Digital Commons Network^™

Influence Of Culture On Intergenerational Conflict : A Comparative Study Of Burmese Adolescents, Immigrant Burmese Adolescents, And Anglo-Australian Adolescents, Romana Lee

Theses : Honours

Is there a difference, in the level of conflict with parents, that migrant adolescents experience in comparison to that of non-migrant adolescents? According to the literature, adolescents and their parents in the minority cultural groups are likely to experience high levels of conflict which may result from conflicting cultural norms (Rosenthal, 1984; Ghuman, 1975, Di J\.1arco, 1974, and Phinney, I 996). The present study was conducted with a sample of Burmese adolescents from Rangoon (Myamar), a sample of migrant Burmese adolescents from Perth (Western Australia), and a sample of Anglo-Australian adolescents also from Perth, to investigate age, gender and cultural …

Trial By Anxiety : Effects Of Nervous Demeanour And Level Of Evidence On Mock Jurors' Decisions, Michael Miller

Theses : Honours

Pryor and Buchanan (1984), using participants drawn from jury venires, showed that persons exhibiting a moderately anxious demeanour were found guilty more often than those with a low anxiety demeanour when evidence presented was balanced. In a study that used three levels of evidence (pro-acquittal, balanced and pro-conviction) and two levels of demeanour (apparently deceptive and control) Hendry, Schaffer and Peacock (1989) found that the demeanour bias only occurred at the pro-acquittal level of evidence. They had not used a criminal offence and did not provide judges instructions. Additionally conviction rates at all levels of evidence in the control condition …

Pink And Blue See Red Differently: Influences Of Gender, Gender Role And Gender Of The Target On Anger Experience And Expression, Darryl George Milovchevich

Theses : Honours

Anger is a commonly experienced emotion popularly thought to differ for men and women. However, because of definitional confusion and methodological limitations, there has been little useful empirical exploration of these differences. Current research findings on anger have, further, been limited by being based on non-random convenience samples of students and clinical populations. Research has produced inconclusive evidence for the effect of gender differences on measures of anger. Gender role identification has been identified as possible influencing factor. In the current study, the author drew a random sample from the general population of a small Australian city. Participants (n = …

Teaching Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence Rules To Children With Learning Difficulties : An Implementation Of The Fernald Method, Paula Kinsman

Theses : Honours

A single subject design was used to investigate the effectiveness of the Fernald method as an instructional technique for teaching phoneme-grapheme correspondence rules. Participants were tour primary grade children with learning difficulties in reading. Intervention training focussed on teaching phoneme-grapheme correspondence rules through the implementation of an adapted version of the Fernald method. The two dependent variables were word recognition and fluency rates. The design of the study allowed analysis of maintenance and generalisation of the relevant variables. Results demonstrated an increase in word recognition skills and fluency rates by all four children with learning difficulties. Maintenance of these gains …

Breaking The Glass Border: Barriers To Global Careers For Women Managers, Catherine R. Smith, Leonie V. Still

Research outputs pre 2011

The identification and placement of managers who can meet the business challenges at both local and international level is critical to the success of a company's overseas operations. North American and British research shows that, while organisations may be prepared to promote women into their domestic managerial hierarchy, few women currently have access to international careers through expatriate management appointments. This report describes an investigation of the selection, placement and management development by Australian organisations of women for international managerial assignments. Interest in this topic arose from the outcomes of the Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management Skills (1995), …

Challenging Futures: The Career And Life Decisions Of Managerial And Professional Women In Their 50s, Leonie V. Still, Wendy Timms

Research outputs pre 2011

The Australian Institute of Management in Western Australia has for many years been very supportive of women in management, and in particular has encouraged the growth and development of our Women in Management Special Interest Group. The Institute has also played its small, but hopefully, significant role in helping to redress the gender imbalance in the management profession with the creation of its Excellence in Management Award for Women, which is now in its sixth year. This Award is significant in that it helps to clearly identify women who have excelled in their management career and it also provides some …

Teaching To Think, Felicity Haynes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Given that a devolved curriculum empowers a teacher to educate for change, and indeed encourages cross curricular critical and creative thinking, this article offers a broad review of three current strategies for helping anyone to think critically and creatively instruction in formal logic, training in focusing attention, and creating a community of inquiry. It concludes that the latter is the preferred mode of teaching thinking for understanding and responsibility, both in schools and in pre service teacher education, because it captures the best balance between student engagement, the presentation of external social standards and the need for ongoing reflection on …

Student And Teacher Perceptions Of Teaching/Learning Processes In Classrooms: How Close Is The Partnership?, Robert G. Barker, Wally Moroz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

