Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Rqf Publication Quality Measures: Methodological Issues, John Lamp, Simon Milton, Linda Dawson, Julie Fisher

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

The Research Quality Framework uses Thomson-ISI citation benchmarks as its main set of objective measures of research quality. The Thomson-ISI measures rely on identifying a core set of journals in which the major publications for a discipline are to be found. The core for a discipline is determined by applying a nontransparent process that is partly based on Bradford's Law (1934). Yet Bradford was not seeking measures about quality of publications or journals. How valid then is it to base measures of publication quality on Bradford's Law? We explore this by returning to Bradford's Law and subsequent related research asking …

Beyond The Game: Issues With Social Media And Sporting Events, Matthew Halliwell, Mark Freeman

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Society today is being transformed through the use of Social Media. While the resulting changes are typically marketed as having positive benefits on society, there is a negative side to Social Networking platform usage. This paper considers the case of Social Networking use for a perceived sports betting incident at the Super Bowl XLVIII with boxer Floyd Mayweather, to demonstrate the modified experience some users faced during the sporting event as a result of Social Media. Analysis of the broadcast of negative sentiments associated with inappropriate use and misinformation demonstrates how Social Networking allows opinions and ideas to be spread …

Nutrition And Pregnancy - Key Issues For Midwives, Heather Yeatman, Moira Williamson, E Nohr

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract of symposium presented at the ICM 30th Triennial Congress - Midwives: Improving Women's Health Globally, 1-5 June 2014, Prague, Czech Republic

Control Issues Of Distribution System Automation In Smart Grids, Kashem M. Muttaqi, Ali Esmaeel Nezhad, Jamshid Aghaei, Velappa Ganapathy

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In recent years, the world has been exposed to many developments in different areas esp. computer technology, resulting in computers with high power of processing to be built. Among these devices, intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) have the capability to process considerable volume of data at high speed. Since, real-time data processing is vital in distribution networks as the largest users during their operation, IEDs would be applicable in such systems. In addition to IEDS, communication systems have improved during recent decades, providing the desired conditions for a concept known as distribution system automation (DSA) which has been discussed in this …

Townies, Ex-Urbanites And Aesthetics: Issues Of Identity On Sydney's Rural-Urban Fringe, Ian Willis

Ian Willis

The rural-urban fringe is a dynamic frontier, an ever expanding zone of transition on the edges of Australia’s major cities and regional centres. This paper examines the proposition that Sydney’s urban growth has pushed the city’s rural-urban fringe into the countryside and unleashed the contested nature of place-making in and around the country town of Camden. It will be maintained that the dynamic forces that characterise the rural-urban frontier have resulted a collision between the desires and aspirations of ‘locals’ and ‘outsiders’ and prompted a crisis in the identity of place. Community icons and rituals have become metaphors for the …

Townies, Ex-Urbanites And Aesthetics; Issues Of Identity On Sydney's Rural-Urban Fringe, Ian Willis

Ian Willis

The rural-urban fringe is a dynamic frontier, an ever expanding zone of transition on the edges of Australia’s major cities and regional centres. This paper examines the proposition that Sydney’s urban growth has pushed the city’s rural-urban fringe into the countryside and unleashed the contested nature of place-making in and around the country town of Camden. It will be maintained that the dynamic forces that characterise the rural-urban frontier have resulted a collision between the desires and aspirations of ‘locals’ and ‘outsiders’ and prompted a crisis in the identity of place. Community icons and rituals have become metaphors for the …

Environmental Issues And Household Sustainability In Australia, Lesley M. Head, Carol Farbotko, Christopher R. Gibson, Nicholas J. Gill, Gordon R. Waitt

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The complex and variable structure of households makes it difficult to design policies to help them behave in a greener way. Cultural research methods, particularly ethnography, provide survey research with the necessary extra depth. These perspectives illustrate pathways towards sustainable results and the problems of achieving more sustainable outcomes.

