Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Addressing Preference Heterogeneity In Public Health Policy By Combining Cluster Analysis And Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis: Proof Of Method, Mette Kjer Kaltoft, Robin Turner, Michelle Cunich, Glenn P. Salkeld, Jesper Bo Nielsen, Jack Dowie

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The use of subgroups based on biological-clinical and socio-demographic variables to deal with population heterogeneity is well-established in public policy. The use of subgroups based on preferences is rare, except when religion based, and controversial. If it were decided to treat subgroup preferences as valid determinants of public policy, a transparent analytical procedure is needed. In this proof of method study we show how public preferences could be incorporated into policy decisions in a way that respects both the multi-criterial nature of those decisions, and the heterogeneity of the population in relation to the importance assigned to relevant criteria. It …

Health Informatics Can Avoid Committing Symbolic Violence By Recognizing And Supporting Generic Decision-Making Competencies, Mette Kjer Kaltoft, Jesper Bo Nielsen, Glenn P. Salkeld, Jack Dowie

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

‘Symbolic violence’ is committed, however well-intentionally, by the imposition of particular conceptualizations of what information, in what form and quality, is needed in order to make an ‘informed choice’ and hence – by questionable segue - a high quality decision. The social and cultural forms of relevant cognitive capital possessed by those who fail, because of their low general literacy, professionally-set knowledge tests of functional health literacy, are being ignored. Failing to recognise and exploit a particular form of functional decision literacy, in fact leads to symbolic violence being experienced by individuals at any and all levels of general literacy. …

Developing An Online Decision Aid For Osteoarthritis, Glenn P. Salkeld, Sally Wortley, David Hunter, Hema Umapathy, Jack Dowie

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A decision aid for osteoarthritis was developed using the best available evidence on effect size, potential harms and self-rated performance for other attributes. The aid was developed using a multi-criteria decision analytic tool capable of combing evidence and an individual's preferences for the attributes related to treatment.

Place Stigma As Boundary-Making From The Outside In: The Case Of Cronulla, Natascha Klocker

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

'But she's brown', says the little girl in the rock pool, glancing at my daughter. 'Yes she is'. The girl is persistent: 'Why?'' Because her daddy is brown'. A lightbulb moment (my daughter and I suddenly 'make sense', together), a smile and an invitation: 'She can play with my body board'. A surfer-wetsuit folded down, a heavily tattooed torso-strides with purpose towards a Tanzanian man and his daughter, playing at Cronulla Beach. 'I see you here a lot'. This sentence is thrown forth in a gruff tone. My husband's mind starts hatching plans to keep our little girl safe, should …

The Role Of Festivals In Drought-Affected Australian Communities, Christopher R. Gibson, John Connell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Event management research increasingly recognizes place embeddedness as critical to success. Less well understood is the significance of the festivals and events sector in places suffering from environmental crises. A major empirical survey of 480 festivals in rural Australia, conducted in 2008 at the height of the Millennium Drought, elucidates the role and significance of festivals under conditions of extreme environmental stress. It centers on a qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended questions on the impacts of that drought. Over 70% of participating festival and event managers indicated that their community had suffered from drought, while 43% cited drought as …

Looking Beyond Installation: Why Households Struggle To Make The Most Of Solar Hot Water Systems, Nicholas J. Gill, Peter Osman, Lesley M. Head, Michelle Voyer, Theresa Harada, Gordon R. Waitt, Christopher R. Gibson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines household responses to sustainability issues and adoption of energy saving technologies. Our example of solar hot water systems highlights the complexity and variability of responses to low-carbon technologies. While SHW systems have the potential to provide the majority of household hot water and to lower carbon emissions, little research has been done to investigate how SHW systems are integrated into everyday life. We draw on cultural understandings of the household to identify passive and active users of SHW systems and utilize a model that illustrates how technology use is dependent on inter-relations between cultural norms, systems of …

Urban Carbon Governance Experiments: The Role Of Australian Local Governments, Pauline M. Mcguirk, Robyn Dowling, Clare Brennan, Harriet Bulkeley

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Cities, and particularly urban local governments, are now widely recognised for their part in the complex, multilevel landscape of climate governance and carbon reduction. Nonetheless local government projects and initiatives are often framed as of limited value, outside the formal governance framework, and unable to contribute systematically. In contrast, this paper locates these initiatives as already part of the way in which governing climate and carbon is conducted and as governance experiments. We provide a descriptive analysis of these initiatives across Australia's capital cities, highlighting the domains, mechanisms, and partners through which they operate. We illustrate the enactment of experimentation …

Acceptance And Avoidance Processes At Different Levels Of Psychological Recovery From Enduring Mental Illness, Vinicius Siqueira, Lindsay G. Oades

