Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Australian Bureau of Statistics'

Jowett and O'Donnell observe that 'there is a clear revival of interest in the important role of propaganda in many aspects of modern life, not necessarily related to international intrigue or military campaigns' (1992, p. xi). This thesis has examined the 1991 Census communication campaign (ABS 1991a) for evidence of propaganda intentions and strategies. Propaganda is clearly a pejorative term and its application to a particular campaign could imply a covert attempt at manipulation by the authority behind the campaign�the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). As the author was responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of the 1991 Census communication campaign and had privileged access to a range of sources, a reader might expect detailed references to internal files which reveal conscious decision-making to mount a propaganda campaign. This is not the case. An analysis of the 150 working files associated with the campaign revealed no support for such a hypothesis; there was no evidence of decision-making with the intent of implementing propaganda strategies. Similarly, during interviews with senior ABS managers, these managers categorically rejected the notion that the Bureau conducted a propaganda campaign and pointed to the fact that all procedures were cleared through both the Federal Parliament and the Privacy Commissioner. The hypothesis explored by this thesis is that despite this lack of conscious direction, propaganda processes are evident in the way the ABS conducted the communication campaign for the 1991 Census. The perspective of the thesis is closely aligned to that of Altheide and Johnson who locate propaganda as the bridge between 'organisational image and reality' (1980, p. 4). Altheide and Johnson regard propaganda as an insidious phenomena based on impression-management through the 'rigorous pursuit of scientifically valid procedures and standards' (1980, p. 229). The end result of this impression-management is that certain 'facts' are presented to the exclusion of all others. This thesis argues that impression-management strategies are evident in the way the ABS conducted the communication campaign for the 1991 Census. The processes of impression-management are subtle and do not reside in such sources as internal files. The process operates through the internalised ethos and corporate values inculcated in the minds of senior staff within the Bureau and is best conceptualised as a mindset, reflected in outcomes. I have used the term mindset to cover the process of converting abstract values into specific guides for action�fora discussion of this process see Hall (1977, pp. 69 - 83). This mindset is well-illustrated by the issue of compulsion�the obligation to complete a census form. At one level the ABS procedures are impeccable: cleared through the federal parliament and the Privacy Commissioner�and it is this form of discourse that is documented in internal files. The procedures do not, however, enable respondents to make an informed decision about whether the census is compulsory and about the ramifications for non-compliance. The mindset operating here is based on the value of the census to the ABS�the census is good for the ABS�it generates revenue and legitimises the role of the organisation. The thesis presents data which establishes that there is a significant gap between the organisational image of the census (in the corporate mind of the ABS) and that perceived by householders. The mindset of the ABS is clearly evident in the procedures adopted on this issue. The main finding of this thesis is that many of the processes underlying the development of the 1991 Census communication campaign were subtle environmental influences. These reflected the internal dynamics of the ABS, and its ability as an institution to control the communication environment through addressing the needs of other major organisations, such as the media, and the release of selective information to specific target audiences. In this context, institutional dynamics, more than decisions by individual managers, influenced the conduct of the campaign. The process of propaganda, therefore, is implicit in the 1991 Census rather than explicit�a distinction, in terms of process, drawn by Pearlin and Rosenberg (1954) in their examination of propaganda techniques in institutional advertising. It should also be acknowledged that whilst the author did have privileged access to information, there is no information contained in this thesis that would not be publicly available. The majority of primary sources are reports published by the ABS or papers delivered by Bureau staff at a range of fora. Permission was sought from the ABS for assistance in obtaining access to information and this was readily granted.