Key Issues Effecting Field Researcher Safety: A Reflexive Commentary, Michael Roguski, Juan M. Tauri

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article raises concerns about the, arguably, obscure position the issue of field researcher safety holds in our training curricula, supervision processes and across our research communities. A variety of discursive tensions are discussed as preventing a full realisation of researcher safety as a significant issue for social research practitioners. These tensions include the impact of privileging violence over the wide range of risks inherent in researching the social context, the ideological construction of the intrepid researcher as someone who bravely enters the field, often without an understanding of the environment or cognisant of potential risks; thus relying on a …

Electronic Documentation In Residential Aged Care Facilities - A Review Of The Literature On Organisational Issues And Early Findings On Initial Conditions From A Case Study, Kieren Diment, Ping Yu, Karin H. Garrety

Dr Ping Yu

This paper discusses the theoretical rationale for an empirical study of organisational change arising from introduction of electronic nursing documentation in residential aged care facilities. The study draws on a processual view of organisational change, which is related to the theory of complex adaptive systems. First we review existing literature on electronic nursing documentation with an organisational focus to provide a context to help outline the research aims of the present study. Then we describe a method to explore the hierarchical nature of the work environment based on the sociological theory of Institutional Ethnography. Finally we use this approach to …

Volume 2, Issue 1, Jaret Kanarek, Jake Bates, Michael Christison, Nick Nichols, Karen Silverman

The Intellectual Standard

No abstract provided.

Emotional Psychological And Related Problems Among Truant Youths: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis, Richard Dembo, Rhissa Briones-Robinson, Rocío Aracelis Ungaro, Laura M. Gulledge, Lora M. Karas, Ken C. Winters, Steven Belenko, Paul Greenbaum

Faculty Publications

Latent class analysis was conducted on the psychosocial problems experienced by truant youths. Data were obtained from baseline interviews completed on 131 youths and their parents/guardians involved in a NIDA-funded, Brief Intervention Project. Results identified two classes of youths: Class 1(n=9) - youths with low levels of delinquency, mental health and substance abuse issues; and Class 2(n=37) - youths with high levels of these problems. Comparison of these two classes on their urine analysis test results and parent/guardian reports of traumatic events found significant (p<.05) differences between them that were consistent with their problem group classification. Our results have important implications for research and practice.

Electronic Documentation In Residential Aged Care Facilities - A Review Of The Literature On Organisational Issues And Early Findings On Initial Conditions From A Case Study, Kieren Diment, Ping Yu, Karin H. Garrety

Karin Garrety

This paper discusses the theoretical rationale for an empirical study of organisational change arising from introduction of electronic nursing documentation in residential aged care facilities. The study draws on a processual view of organisational change, which is related to the theory of complex adaptive systems. First we review existing literature on electronic nursing documentation with an organisational focus to provide a context to help outline the research aims of the present study. Then we describe a method to explore the hierarchical nature of the work environment based on the sociological theory of Institutional Ethnography. Finally we use this approach to …

Issues Related To Designing And Conducting School Health Education Research, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

Investigators interested in conducting school health research face many important challenges. First, an appropriate research course for school health must be charted so the most important research issues are addressed in a systematic way. Second, there is a continuing need to develop scientifically sound research methods that can be used in the school setting. Third, there is the immediate need to identify ways of overcoming the usual problems encountered in the conduct of school health research. This paper focuses on the third challenge, via an analysis of the research design and measurement issues that most frequently confront school health researchers. …

Financing Growth: New Issues By Australian Firms, 1920-1939, David Merrett, Simon Ville

Simon Ville

An expanding economy, new technologies, and changing consumer preferences provided growth opportunities for firms in interwar Australia. This period saw an increase in the number of large-scale firms in mining, manufacturing, and a wide range of service industries. Firms unable to rely solely on retained earnings to fund expansion turned to the domestic stock exchanges. A new data set of capital raisings constructed from reports of prospectuses published in the financial press forms the basis for the conclusion that many firms used substantial injections of equity finance to augment internally generated sources of funds. That they were able to do …

Volume 1, Issue 2, Jaret Kanarek, Jake Bates, Michael Christison, Nick Nichols

The Intellectual Standard

No abstract provided.