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective. This study examined the use of psychological acceptance and experiential avoidance, two key concepts of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), in the psychological recovery process of people with enduring mental illness. Method. Sixty-seven participants were recruited from the metropolitan, regional, and rural areas of New South Wales, Australia. They all presented some form of chronic mental illness (at least 12 months) as reflected in DSM-IV Axis I diagnostic criteria. The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-19) was used to measure the presence of psychological acceptance and experiential avoidance; the Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS) was used to examine the levels of …

If A Safety Aid Is Present, There Must Be Danger: The Paradoxical Effects Of Hand Sanitizer During A Contamination Exposure Task, Shannon M. Blakey, Brett J. Deacon

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Perceptions of danger often arise in the context of feared threat cues, but individuals also rely on other heuristics that lead them to infer danger in ambiguous situations. For example, individuals may interpret their own anxiety or safety-seeking behaviors as indicators of threat. Another potential source of danger information is the mere availability of safety aids in the environment. Although assumed to be helpful, safety aids might paradoxically elicit, rather than alleviate, anxiety. The present study was designed to assess the degree to which concern-relevant safety aids exacerbate distress. Participants (N = 71) completed several self-report measures and engaged in …

Paternal Age, Paternal Presence And Children's Health: An Observational Study, Julian Gardiner, Alastair G. Sutcliffe, Edward Melhuish, Jacqueline Barnes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Life In The Gayborhood: Safety, Difference And Change In The Urban Gay Neighbourhood, Scott J. Mckinnon

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Book review of: Amin Ghaziani There Goes the Gayborhood? Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014 (280 pp). ISBN 9-78069115-879-2 (hard cover) RRP $64.00.

Is Something Better Than Nothing? Food Insecurity And Eating Patterns Of Young People Experiencing Homelessness, Belinda Crawford, Rowena Yamazaki, Elise Franke, Sue Amanatidis, Jioji Ravulo, Siranda Torvaldsen

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: Food insecurity is an increasing problem in marginalised groups that affects diet quality. We aimed to examine the extent of food insecurity and the eating patterns of young people accessing support from specialist homelessness services. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with a researcher-administered food frequency and food insecurity questionnaire was undertaken with 50 young people experiencing homelessness, aged 14-26 years. Participants were recruited from 11 specialist homelessness services providing support and accommodation for young people in central and south-western Sydney. Results: Food insecurity was a recent experience for 70% of participants. Eighty-five per cent of participants living independently experienced food …

Values In Breast Cancer Screening: An Empirical Study With Australian Experts, Lisa M. Parker, Lucie Rychetnik, Stacy M. Carter

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To explore what Australian experts value in breast screening, how these values are conceptualised and prioritised, and how they inform experts' reasoning and judgement about the Australian breast-screening programme. Design Qualitative study based on interviews with experts. Participants 33 experts, including clinicians, programme managers, policymakers, advocates and researchers selected for their recognisable influence in the Australian breast-screening setting. Setting Australian breast-screening policy, practice and research settings. Results Experts expressed 2 types of values: ethical values (about what was good, important or right) and epistemological values (about how evidence should be created and used). Ethical values included delivering benefit, avoiding …

Unintended Outcomes Of University-Community Partnerships: Building Organizational Capacity With Pace International Partners, Kate Lloyd, Lindie Clark, Laura Ann Hammersley, Michaela Baker, Felicity Rawlings-Sanaei, Emily D'Ath

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) at Macquarie University provides experiential opportunities for students and staff to contribute to more just, inclusive and sustainable societies by engaging in activities with partner organizations. PACE International offers a range of opportunities with partners overseas. Underpinning PACE is a commitment to mutually beneficial learning and engagement. To align with this commitment, PACE-related research engages partner perspectives and those of students and academics. The dearth of scholarly research on partner perspectives of community engagement (Bringle, Clayton & Price, 2009) underscores this imperative. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with partner representatives this article examines some …

The Political And Ethical Challenge Of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis, Christopher J. Degeling, Christopher Mayes, Wendy Lipworth, Ian Kerridge, Ross Upshur

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article critically examines current responses to multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and argues that bioethics needs to be willing to engage in a more radical critique of the problem than is currently offered. In particular, we need to focus not simply on market-driven models of innovation and anti-microbial solutions to emergent and re-emergent infections such as TB. The global community also needs to address poverty and the structural factors that entrench inequalities-thus moving beyond the orthodox medical/public health frame of reference.