As Hornstein observed in the beginning of the 1990s, the "enduring pattern" of instruction in social studies lessons is that which revolves around traditional "teacher centred and text-centred" teaching strategies (Hornstein, 1990). However, other research programs which have investigated the status of social studies (Cuban, 1991; Good and Harmon, 1987; Haladyna, Shaughnessy and Redsun, 1982a) have indicated that the core subject rates well with students when teaching strategies are interactive, inductive, and student centred. As Hutchens (1993) found, students became "hooked" on social studies when it involved cooperative learning, and student research strategies. In 1995, Moroz, Baker and McDonald, reported …

Evaluation Of The Bunbury Chronic Pain Management Program, Samar Aoun, Carmen Gregg

Research outputs pre 2011

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a six-week program in pain management for patients with chronic pain referred by GPs in Bunbury, Australind, Harvey, Collie, and Donnybrook. The evaluation consisted of a retrospective analysis of patient data from the first 3 courses of the program (November 1996 to March 1997), and satisfaction surveys for 26 clients, 26 GPs and the 7 staff in the multidisciplinary team.

A comparison of pre-program and post-program pain inventory psychometric measures revealed a significant decrease in the amount pain interfered with general activity, social activities, normal work, sleep and mood. …

An Investigation Of A Theoretical Model Of Willingness To Donate Blood, Douglas Adam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Australian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (ARCBTS) in Western Australian faces a major problem with periodic shortages of blood components. These shortages are expected to become more frequent and severe as demand continues to increase at a faster rate than supply. Given that only five percent of the population is registered as blood donors, clearly, the challenge for the ARCBTS is to encourage more people to become regular blood donors. The current study was undertaken to assist the ARCBTS in achieving this goal, by identifying and investigating the factors that influence people's willingness to donate blood. Based on the …

The Role Of Trust And The Victim-Offender Relationship, Gail Della Torre

Theses : Honours

It has been argued that trust is a moral value inherent in all relationships, however the moral obligation to keep trust is stronger in close relationships than in contractual type relationships. This study examined the effects of breach of trust for two crimes (rape and theft) occurring within two types of relationships (social relationship and employer-employee relationship). Trust was demonstrated by the victim agreeing to the offender entering her property because of his position (husband or lawnmower man). A second independent variable was victim risk which was manipulated by the victim either inviting the offender inside the house, or not. …

The Effect Of Masking The Prime In Orthographic And Semantically Related Pairs : An Interactive Activation Account, Rowan Johnston

Theses : Honours

Visual word recognition studies rely on priming tasks to examine underlying processes within the lexical system. A commonly used method is the lexical decision task, where participants are presented with a letter string that is either a familiar word or a meaningless non word such as fost. Response times are measured for the time taken to decide if the letter string is a word or a non word. The word the participant responds to is the target, while the preceding word is referred to as the prime. There are three types of priming conditions reported here. First, semantic priming where …

The Ms. Stereotype : Could It Be A Health Risk?, Phillip Van Der Klift

Theses : Honours

Two studies extend previous findings of stereotyping (a) within the nursing context (Ganong, 1993; Ganong & Coleman, 1992, Ganong et al., 1988), and (b) in relation to female title of address (Dion, 1987; Dion & Cota, 1991; Dion & Schuller, 1991; Heilder, 1975). Against the theoretical background of person perception theory and its influence upon the therapeutic nurse client relationship, study 1 investigates the extent to which nurses' stereotype a vignetted female client on the basis of title of address. Fifty registered nurses from two hospitals rated their impressions and subsequent expectations of a vignetted client on the First Impressions …

Teacher Attitudes To Approaches To Teacher Education In Adult Tesol, Paul Mercieca

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study looked closely at the attitudes of TESOL teachers to a range of approaches to teacher education, with particular emphasis on the role of classroom observation. The influence of pre- and in-service training and the school environment was probed through semi-structured interviews and confirmatory discussions. Participants for this qualitative study were practising TESOL teachers at the Centre for International English, Curtin University, Western Australia. The approach taken was to allow them, as far as possible, to identify issues in teacher education for themselves. At the same time, their words were used, where possible, to describe attitudes to these issues. …

The Parents' Experience Of Living In The Hospital With Their Sick Infant : A Phenomenological Study, Anne Bourke

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the essential structure of the lived experience of what it was to be a resident parent on the ward in a public hospital with a sick infant. Many studies have highlighted both benefits and problems associated with the concept of parental participation in care. The role of the parents in hospital needs to be identified and expressed by both the parents and the nurses, in order to ellucidate the needs of parents who live in with their sick infant. Eight parents were interviewed regarding their experiences of "living in" the hospital …

Children's Services In Denmark : A Contextual Analysis And Critique, Teresa A. Harms

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The late 1990’s in Australia have seen major stresses in State and Federal systems of early years provision and have highlighted the need to develop an integrated approach to early years policy and provision to meet better the changing needs of Australian families. As an experienced Australian practitioner in the early years, the researcher decided to explore another country’s approach to early childhood provision and to contextualise her Australian experience from a fresh perspective. In Kandel’s (1933, 1955) terms, this is a classic area study rather than one which seeks to merely to compare and contrast.

