Digital Commons Network^™

Internal Whistle-Blowing Intentions: A Study Of Demographic And Individual Factors, Syahrul Ahmad, George Smith, Zubaidah Ismail

Research outputs 2012

Internal auditors hold a unique position in their organizations to prevent, deter, and detect corporate wrongdoings. However, the role of this profession in investigating their ethical decision-making behaviors towards internal whistle-blowing intentions has been very often neglected. Furthermore, although extensive researches have been undertaken on the issue of whistle blowing globally, empirical studies on this area are still scarce in Malaysia. This paper examines internal whistle-blowing intentions among internal auditors in Malaysia by utilizing three independent vignettes. A mail survey was conducted to investigate demographic and individual factors that could influence internal auditors’ ethical decision-making processes. The likelihood for internal …

Inclusion And Empowerment Of Export Processing Zone Women In Sri Lanka: Stakeholders Perceptions And Perspectives, Peter Hancock, Indika Edirisinghe

Research outputs 2012

The vast majority of research on women who work in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and in Sri Lanka focuses on the ‘lived experiences’ of the women themselves. The other major source of research with a similar focus comes from macro-economic perspectives, focusing on policy and economic rationale behind the emergence of EPZs and global export-oriented manufacturing in general. This paper provides insights into the issues of empowerment and inclusion of Sri Lankan EPZ workers, but does so from the perspective of 22 stakeholders in Sri Lanka who have unique insights to offer. The stakeholders were factory managers; senior public administrators; …

Getting Serious With Ipads: The Intersection Of Game Design And Teaching Principals, Martin Masek, Karen Murcia, Jason Morrison

Research outputs 2012

Mobile devices, such as tablets and smart phones, are increasingly being utilised as tools for education, with tablets such as the Apple iPad being introduced into many classrooms. These devices are seen as enablers of learning through a fun, interactive interface; however the process of producing a pedagogically valid, yet entertaining application is often poorly understood. This problem motivated the authors to work collaboratively on the design and development of an iPad game targeted at foundation level classrooms and linked to the Australian science curriculum. In this paper we review the tools and processes that are available for the production …

Lobbying For Endorsement Of Community Psychology In Australia, Lynne Cohen, Julie Dean, Heather Gridley, Rebecca Hogea, Ken Robinson, Emma Sampson, Anne Sibbel, Colleen Turner

Research outputs 2012

In November 2010, the areas of practice known as community psychology and health psychology were endorsed by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council (AHWMC). This was a major reversal of the Council’s earlier decision in April that year to limit the endorsed areas of practice to those represented by the other seven Colleges of the Australian Psychological Society. This paper describes the intense lobbying effort coordinated by the National Committee of the Australian Psychological Society College of Community Psychologists and their supporters, which was sustained over many months and led ultimately to a changed decision by the Australian Health Ministers. …

Interprofessional Clinical Placement Involving Speech Pathology And Counselling Psychology: Two Students' Experiences, Natalie Ciccone, Lynn Priddis, Amanda Lloyd, Deborah Hersh, Ashleigh Taylor, Georgina Standish

Research outputs 2012

This paper examines the interprofessional learning of a speech pathology and counselling psychology student in an interprofessional placement within an institution of the Department of Corrective Services in Perth, Western Australia. The institution is a pre-release centre that promotes rehabilitation and community reintegration in which up to six women are able to have their children, aged 0–4 years of age, live with them. The students provided a program to the mothers to facilitate development of a healthy mother–child relationship and the children’s communication development. This paper utilised qualitative descriptive analysis to explore two examples of student learning and found perceived …

As Long As Your're Resilient You'll Succeed: School Disaffected Adolescents' Perspectives On Their Willingness To Engage In High Injury-Risk Graffiti-Writing Activities, Myra Taylor

Research outputs 2012

A lack of sense of school belonging can be a destabilising aspect in disaffected students’ lives, so much so that they will often seek an alternative sense of belonging outside of the school arena. Gaining out-of-school acceptance within the non-conforming, graffiti subculture is dependent upon proving one’s worth through willing engagement in visual acts of high-risk daring. This exemplar study examines the health-risk injuries sustained by eight adolescent crew leaders within the graffiti subculture. The study’s findings reveal four reoccurring sources of graffiti-related injury (ie. tagging hard-to-reach places, fighting rival crews, graffing under the influence, and eluding Police capture). A …