Boyce Worthley Oration. 'Drawing The Line': A Risk Communication Perspective, Rodney J. Croft

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The paper represents a text version of the Australian Radiation Protection Society's Boyce Worthley Oration, which I had the privilege of delivering in 2014. The purpose of the presentation was to address the issue of whether, from a risk communication perspective, enough radiation protection research had been conducted and it was time to 'draw the line'. The paper addresses this issue by focusing on the radiofrequency (RF) risk communication domain, but is also applicable to radiation protection more generally. It fi rst provides a brief overview of both community concern about RF and the relative support from science regarding this …

Economic Evaluation Of Concise Cognitive Behavioural Therapy And/Or Pharmacotherapy For Depressive And Anxiety Disorders, Denise Meuldijk, Ingrid V. Carlier, Irene M. Van Vliet, Albert M. Van Hemert, Frans G. Zitman, M E. Van Den Akker-Van Marle

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

BACKGROUND: Depressive and anxiety disorders cause great suffering and disability and are associated with high health care costs. In a previous conducted pragmatic randomised controlled trial, we have shown that a concise format of cognitive behavioural- and/or pharmacotherapy is as effective as standard care in reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms and in improving subdomains of general health and quality of life in secondary care psychiatric outpatients. AIMS OF THE STUDY: In this economic evaluation, we examined whether a favourable cost-utility of concise care compared to standard care was attained. METHODS: The economic evaluation was performed alongside a pragmatic randomised controlled …

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 …

Maps And Mobilities: On The Possibilities And Limits Of Spatial Technologies For Humanities Research, Christopher R. Brennan-Horley

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper explores the limits of spatial representation for understanding historic mobilities in a rural Australian setting. For this research, an historical GIS was populated from paper map archives denoting where and when bitumen roads were sealed in the Bega Valley, NSW. Using existing geospatial methods, a temporally sensitive network analysis was conducted, revealing a picture of regional mobility reshaped by modernist infrastructure improvements. Yet a straightforward binary pitting sealed roads as 'good' vs unsealed roads as 'bad' was challenged in subsequent qualitative interviews with long-time residents. Instead, a range of opinions emerged about the role that differing road surfaces …

"Teachers Are Not Empty Vessels": A Reception Study Of Freeman And Johnson's (1998) Reconceptualization Of The Knowledge Base Of Second Language Teacher Education, Joseph J. Lee, John Murphy, Amanda Ann Baker

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study traces the reception history of Freeman and Johnson's (1998) widely cited article dedicated to theory and practices of second language teacher education (SLTE). It illuminates the degree to which that article has impacted SLTE theory, research, and potentially instructional practices. The reception study analysis is based on a data set of 413 journal articles, books, book chapters, master's theses, and doctoral dissertations that cited Freeman and Johnson (F&J) between 1999 and 2014. Using an innovative analytical approach combining both Hyland's (1999, 2004) citation categories and Coffin's (2009) stance framework, we investigate the citation analytics of F&J within this …

Reggio Emilia As A Metaphorical Homeland: An Account Of Professional 'Becoming', Gai M. Lindsay

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

An invitation in the August 2014 edition of 'The Challenge' to reflect on how the Reggio Emilia educational project has influenced me professionally and personally immediately provoked memories from throughout my teaching career. Encounters with the ideas underpinning pedagogy in Reggio Emilia have repeatedly reignited my passion as an early childhood teacher and have provoked me to advocacy, debate, research in practice, leadership and now doctoral studies and university teaching. Much of the credit I give to the project in Reggio Emilia for my ongoing growth as an educator has been documented in previous editions of 'The Challenge' (Lindsay 2008a, …

Shifting Towards Inquiry-Orientated Learning In A High School Outreach Program, Tom Gordon, Manjula Sharma, Helen Georgiou, Matthew Hill

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents results of an examination the effect of the introduction of inquiry-orientated learning, IOL, activities into the formal education outreach program for senior high school Physics students run by School of Physics at the University of Sydney, 'Kickstart Physics.' This is the flagship outreach program from the Faculty of Science and accommodates approximately a quarter of the total number of students that sit the state Physics exam. The project considered how students arrive at different inquiry-orientated outcomes such as making hypotheses, displaying and interpreting data, validity, reliability, as well as the mental effort reported by the students during …

Does Using Active Learning In Thermodynamics Lectures Improve Students' Conceptual Understanding And Learning Experiences?, Helen Georgiou, Manjula Sharma

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Encouraging 'active learning' in the large lecture theatre emerges as a credible recommendation for improving university courses, with reports often showing significant improvements in learning outcomes. However, the recommendations are based predominantly on studies undertaken in mechanics. We set out to examine those claims in the thermodynamics module of a large first year physics course with an established technique, called interactive lecture demonstrations (ILDs). The study took place at University of Sydney, where four parallel streams of the thermodynamics module were divided into two streams that experienced the ILDs and two streams that did not. The programme was first implemented …

Breaking The Barriers: Supporting And Engaging First-In-Family University Learners And Their Families, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea, Josephine May, Cathy Stone