A Descriptive Analysis Of Magisterial Remand Custody Orders For Offenders Who Receive A Non-Custodial Sentence Outcome, Maeve B. Barry

Theses : Honours

When an offender receives a non-custodial sentence following remand custody then concerns must be raised that the pre-trial remand imprisonment was unnecessary and improper, with judicial, economic and humanitarian consequences that run counter to the philosophical and legislative expectations of a democratic justice system. This study analysed the use of remand custody orders over a six month charge period, by magistrates in Western Australia, to determine what proportion of offenders spent time in remand custody prior to receiving a noncustodial sentence. The results indicate that magistrates use the remand custody facility as a "short, sharp shock" to deter future offending, …

Blood, Sweat & Tears : The Photographs Of Bill Henson, Deborah Pearson

Theses : Honours

This study interprets, evaluates, and contributes to current theories and debates surrounding Bill Henson's photographs. Henson's photographs have been largely circulated as autonomous, fine-art "objects" and interpretations of this work have generally concentrated on representation/s of the body, emphasising the ephemeral and ambiguous. This study critically analyses such discourse so as to examine the assumptions that cluster around the body and bodily representation. The aim is not to judge the photographs, but to interrogate potentially different readings and interpretations. Recognising my own circumscription within this research, I remain self-critical toward my own conclusions. The methodology employed is interdisciplinary, bringing together …

Cd-Rom Storybooks: Reading Strategies Of Learners Of English As A Second Language, Marie Beardsell

Theses : Honours

Technology has had a huge impact on pedagogy and this impact is increasing with more educationally sound computer software becoming available. CD-ROM storybooks are an example of such software, and this study was an attempt to discover how beneficial these computerised books are, to the reading strategies of English as a second language (ESL) learners. The subjects of this study were eight ESL learners from grades 3 and 4 of primary school (five female and three male). Four subjects were born in Australia, and the remaining four were born overseas. However, all subjects were exposed to a language other than …

An Investigation Of The Behaviours Exhibited By Boys (Identified As At-Risk) While Using The Computer For Creative Writing, Danielle Fisher

Theses : Honours

This study investigated the types of behaviours which were displayed by boys (whose teachers had identified them as at-risk), using the courseware package Storybook Weaver Deluxe for creative writing. Three boys from year six and three boys from year seven, from the same metropolitan government school participated in the study and were observed using the courseware package over a period of six weeks, during a one hour session per week. Video tape recordings and substantially non participant observations were made of the individual participants as they used the courseware package in a whole class situation. Individual interviews were conducted with …

Security Decay: The Erosion Of Effective Security, Shawn A. Mcclure

Theses : Honours

The discipline of security lacks formal conceptual tools which can be used by security managers, advisers and consultants when attempting to provide effective security. This is because of security's relative age as a discipline, it is very new. The aim of the thesis was to contribute to the security discipline by taking Underwood's ( 1989) idea of security decay and to a certain extent exploring and formalising it. The security decay theory is primarily concerned with the influence apathy has on security and how management react to risk materialisation when decay is evident. The thesis focused on the first of …

A Critique Of The Advisory Opinion Of The International Court Of Justice On The Legality Of The Threat Or Use Of Nuclear Weapons, 8 July 1996 : The Nuclear Weapons Case, Christopher Hubbard

Theses : Honours

The General Assembly of the United Nations, by Resolution, requested the International Court of Justice to give its Advisory Opinion on the following legal question: Is the threat or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstance permitted under Intemational law? The question raises a number of legal, political and moral issues which go to the heart of the development of public international law, and of relations between States in the United Nations era. Central to all such issues is the tension, both legal and political, which exists between the five declared nuclear weapon States (the Permanent Members of the United …

Attitudes Of Young Adult Catholic Women Towards Religious Life And Related Issues, L. J. Worthington

