Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Empirical Study Of The Antecedents And Consequence Of Calculative Commitment In B2b Services, Venkata K. Yanamandram, Lesley White

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This research proposes and empirically analyses a model that considers switching costs and attractiveness of alternative service providers as antecedents to calculative commitment, and repurchase intentions as one of its consequences. Given that calculatively committed customers are important in fading relationships, we test these constructs amongst dissatisfied business services customers because research on the continuation of troubled business relationships is scarce. Data was collected online from 416 businesses using a key informant approach. Results support the contention that the antecedents of calculative commitment are attractiveness of alternative service providers and switching costs, specifically, benefit-loss costs, customer-service provider relationships costs and …

A Pilot Study On The Impact Of Occupational Therapy Home Programming For Young Children With Cerebral Palsy, Iona Novak, Anne Cusick, Kevin Lowe

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Occupational therapy home programs are a common approach used to provide interventions for children with cerebral palsy, but there is little evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of such programs. This singlegroup pretest–posttest design pilot study evaluated the impact of an occupational therapy home program implemented with 20 children who had spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy (ages 2–7 years, mean 3.8). We measured impact using Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), and the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST). We measured participation amount through a parent self-report log. Significant changes following intervention occured in scores on …

A Pilot Study Investigating Of The Nature Of Point-Of-Sale Alcohol Promotions In Bottle Shops In A Large Australian Regional City, Sandra C. Jones, Melissa Lynch

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: The promotion of alcohol by retailers and media can contribute to a culture of excessive alcohol consumption, but the effect of non-advertising alcohol promotions has largely been neglected. This study sought to gather initial data on this important area.Method: An observational study of alcohol point-of-sale promotions in the Wollongong CBD area, conducted in July-August 2005.Results: We identified 17 different promotions in three categories: gift with purchase; competitions; and buy some, get some free.Conclusions: Given previous research demonstrating the relationship between increased alcohol consumption and both ownership of alcohol-related merchandise and reduced per unit price, it appears that point-of-sale promotions …

Qualitative Study Into Quality Of Life Issues Surrounding Insulin Pump Use In Type 1 Diabetes, Katharine D. Barnard, Timothy Chas Skinner

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Currently, there is a need for qualitative research about how insulin pump therapy changes quality of life, which is significant to people with type 1 diabetes. This study aimed to elicit the experiences of current insulin pump users in order to discover the therapy's benefits, downsides and effect on their quality of life. A qualitative approach was taken in order to reveal subjective experiences. This research will inform future research and assist with policy and guideline development by health care providers about pump therapy.

Participants were briefly interviewed by telephone about their experiences of living with an insulin pump. Four …

Counterfactual Thinking In Response To Hypothetical Breast Cancer Scenarios: A Pilot Study, Amy Y. Chan, Sandra C. Jones, Karen T. Rich

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper examined womens counterfactualthoughts in response to hypothetical scenarios aboutearly versus late breast cancer diagnoses.Womenaged 50 and over (N=29) read hypotheticalscenarios about the experience of fictitious womenof mammography screening age and completedcounterfactual statements from the protagonistsperspective.In two scenarios, the protagonist failedto attend mammography screening regularly andwas diagnosed with advanced breast cancer; thethird scenario depicted a woman who hadmammograms biennially and received an early-stagebreast cancer diagnosis.Consistent with pastliterature on counterfactual thinking, participantsgenerated exclusively upward counterfactuals fromthe two late-diagnosis scenarios, and predominantlydownward counterfactuals from the early-diagnosisscenario.Furthermore, participants primarilyfocussed on what the protagonist could personallyhave done differently to lead to a differentoutcome.Hence …

Appraisal Of A One-Dimensional Model, Field Data And Dimensionless Parameters In A Study Of Estuarine Circulation, Errol J. Mclean, J. B. Hinwood

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Parallel research programs encompassing the hydrodynamics and geochemistry have been undertaken in Oatley Bay, a small urban estuary that is a lower tributary to the Georges River in Southern Sydney Using field data and a simple numerical model, the regimes of flow effecting circulation in Oatley Bay have been determined. The efficiency of flushing and the subsequent fate of conservative pollutants are discussed. The field data comprised bathymetry, tides, drogue tracking and dye tests, the latter enabling the calibration of the model under different environmental conditions. With this model we have performed numerous runs and have characterised temporal and spatial …

An Alternative Approach To Coal Mine Site Water Management: A Case Study On West Cliff Colliery, Antony Volcich, Stephen A. Short, Adrian C. Hutton, Robert John Morrison

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The provision of water supply, its usage and discharge, are major concerns for all mines, often accounting for a significant portion of the daily running costs. To reduce these costs, mines will collect as much site runoff as possible, and recycle the water whenever economically feasible. The constant recycling of on-site waters can mean that, over time, the levels of salinity, acidity or alkalinity, or other contaminants may build up within the internal water management system to a point which may lead to problems with licensed discharge requirements. This project investigated the water quality at West Cliff Colliery, in order …

Inter-Agency And University Research Collaboration: A Study Of The Another Road To Safety Program, Amy Conley Wright

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Presentation at the California Social Work Education Center Leadership Symposia on Evidence-Based Practice in Human Services on 28 June 2007.

Impact Of Using Different Models In Practice - A Case Study With The Simplified Methods Of Iso 13790 Standard And Detailed Modelling Programs, Georgios Kokogiannakis, Jo Clarke, Paul Strachan

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The updated ISO 13790 Standard is part of the new set of CEN Standards that supports the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) requirement for a general framework for calculation of the energy consumption of buildings. The Standard sets out procedures for space heating and cooling energy calculations, allowing the use of three different methods: a simplified monthly quasi-steady state method, a simple-hourly method and detailed simulation. This paper examines the implications of allowing different methods to be used for assessing the energy usage. The research method used was to undertake a comparison of the various methods applied to …

A Study Of Hippocampal Shape Difference Between Genders By Efficient Hypothesis Test And Discriminative Deformation, Luping Zhou, Richard Hartley, Paulette Lieby, Nick Barnes, Kaarin Anstey, Nicolas Cherbuin, Perminder Sachdev

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Hypothesis testing is an important way to detect the statistical difference between two populations. In this paper, we use the Fisher permutation and bootstrap tests to differentiate hippocampal shape between genders. These methods are preferred to traditional hypothesis tests which impose assumptions on the distribution of the samples. An efficient algorithm is adopted to rapidly perform the exact tests. We extend this algorithm to multivariate data by projecting the original data onto an "informative direction" to generate a scalar test statistic. This "informative direction" is found to preserve the original discriminative information. This direction is further used in this paper …

A Study Into The Use Of Computer Aided Assessment To Enhance Formative Assessment During The Early Stages Of Undergraduate Chemistry Courses, Simon B. Bedford, Gareth J. Price

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

A Virtual Learning Environment (WebCT and latter Moodle) was used to provide students with instant, meaningful feedback on their study of chemistry units during their first semester at University. Short multiple choice questions (MCQ's) were written covering each segment of material delivered in lectures and made available to students over the University computer intranet to allow "24/7" access. The most important aspect of the work was the feedback offered to students within the questions, which was written by undergraduate students to ensure its usefulness. The vast majority of the cohort used the MCQ's, most to gain formative feedback and some …