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Universities attract students from a wide range of backgrounds, yet equity of access and participation for all potential students remains elusive. Access and participation is highly differentiated in the United Kingdom, North America and Australia (Abbott-Chapman, 2006; Couvillion-Landry, 2002-2003; Forsyth & Furlong, 2003; James, 2008; Schuetze & Slowey, 2002) and poorer educational outcomes for students who are first-in-family (FiF) are recorded globally (ABS, 2013; Harrell & Forney, 2003; Lehmann, 2009; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012). The international research on this group indicates that they are collectively less likely to go to university and also, after arrival, may not …

Are Your Ducks In A Row? External And Internal Stakeholder Perceptions Of The Benefits Of Parks In New South Wales, Australia, Monica Torland, Betty Weiler, Brent Moyle, Isabelle D. Wolf

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This research examines the strategic alignment between external and internal stakeholders' perceptions of the benefits of parks. To achieve this objective, surveys were distributed to park agency staff, as well as a sample of residents in New South Wales, Australia. Findings revealed alignment between external and internal stakeholders, with executive managers' perceptions being generally more favourable than staff and community. The paper pays particular attention to the alignment of internal stakeholders' (staff) perceptions, which is important for establishing and defending the market position of parks. A high degree of strategic alignment was found between executive and staff for personal benefits. …

Agreement Between Definitions Of Pharmaceutical Opioid Use Disorders And Dependence In People Taking Opioids For Chronic Non-Cancer Pain (Point): A Cohort Study, Louisa Degenhardt, Raimondo Bruno, Nicholas Lintzeris, Wayne Hall, Suzanne Nielsen, Briony K. Larance, Milton Cohen, Gabrielle Campbell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background

Methods

Salvaging Democracy For West Papuans In The Face Of Australia-Indonesia Obstruction, Camellia B. Webb-Gannon

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article argues that the democratic ideals espoused by Australia and Indonesia fall short in application to West Papua and West Papuans, and notes that such shortcomings are legitimated by mainstream media's exoticist portrayals of West Papuans, particularly in Australia. The antidemocratic policies and processes of each government with regard to West Papua actually enable the (by and large) "good" bilateral relations at the state level to remain intact. However, this article contends that democracy, as practiced by civil society actors at the grassroots and digital network level in Australia and West Papua, creates cracks in the official Australia-Indonesia state …

Technology, Normalisation And Male Sex Work, Catherine L. Mac Phail, John Scott, Victor Minichiello

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Technological change, particularly the growth of the Internet and smart phones, has increased the visibility of male escorts, expanded their client base and diversified the range of venues in which male sex work can take place. Specifically, the Internet has relocated some forms of male sex work away from the street and thereby increased market reach, visibility and access and the scope of sex work advertising. Using the online profiles of 257 male sex workers drawn from six of the largest websites advertising male sexual services in Australia, the role of the Internet in facilitating the normalisation of male sex …

A Cluster Randomized-Controlled Trial Of A Community Mobilization Intervention To Change Gender Norms And Reduce Hiv Risk In Rural South Africa: Study Design And Intervention, Audrey Pettifor, Sheri Lippman, Amanda Selin, Dean Peacock, Ann Gottert, Suzanne Maman, Dumisani Rebombo, Chirayath Suchindran, Rhian Twine, Kathryn Lancaster, Tamu Daniel, F Gomez-Olive, Kathleen Kahn, Catherine L. Mac Phail

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Community mobilization (CM) interventions show promise in changing gender norms and preventing HIV, but few have been based on a defined mobilization model or rigorously evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to describe the intervention design and implementation and present baseline findings of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of a two-year, theory-based CM intervention that aimed to change gender norms and reduce HIV risk in rural Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Methods: Community Mobilizers and volunteer Community Action Teams (CATs) implemented two-day workshops, a range of outreach activities, and leadership engagement meetings. All activities were mapped onto six …

Sexual Partnership Patterns Among South African Adolescent Girls Enrolled In Sti Preventions Trial Network 068: Measurement Challenges And Implications For Hiv/Sti Transmission, Nadia Nguyen, Kimberly Powers, James Hughes, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Estelle Piwowar-Manning, Eshan Patel, Francesc Xavier Gomez-Olive, Kathleen Kahn, Audrey Pettifor

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Estimates of sexual partnership durations, gaps between partnerships, and overlaps across partnerships are important for understanding sexual partnership patterns and developing interventions to prevent transmission of HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, a validated, optimal approach for estimating these parameters, particularly when partnerships are ongoing, has not been established. Methods: We assessed 4 approaches for estimating partnership parameters using cross-sectional reports on dates of first and most recent sex and partnership status (ongoing or not) from 654 adolescent girls in rural South Africa. The first, commonly used, approach assumes all partnerships have ended, resulting in underestimated durations for ongoing partnerships. …