Which To Become? Encountering Fungi In Australian Poetry, John Ryan

Research outputs 2012

As a largely unexplored group of organisms, fungi are ecologically complex members of the Australian biota. Fungi represent non-human alterity and interstitiality-neither animal not plant, beautiful yet evanescent, slimy and lethal, and eliding scientific categorisations. Donna Haraway's notion of "companion species" and Anna Tsing's "arts of inclusion" remind us that sensory entanglements are intrinsic to human-fungi relations. Drawing conceptually from Haraway and Tsing, this paper will examine examples of poetry from John Shaw Neilson, Jan Owen, Douglas Stewart, Geoffrey Dutton, Caroline Caddy, Michael Dransfield, Philip Hodgins, Jaime Grant and John Kinsella that represent sensory involvements with fungi based in smell, …

The Development Of An Interdisciplinary Research Agenda At Ngala: An Innovative Case Study, E Bennett, Y Hauck, S Bindahneem, Vicki Banham, M Owens, L E Priddis, G Wells, W Sinclair, L Shields

Research outputs 2012

Background Ngala is an early parenting, not-for-profit organisation in Western Australia (WA). Research academics from three universities in Perth had been involved in separate research activities over recent years at Ngala. During 2007, a strategic decision was made to forge formal links and articulate an interdisciplinary research framework to promote a research culture amongst Ngala practitioners. Aim To describe an organisational case study of the development of an interdisciplinary research agenda within Ngala. Methods Collaborative methods were used. An action learning project was undertaken over a two-year period with the involvement of researchers, managers and practitioners across the five disciplines …

Harmonised Health And Safety Legislation In Australia: Confusion And Complexity For Training Remains, Susanne Bahn, Llandis Barratt-Pugh

Research outputs 2012

This paper presents findings from a study that examined the impact of the national Work Health and Safety Act 2011 on training delivery for safety professionals and their perceptions of what assisted in reducing industrial accidents. The study identified an increased uptake of safety training including high risk licensing and post-graduate degrees and the inclusion of safety elements across many courses in TAFE and universities. In addition industry is calling for safety professionals with a formal tertiary qualification in the discipline. However, national and state regulators are limited in their understanding of the complex training framework. The paper concludes by …

Self-Revelation In An Online Health Community: Exploring Issues Around Co-Presence For Vulnerable Members, Leesa Costello, Cynthia Witney, Lelia Green, Vanessa Bradshaw

Research outputs 2012

Problem: This paper addresses the implications of working with vulnerable groups in the context of an online health community when members move from co-presence online to co-presence offline. Theoretical Approach: The case study presented in this paper challenges the expectation that self-revelations are usually more common in online environments because of the anonymity and comfort experienced there. Methodology: Taking as its example the events in a research project designed to investigate the relative features of online communities and social network sites by using a ‘netnographic’ approach, this paper examines the introduction of live chat sessions with a view to building …

The Relevance Of Attribution Theory To It Project Management, Craig Standing, Eric Kordt, Oliver Standing

Research outputs 2012

Internet related projects are often complex because of the need to work with a range of stakeholders and satisfy a range of expectations. These projects are consequently difficult to manage as projects. Attribution theory enables us to examine how individuals and groups attribute success and failure in relation to projects so that we can better prepare workers for their roles in teams. This paper explores how attribution theory impacts on projects management and makes recommendations on how to develop effective project teams and team members.

School Administrators' Beliefs That School Improvements Were Due To Formal School Registration: A Rasch Measurement, Harm (Pete) Witten, Russell Waugh, Jan Gray

Research outputs 2012

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the attitudes of School Administrators to the relationship between formal school registration and school improvement. It concerns a mandatory inspection-type registration process for all Non-Government Schools in Western Australia. Part of the aim of this registration process was to help schools improve twelve educational and administrative aspects. These were: (1) School Governance, (2) School Financial Viability, (3) Enrolments & Attendance, (4) Number of Students, (5) Instructional Time, (6) School Staff, (7) School Infrastructure, (8) School Curriculum, (9) Student Learning Outcomes, (10) Care for Students, (11) Disputes and Complaints, (12) Legal Compliance. …