Newspaper Coverage Of Water Issues In Australia, Anna Hurlimann, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The media has been found to have an impact on public debate, public opinion, and public policy agendas. Public debate, and public opinion about water conservation and water supply management projects matter because they can influence specific outcomes. For example, public opinion can potentially lead to positive behaviour, like increased water conservation, or potentially negative behaviours such as public opposition to developments such as dams or water recycling plants, which may be necessary under changing climatic conditions. It is therefore critical to understand how the media reports on water-related topics. Results from a content analysis of 1253 newspaper articles published …

Reducing Unwarranted Variation In Healthcare Service Delivery Systems: Key Issues, Research Challenges And Potential Solutions, Nagesh Shukla, Senevi Kiridena, Nishikant Mishra

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

There is a growing need worldwide to increase the quality and productivity of healthcare services delivery. To this end, analysing and reducing unwarranted variations in healthcare has attracted much attention in recent times. However, current modelling and simulation approaches to reduce unwarranted variations suffer from numerous limitations. Consequently, service improvement efforts have often failed to deliver expected results. This paper discusses the key issues associated with reducing unwarranted variations in hospital service delivery systems, and proposes a research framework that aims at overcoming these issues. In doing so, it highlights the need for: accurately and efficiently modelling complex service delivery …

Issues In Electronic Scholarly Editions: Has Hypertext Made An Honest Woman Of Us At Last?, Graham Barwell, Phillip Berrie, Paul Eggert, Chris Tiffin

Graham Barwell

There have been at least three significant attempts in the last fifty years to comprehend what exactly is this text thing that we scholarly editors and textual critics work with. The initial wave was the Greg-Bowers New Bibliography which tried conscientiously to use all surviving witnesses as forensic evidence to reconstruct the author's intention. The text according to this view was ultimately a product of volition, and the task of the textual critic was a recuperative psycho-historico-linguistic one. The second attempt was marked by Continental inclusiveness and semiotic despair at identifying a single stable authoritative version. This despair produced the …

Workforce Issues, Skill Mix, Maternity Services And The Enrolled Nurse : A Discussion, Moira Williamson, Avon Strahle

Moira Williamson

New South Wales (NSW) is experiencing a shortage of registered midwives. Currently midwives are being actively recruited for 125 metropolitan and 45 rural positions in area health services across the state. This shortage of registered midwives is occurring not only in NSW but also throughout Australia, and has also been reported internationally (McKenna & Hasson, 2002; Keeney et al. 2005). In an attempt to address the ongoing shortage of registered nurses and midwives the NSW Health Department has proposed that a skill mix of 80% registered nurses or midwives to 20% enrolled nurses be implemented within hospitals. This initiative will …

Volume 1, Issue 1, Jaret Kanarek, Jake Bates, Michael Christison, Nick Nichols, Jacob Comer

The Intellectual Standard

No abstract provided.

Slides: Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program, Rich Haut

Best Management Practices (BMPs): What? How? And Why? (May 26)

Presenter: Rich Haut, Houston Advanced Research Center

6 slides

Informal Flexibility? Issues For Accountants Working Part-Time In Small Firms, Mary Barrett, Glenda Strachan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Formally sanctioned flexible working conditions are now common in Australian workplaces. While large organisations have policies for part-time work, career breaks, and leave options, research indicates employees may still suffer employment disadvantage if they use them (French and Sheridan 2010; Lyonette and Crompton 2008). This paper examines this issue for a lesser known population: professional and managerial employees in small accounting firms (<50 employees), particularly those working fewer than 35 hours per week and those who took career breaks. Results are drawn from a survey of all CPA Australia members working in small firms.

Unsurprisingly, given that women undertake more family and household work (ABS 2009; Burgess and Strachan 2005), more women than men worked part-time, and women had taken longer career breaks. Arrangements for part-time work and other flexible options …

Metacognition In Criminal Profiling, Barry Woodhouse, Wayne Petherick

Wayne Petherick

Extract:
As with many professions, one of the more serious problems that confronts the profiling community is that of the inept examiner. Deliberately unethical behavior is one thing, but ongoing incompetence because of profiler ignorance is something else entirely. In some instances, ignorance is the result of a metacognitive deficit caused by a lack of study, a lack of training, or a general lack of mental dexterity. In such instances, the profiler will continually do the wrong thing, such as using flawed methods and erroneous logic, because he lacks the ability to recognize his own ineptitude; the profiler cannot perceive …

