequalities if people on lower incomes, who are already at greater risk of preventable diseases, have poorer access.

Methods

The availability of green space within 1 kilometre of a Statistical Area 1 (SA1) was linked to data from the 2011 Australian census for Sydney (n = 4.6 M residents); Melbourne (n = 4.2 M); Brisbane (n = 2.2 M); Perth (n = 1.8 M); and Adelaide (n = 1.3 M). Socioeconomic circumstances were measured via the percentage population of each SA1 living on < $21,000 per annum. Negative binomial and logit regression models were used to investigate association between the availability of green space in relation to neighbourhood socioeconomic circumstances, adjusting for city and population density.

Results

Green space availability …

How Do Dentists And Their Teams Incorporate Evidence About Preventive Care? An Empirical Study, Alexandra Sbaraini, Stacy M. Carter, R Wendell Evans, Anthony Blinkhorn

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives To identify how dentists and their teams adopt evidence‐based preventive care. Methods A qualitative study using grounded theory methodology was conducted. We interviewed 23 participants working in eight dental practices about their experience and work processes, while adopting evidence‐based preventive care. During the study, Charmaz's grounded theory methodology was employed to examine the social process of adopting preventive dental care in dental practices. Charmaz's iteration of the constant comparative method was used during the data analysis. This involved coding of interview transcripts, detailed memo‐writing and drawing diagrams. The transcripts were analyzed as soon as possible after each round of …

Parental Employment And Child Behaviors: Do Parenting Practices Underlie These Relationships?, Renata Hadzic, Christopher A. Magee, Laura Robinson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study examined whether hours of parental employment were associated with child behaviors via parenting practices. The sample included 2,271 Australian children aged 4-5 years at baseline. Two-wave panel mediation models tested whether parenting practices that were warm, hostile, or characterized by inductive reasoning linked parent's hours of paid employment with their child's behavior at age 6-7 years. There were significant indirect effects linking mother employment to child behavior. No paid employment and full-time work hours were associated with more behavioral problems in children through less-warm parenting practices; few hours or long hours were associated with improved behavioral outcomes through …

Where Do Older Australians Receive Their Health Information? Health Information Sources And Their Perceived Reliability, Pippa Burns, Sandra C. Jones, Donald C. Iverson, Peter Caputi

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Chronic disease prevalence is increasing, in part due to the ageing population, adding further pressure to Australia's over-stretched primary health care services. While patients are encouraged to self-manage their chronic disease(s) in order to minimise the impact on their day-to-day functioning, little is known about where older adults receive health information and their perceptions of the reliability of these sources. Such knowledge would facilitate the development of self-management support strategies using health information sources that are acceptable to older adults. Methods: A cross-sectional design was utilised to investigate where older adults receive their health information and their perceptions of …

Do Social Interactions Explain Ethnic Differences In Psychological Distress And The Protective Effect Of Local Ethnic Density? A Cross-Sectional Study Of 226 487 Adults In Australia, Xiaoqi Feng, Thomas Astell-Burt, Gregory Kolt

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background A frequently proposed, but under-researched hypothesis is that ethnic density benefits mental health through increasing social interactions. We examined this hypothesis in 226 487 adults from 19 ethnic groups aged 45 years and older in Australia. Methods Multilevel logit regression was used to measure the association between ethnicity, social interactions, own-group ethnic density and scores of 22+ on the Kessler scale of psychological distress. Self-reported ancestry was used as a proxy for ethnicity. Measures of social interactions included a number of times in the past week were (i) spent with friends or family participants did not live with; (ii) …

How Do Dentists Understand Evidence And Adopt It In Practice?, Alexandra Sbaraini, Stacy M. Carter, R Wendell Evans

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Although there is now a large evidence-based dentistry literature, previous investigators have shown that dentists often consider research evidence irrelevant to their practice. To understand why this is the case, we conducted a qualitative study. Objective: Our aim was to identify how dentists define evidence and how they adopt it in practice. Methods: A qualitative study using grounded theory methodology was conducted. Ten dentists working in eight dental practices were interviewed about their experience and work processes while adopting evidence-based preventive care. Analysis involved transcript coding, detailed memo writing, and data interpretation. Results: Findings revealed that dentists' direct observations - …