Chronic Low Back Pain Is Associated With Reduced Vertebral Bone Mineral Measures In Community-Dwelling Adults, Andrew Briggs, Leon Straker, Angus Burnett, John Wark

Research outputs 2012

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) experienced in middle-age may have important implications for vertebral bone health, although this issue has not been investigated as a primary aim previously. This study investigated the associations between CLBP and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived vertebral bone mineral measures acquired from postero-anterior and lateral-projections, among community-dwelling, middle-aged adults. Methods. Twenty-nine adults with CLBP (11 male, 18 female) and 42 adults with no history of LBP in the preceding year (17 male, 25 female) were evaluated. Self-reported demographic and clinical data were collected via questionnaires. Areal bone mineral density (aBMD) was measured in the …

Adjusting For Under-Identification Of Aboriginal And/Or Torres Strait Islander Births In Time Series Produced From Birth Records: Using Record Linkage Of Survey Data And Administrative Data Sources, D Lawrence, D Christensen, F Mitrou, Glenn Draper, G Davis, S Mckeown, Daniel Mcaullay, G Pearson, S R Zubrick

Research outputs 2012

Background: Statistical time series derived from administrative data sets form key indicators in measuring progress in addressing disadvantage in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in Australia. However, inconsistencies in the reporting of Indigenous status can cause difficulties in producing reliable indicators. External data sources, such as survey data, provide a means of assessing the consistency of administrative data and may be used to adjust statistics based on administrative data sources. Methods. We used record linkage between a large-scale survey (the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey), and two administrative data sources (the Western Australia (WA) Register of Births and …

Evaluating The Psychometric Properties Of The Attitudes Towards Depression And Its Treatments Scale In An Australian Sample, Fadia Isaac, Kenneth Greenwood, Mirella Di Benedetto

Research outputs 2012

Background: Individuals’ attitudes towards depression and its treatments may influence their likelihood of seeking professional help and adherence to treatment when depressed. Objective measures, such as the Attitudes Towards Depression and its Treatments scale (ATDT), have been developed to assess such attitudes. The aims of this research were to test the reliability and validity of ATDT on an Australian sample who were not depressed during the study or who had previously been depressed, to explore the attitudes of the Australian public towards depression, and to compare these attitudes to those of a Canadian sample of people with depression. Methods: A …

Comparison Of Running Times During Reactive Offensive And Defensive Agility Protocols, Tania Spiteri, Sophia Nimphius, Jodie Wilkie

Research outputs 2012

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Genetic Polymorphisms On The Ages Of Onset For Heroin Dependence In A Chinese Population, Chao Meng, Jie Lan, Youxin Wang, Manshu Song, Xuan Gao, Longjin Ran, Moira Sim, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2012

Aim: The study aims at evaluating the association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene polymorphisms and heroin-dependent patients in the Chinese population. Three polymorphisms of the BDNF-gene (rs10835210, rs16917234, and rs6265) in 486 heroin-dependent patients and in 226 healthy controls were genotyped for analyzing the association of these polymorphisms with age of onset of heroin dependence. We defined the healthy cases as “unknown phenotype” and used the endophenotype (behavior traits) to stratify the heroin dependents group on the basis of self-reporting traits for examining the association between BDNF polymorphisms (rs10835210, rs16917234, and rs6265) and heroin dependence. Results: Allelic distributions of …

Psycho-Educational Group Intervention For Family Caregivers Of Hospitalized Palliative Care Patients: Pilot Study, Peter Hudson, Elizabeth Lobb, Kristina Thomas, Rachel Zorden, Tom Trauer, Karen Quinn, Anne Williams, Michael Summers

Research outputs 2012

Background: Family caregivers of patients requiring palliative care commonly experience physical, social, and psychological burdens. Although family caregivers are acknowledged as valid service recipients of palliative care, many have unmet needs, and systematic reviews have shown there are limited evidence-based supportive interventions. Objectives: This study aimed to develop and pilot test a psycho-educational group education program delivered in the inpatient specialist palliative care setting and designed to prepare primary family caregivers for the role of supporting a relative receiving hospital-based palliative care. Methods: (1) Development of education session and delivery protocol by the research team and expert panel; (2) pilot …

Passive Flora? Reconsidering Nature's Agency Through Human-Plant Studies (Hps), John Ryan