Behavioral Consistency, The Homology Assumption And The Problems Of Induction, Wayne Petherick, Claire Ferguson

Wayne Petherick

Extract: The ultimate goal of profiling is to identify the major behavioral and personality characteristics to narrow the suspect pool. Inferences about offender characteristics can be accomplished deductively, based on the analysis of discrete offender behaviors established within a particular case. They can also be accomplished inductively, involving prediction based on abstract offender averages from group data (these methods were detailed extensively in Chapter 2; see also Petherick & Turvey, 2008a). As discussed, these two approaches are by no means equal.

Researching Journalists And Vulnerable Sources: Issues In The Design And Implementation Of A National Study, Stephen J. Tanner, Mark Pearson, Jolyon Sykes, Kerry Green

Faculty of Creative Arts - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports upon the design and implementation of a study of the way Australian newspaper journalists and their publications have dealt with vulnerable sources, particularly those from groups already identified as ‘vulnerable’ in Australian society. The Australian research into so-called ‘vulnerable’ sources has reinforced international studies identifying disability, post-trauma, mental illness, age and indigeneity as characteristics signalling individuals as worthy of special care when news events prompt journalists to seek their comments or portray them visually or textually in a story (see literature discussion below). Whole journalistic support and training packages have centred upon the reportage of people from …

Electronic Documentation In Residential Aged Care Facilities - A Review Of The Literature On Organisational Issues And Early Findings On Initial Conditions From A Case Study, Kieren Diment, Ping Yu, Karin H. Garrety

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper discusses the theoretical rationale for an empirical study of organisational change arising from introduction of electronic nursing documentation in residential aged care facilities. The study draws on a processual view of organisational change, which is related to the theory of complex adaptive systems. First we review existing literature on electronic nursing documentation with an organisational focus to provide a context to help outline the research aims of the present study. Then we describe a method to explore the hierarchical nature of the work environment based on the sociological theory of Institutional Ethnography. Finally we use this approach to …

Darfur: In Search Of Peace Exploring Viable Solutions To The Darfur Crisis, George Shepherd, Peter Van Arsdale, Negin Sobhani, Nicole Tanner, Frederick Agyeman-Duah

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The following is a report for the Consultation on Darfur carried out in Nairobi, Kenya by Africa Today Associates, Inc. The event took place June 9‐11, 2008 and was made possible with support from Ford Foundation, Kenya (in collaboration with the Institute of International Education). This report aims to build upon, not replace, the findings of our Consultation in Abuja, Nigeria. It is for this purpose that the findings and points addressed in this report are solely those discussed in Nairobi. Although it is inevitable that the two consultations reflected some overlap on the core issues and discussion points, especially …

Planning At The Urban Periphery In Australia: Issues Relating To Private Residential Back And Front Yards, Andrew H. Kelly

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

This narrative focuses on three planning issues affecting the suburban residential periphery in Sydney, Australia: (i) amenity, (ii) biodiversity conservation and (iii) bushfire potential. All relate to private front and back yards, which provide key elements of the residential landscape. Embedded in the paper is the complexity of the planning system and the subsequent inconsistency between dealing with the three issues. Considerable attention is paid to local government and its changing legislative terrain. In particular, several local statutory planning instruments are investigated to illustrate this. The conclusion calls for further research while stressing more action is warranted within and outside …

Financing Growth: New Issues By Australian Firms, 1920-1939, David Merrett, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

An expanding economy, new technologies, and changing consumer preferences provided growth opportunities for firms in interwar Australia. This period saw an increase in the number of large-scale firms in mining, manufacturing, and a wide range of service industries. Firms unable to rely solely on retained earnings to fund expansion turned to the domestic stock exchanges. A new data set of capital raisings constructed from reports of prospectuses published in the financial press forms the basis for the conclusion that many firms used substantial injections of equity finance to augment internally generated sources of funds. That they were able to do …

Zach's News, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

University Libraries News Online (2008-2023)

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