Experiences Of Dental Care: What Do Patients Value?, Alexandra Sbaraini, Stacy M. Carter, R Wendell Evans, Anthony Blinkhorn

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background Dentistry in Australia combines business and health care service, that is, the majority of patients pay money for tangible dental procedures such as fluoride applications, dental radiographs, dental fillings, crowns, and dentures among others. There is evidence that patients question dentists' behaviours and attitudes during a dental visit when those highly technical procedures are performed. However, little is known about how patients' experience dental care as a whole. This paper illustrates the findings from a qualitative study recently undertaken in general dental practice in Australia. It focuses on patients' experiences of dental care, particularly on the relationship between patients …

What Do Australian Consumers Think About Current Advertising Standards?, Sandra Carol Jones, Katherine Eagleton

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The concept of community standards is the cornerstone of advertising self-regulation in Australia. However, there is a dearth of research on current attitudes towards advertising and a virtual absence of such data in an Australian context. A questionnaire was developed to assess consumer attitudes towards advertising; respondents were 872 adults residing in New South Wales. We found high levels of concern regarding advertising standards in general and a consistent perception that advertising should not, for example, use coarse language or violent images, portray women or men as sex objects or show nudity, stereotype or make fun of groups of people, …

What I Say Isn't Always What I Do: Investigating Differences In Children's Reported And Actual Snack Food Preferences, Sandra C. Jones, Lisa Kervin, Samantha Reis, Parri Gregory

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The current study sought to explore discrepancies between children's stated snack food motivations and actual food choices, using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of implicit attitudes towards 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods. Participants were children aged 6-12 years (n=118), from two primary schools on the South Coast of NSW, Australia - a public school in a semi-rural suburb south of a sea-side city and a public school in a largely residential northern suburb of the same city. The children completed a questionnaire about motivations for snack choices, participated in an activity, completed two further questionnaires, selected snack foods …

How To Do A Grounded Theory Study: A Worked Example Of A Study Of Dental Practices, Alexandra Sbaraini, Stacy M. Carter, R Wendell Evans, Anthony Blinkhorn

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Qualitative methodologies are increasingly popular in medical research. Grounded theory is the methodology most-often cited by authors of qualitative studies in medicine, but it has been suggested that many 'grounded theory' studies are not concordant with the methodology. In this paper we provide a worked example of a grounded theory project. Our aim is to provide a model for practice, to connect medical researchers with a useful methodology, and to increase the quality of 'grounded theory' research published in the medical literature.

Understanding The Behaviour Of The Target Market: What Do Adolescents Think About When Asked Questions About Their Behaviour In The Sun?, Melinda Williams, Sandra C. Jones, Peter Caputi, Donald C. Iverson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

We undertook a project to develop a psychometrically sound instrument measuring adolescent sun-related behavior for use in the evaluation of a social marketing program. During the preliminary stages, we conducted a pilot study to test the face validity of the instrument with adolescents. Think-aloud sessions were completed with 24 adolescents. Results identified gaps in our understanding of adolescent sun-related behavior. Adolescents interpreted 'tanning' as specifically lying at the beach in the sun, however also reported behaviours to 'get a bit of sun', suggesting adolescents and researchers have different interpretations of key terms. The study highlights that use of the think-aloud …

Do Health Beliefs And Behaviors Differ According To Severity Of Obesity? A Qualitative Study Of Australian Adults, Sophie Lewis, Samantha L. Thomas, R. Warwick Blood, Jim Hyde, David J. Castle, Paul A. Komesaroff

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Public responses to obesity have focused on providing standardized messages and supports to all obese individuals, but there is limited understanding of the impact of these messages on obese adults. This descriptive qualitative study using in-depth interviews and a thematic method of analysis, compares the health beliefs and behaviors of 141 Australian adults with mild to moderate (BMI 30−39.9) and severe (BMI ≥ 40) obesity. Mildly obese individuals felt little need to change their health behaviors or to lose weight for health reasons. Most believed they could “lose weight” if they needed to, distanced themselves from the word obesity, and …