Theses : Honours

This study examines the attitudes of a sample of young adult Catholic women from Perth, Western Australia, towards women's religious life in the apostolic tradition'. Respondents' ages range from 18 to 35 years. Their attitudes towards other issues relating to religious life are also examined, including commitments: community: religious sisters: the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience: and social justice issues relevant to Australia. The study also analyses participants' values and the relationship between these and their commitments. Differences in responses are highlighted through the concept of conservatism/liberalism and the framework of Fowler's Stages of Faith Development is used to …

Locus Of Control And Self-Directed Learning As Predictors Of Well-Being In The Elderly, Deborah Gardner

Theses : Honours

Elderly people who remain mentally and physically active are more likely to be happy than those who do not (George, 1980; Toscland & Sykes, I 977). Demographic factors have usually accounted for only a small amount of the variance in well-being (Diener, 1984 ). Internal control, personal growth and direction in life might have more to do with well-being than demographic or personality factors (Ryff, 1995). This study examined the theoretical relationship between locus of control and self-directed learning readiness in the elderly and the predictability of self reported well-being from an internal locus of control and a self-directed learning …

Have A Safe Trip: An Investigation Of Rituals And Sanctions Surrounding Lsd Use, David Wellbourne-Wood

Theses : Honours

There is little recent literature which identifies social controls operating among illicit drug users in Perth, Western Australia. This hinders understanding of the local illicit drug scene and makes the formulation of appropriate harm reduction strategies difficult. This study is a qualitative investigation of rituals and social sanctions which surround the use of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD). The research describes these rituals and sanctions, and examines their various functions for eight experienced users. The research adopted elements of a phenomenological approach, using in-depth semi-structured interviews to elicit a description of users' subjective experiences with LSD, and Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological analysis …

Does Good Project Management Ensure Successful Software Development?, Julie Lisa Eldridge

Theses : Honours

For many years the development of computer software has been plagued by poor customer satisfaction caused by missed schedules, underestimated budgets and the development of products which do not meet requirements. The ever increasing reliance on computers, as reported by Sommerville ''the result of the proliferation of computer systems into all aspects of life and business is that personal, corporate, national and international economies are [becoming] increasingly dependant on computers and software systems" ( 1992, p.2), calls for more stable software which can be developed within time and budget constraints. To achieve this, software development activities must be analysed and …

Home Hospice Cancer Care: Family Members' Expectations, Perceptions And Satisfaction With Care, Kristina Medigovich

Theses : Honours

Increasingly, there is greater expectation by the public, as health consumers, that they will receive care from health professionals which meets their expectations and does not leave them dissatisfied. The stress experienced by families caring for a family member with advanced cancer may be complicated when they are dissatisfied with care received from health care professionals. To further promote family satisfaction it is important therefore for health professionals to understand the theoretical underpinning of family satisfaction with care. One theoretical explanation of family member satisfaction with advanced cancer care in the palliative care setting, Porter's Discrepancy Theory, was investigated in …

The Experience Of Being A Migrant Child : An Early Childhood Perspective, Judith Candy

Theses : Honours

Most studies of migrant children have concentrated on English as a second language (E.S.L.), educational assessment and parental influences on learning. These studies have been mainly of older children and from the teacher's perspective. There has been little or no research into the child's own perceptions of the experience of being a migrant child, particularly from an early childhood perspective. This study aimed to fill this void by investigating young children's migration to Australia. The information was gathered by means of discussions with migrant children and their teachers in Years 2 and 3 of two schools in the Perth metropolitan …

The Assessment And Evaluation Of Esl Children's Writing : A Case Study Of One Esl Primary Child, Liza Phillips

Theses : Honours

The assessment and evaluation of the literacy achievements of ESL learners is emerging as a contentious issue in Australian schools. However, at this time no studies appear to be completed that focus on the identification of features of ESL children's writing and the processes involved in using the frameworks available in Western Australia to assess and evaluate ESL students. In this study, a qualitative research design was employed. Data were collected from one Year Five ESL student over a three week period in order to determine: a) which features of his English writing were identified by each evaluative framework available …

The Effect Of Stress At The Retrieval Stage Of Eyewitness Recall, Mary-Anne Martin

Theses : Honours

Although stress at the encoding stage of eyewitness memory has been studied in depth in the literature, little is known about the recall stage. Stress effects on retrieval were investigated in two experiments to examine its impact on recall, repeated testing, and accuracy. Stress was manipulated by evaluative threat and time pressure at either immediate and/or delayed recall (20 minutes) in four experimental conditions in Experiment I. Participants were 62 undergraduate students from Edith Cowan University. A series of 40 pictures, five to a slide, were shown by overhead projector at the rate of 20 seconds per slide. There were …