Research outputs 2012

Plants have been—and, for reasons of human sustenance and creative inspiration, will continue to be—centrally important to societies globally. Yet, plants—including herbs, shrubs, and trees—are commonly characterized in Western thought as passive, sessile, and silent automatons lacking a brain, as accessories or backdrops to human affairs. Paradoxically, the qualities considered absent in plants are those employed by biologists to argue for intelligence in animals. Yet an emerging body of research in the sciences and humanities challenges animal-centred biases in determining consciousness, intelligence, volition, and complex communication capacities amongst living beings. In light of recent theoretical developments in our understandings of …

Olfactory Discrimination Predicts Cognitive Decline Amongst Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Hamid Sohrabi, Kristyn Bates, Michael Weinborn, Anb Johnston, A Bahramian, Kevin Taddei, Simon Laws, Mark Rodrigues, Michael Morici, Matthew Howard, Georgia Martins, A Mackay-Sim, Se Gandy, Ralph Martins

Research outputs 2012

The presence of olfactory dysfunction in individuals at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease has significant diagnostic and screening implications for preventive and ameliorative drug trials. Olfactory threshold, discrimination and identification can be reliably recorded in the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases. The current study has examined the ability of various olfactory functions in predicting cognitive decline in a community-dwelling sample. A group of 308 participants, aged 46–86 years old, were recruited for this study. After 3 years of follow-up, participants were divided into cognitively declined and non-declined groups based on their performance on a neuropsychological battery. Assessment of olfactory functions …

Intense Physical Activity Is Associated With Cognitive Performance In The Elderly, Belinda Brown, Jeremiah Peiffer, Hamid Sohrabi, Alinda Mondal, Veer Bala Gupta, Stephanie Rainey-Smith, Kevin Taddei, S Burnham, K Ellis, C Szoeke, C L Masters, D Ames, C Rowe, Ralph Martins

Research outputs 2012

Numerous studies have reported positive impacts of physical activity on cognitive function. However, the majority of these studies have utilised physical activity questionnaires or surveys, thus results may have been influenced by reporting biases. Through the objective measurement of routine levels of physical activity via actigraphy, we report a significant association between intensity, but not volume, of physical activity and cognitive functioning. A cohort of 217 participants (aged 60-89 years) wore an actigraphy unit for 7 consecutive days and underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. The cohort was stratified into tertiles based on physical activity intensity. Compared with individuals in the lowest …

Visual Saliency Based On Fast Nonparametric Multidimensional Entropy Estimation, A. C. Ngo, G. Qiu, G. Underwood, Li-Minn Ang, K. P. Seng

Research outputs 2012

Bottom-up visual saliency can be computed through information theoretic models but existing methods face significant computational challenges. Whilst nonparametric methods suffer from the curse of dimensionality problem and are computationally expensive, parametric approaches have the difficulty of determining the shape parameters of the distribution models. This paper makes two contributions to information theoretic based visual saliency models. First, we formulate visual saliency as center surround conditional entropy which gives a direct and intuitive interpretation of the center surround mechanism under the information theoretic framework. Second, and more importantly, we introduce a fast nonparametric multidimensional entropy estimation solution to make information …

Graffiti Offenders' Patterns Of Desistance From, And Persistence In, Crime: New Insights Into Reducing Recidivist Offending, Myra Taylor, Umneea Khan

Research outputs 2012

While graffiti is a gateway crime towards more serious criminal offending, little is known about graffitists' patterns of desistance from, and persistence in, crime. This paper addresses this knowledge shortfall through an examination of the Western Australian Police Information Management System (IMS) database for three age-groups (i.e. preteens, adolescents, adults) and three categories of graffiti offenders (Early Desisters, Limited Persisters, Chronic Persisters). Descriptive and chi-squared statistics reveal that: i) nearly three-quarters of all of the 667 preteen, adolescent and adult graffiti offenders desisted from further offending after their first or second contact with police; ii) the mainly adolescent cohort of …

Students With Asd In Mainstream Primary Education Settings: Teachers' Experiences In Western Australian Classrooms, Rebecca Soto, Julie Ann Pooley, Lynne Cohen, Myra Taylor

Research outputs 2012

The shift to inclusive education within Australia has resulted in increasing numbers of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) being placed in mainstream educational settings. This move has created new demands on teachers who are not necessarily trained to meet the challenge. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop an understanding of how 12 Western Australian primary school (K-7) teachers adapted to the challenge of having a student with ASD in their mainstream classroom. Using an interpretivist framework, data from semistructured interviews revealed that teachers perceived a need to first recognise and accept the challenges associated with having a student …

A Theoretically Grounded Exploration Of The Social And Emotional Outcomes Of Transition To Secondary School, Stacey Waters, Leanne Lester, Elizabeth Wenden, Donna Cross

Research outputs 2012

Adolescent development involves a complex interplay between genetics, biology, and social and emotional relationships within multiple contexts of home, school and the broader community. The transition from primary to secondary school, coupled with the onset of puberty, can therefore be a difficult period for young people to negotiate at a critical period of their developmental pathway. Using a social ecological perspective, this article examines the impact of the transition experience on adolescent social and emotional health, both immediately following transition to secondary school and at the end of the first year in this new school environment. This 1-year prospective study …

Maternal Work Hours In Early To Middle Childhood Link To Later Adolescent Diet Quality, Jianghong Li, Therese O'Sullivan, Sarah Johnson, Fiona Stanley, Wendy H. Oddy

Research outputs 2012

Objective: Previous studies on maternal work hours and child diet quality have reported conflicting findings possibly due to differences in study design, lack of a comprehensive measure of diet quality and differing ages of the children under investigation. The present study aimed to prospectively examine the impact of parental work hours from age 1 year to age 14 years on adolescent diet quality.

Design: Multivariate linear regression models were used to examine independent associations between parents' work hours at each follow-up and across 14 years and adolescent diet quality at age 14 years. A diet quality index was based on …

Encouraging Student Access To And Use Of Pastoral Care Services In Schools, Patricia Cardoso, Laura Thomas, Robyn Johnston, Donna Cross

Research outputs 2012

School-based health services (SBHS) including pastoral care can play a pivotal role in addressing adolescent health and wellbeing; including their tobacco and other drug use. To maximise the benefits of these services, they need to be accessible, useful for, and acceptable to students. This formative, qualitative study involved 12 focus groups within nine lower socio-economic Western Australian Government secondary schools. The purpose was to identify student (n = 59) perceptions of the availability and usefulness of SBHS (and other identified caring staff) to reduce students' harm associated with tobacco and other drug use. The findings suggest students were aware of …

Clinical And Biomarker Changes In Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Disease, R J Bateman, C Xiong, T L Benzinger, A M Fagan, A Goate, N C Fox, D S Marcus, N J Cairns, X Xie, T M Blazey, D M Holtzman, A Santacruz, V Buckles, A Oliver, K Moulder, P M Aisen, B Ghetti, W M Klunk, E Mcdade, Ralph Martins, C M Masters, R Mayeux, J M Ringman, M M Rossor, P M Schofield, R M Sperling, S Salloway, J M Morris

Research outputs 2012

Background: The order and magnitude of pathologic processes in Alzheimer's disease are not well understood, partly because the disease develops over many years. Autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease has a predictable age at onset and provides an opportunity to determine the sequence and magnitude of pathologic changes that culminate in symptomatic disease.

Methods: In this prospective, longitudinal study, we analyzed data from 128 participants who underwent baseline clinical and cognitive assessments, brain imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood tests. We used the participant's age at baseline assessment and the parent's age at the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease to …

Developing A Model For Identifying Students At Risk Of Failure In A First Year Accounting Unit, George Smith, Leonard Therry, Jacqueline Whale

Research outputs 2012

This paper reports on the process involved in attempting to build a predictive model capable of indentifying students at risk of failure in a first year accounting unit in an Australian university. Identifying attributes that contribute to students being at risk can lead to the development of appropriate intervention strategies and support services. In this study, regression analysis was used to model the impact of individual factors on grade performance based on a review of the literature and using data extracted from a university’s student information database for all students who completed a first year accounting unit in one semester. …

Shall We Play A Game? [Journal Article], Craig William Caulfield, Stanislaw Maj, J C Xia, David Veal

Research outputs 2012

This paper presents the results of a qualitative research project that used a simple game of a software project to see if and how games could contribute to better software project management education, and, if so, what features would make them most efficacious. The results suggest that while games are useful pedagogical tools and are well-received by players, they are not sufficient in themselves and must be supplemented by other learning devices.