While much has been written on the Australian film and television industry, little has been presented by actual producers, filmmakers and technicians of their time and experiences within that same industry. Similarly, with historical documentaries, it has been academics rather than filmmakers who have led the debate. This thesis addresses this shortcoming and bridges the gap between practitioner experience and intellectual discussion, synthesising the debate and providing an important contribution from a filmmaker-academic, in its own way unique and insightful. The thesis is presented in two voices. First, my voice, the voice of memoir and recollected experience of my screen adventures over 38 years within the Australian industry, mainly producing historical documentaries for the ABC and the SBS. This is represented in italics. The second half and the alternate chapters provide the industry framework in which I worked with particular emphasis on documentaries and how this evolved and developed over a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2010. Within these two voices are three layers against which this history is reviewed and presented. Forming the base of the pyramid is the broad Australian film industry made up of feature films, documentary, television drama, animation and other types and styles of production. Above this is the genre documentary within this broad industry, and making up the small top tip of the pyramid, the sub-genre of historical documentary. These form the vertical structure within which industry issues are discussed. Threading through it are the duel determinants of production: ‘the market’ and ‘funding’. Underpinning the industry is the involvement of government, both state and federal, forming the three dimensional matrix for the thesis. For over 100 years the Australian film industry has depended on government support through subsidy, funding mechanisms, development assistance, broadcast policy and legislative provisions. This thesis aims to weave together these industry layers, binding them with the determinants of the market and funding, and immersing them beneath layers of government legislation and policy to present a new view of the Australian film industry.

This thesis investigates problems of performance modelling in sport. Mathematical models are used to evaluate the performance of individuals, teams, and the competition rules under which they compete. The thesis comprises a collection of papers on applications of modelling to Australian rules football, soccer and cricket. Using variations of the model wij = ui + hi - uj + eij where wij is the home team winning margin when home team i plays away team j, ui is a team rating, hi is an individual ground effect and eij is random error, the evaluation of team home ground advantage effect (HA) is studied in detail. Data from the Australian Football League and English Association Football for 1980 to 1995 are investigated. The necessity of individual team HAs is demonstrated. The usual methods of calculating HA for competitions is shown to be inappropriate for individual teams. The existence of a spurious HA when home and away performances are compared is discussed. For a balanced competition, fitting the above model by least squares is equivalent to a simple calculator method using only data from the final ladder. A method of calculating HA by pairing matches is demonstrated. Tables of HA and paired HA in terms of points/game for each year are given. The resultant HAs for both Australian rules football and soccer are analysed. Clearly there is an isolation effect, where teams that are isolated geographically have large HAs. For English soccer, the paired HA is shown to be linearly related to the distance between club grounds. As an application of these methods, the development and implementation of a computer tipping program used to forecast Australian rules football by rating teams is described. The need for ground effects for each team and ground, and the use of heuristic methods to optimise the program is discussed. The accuracy of the prediction model and its implementation by publication in the media is discussed. International comparisons show prediction methods are limited by the data. Methods for evaluating the fairness of the League draw and the finals systems are given. The thesis also investigates the use of dynamic programming to optimise tactics in football and cricket. The thesis develops tables giving the optimal run rate and the expected score or probability of winning at any stage of a one-day cricket innings. They show a common strategy in one-day cricket to be non-optimal, and a heuristic is developed that is near optimal under a range of parameter variations. A range of dynamic programming models are presented, allowing for batsmen of different abilities and various objective functions. Their application to performance modelling are shown by developing a radically different performance measure for one day cricket, and applying it to a one-day series.

Regardless of ‘bear’ or ‘bull’ markets, the great Australian dream remains to own your own home. Central to this dream of home ownership is unflagging interest in the property market, reflected in bulging real estate news sections of newspapers in South East Queensland, the focus area for this thesis research. While there has been much scholarly research into other areas of public relations spin and its impact on news-gathering processes, there appears to be next to no research on real estate spin, how it is prepared and by whom, and journalism’s attitude to and the managing of the spin. Real estate spin remains an under-researched topic requiring further investigation not only in South East Queensland but Australia-wide given the ‘big bucks’ allotted to the promotion of real estate and the income it generates for news media outlets, particularly newspapers. This thesis examines the influence of public relations practitioners and journalists specialising in real estate spin through interviews, content analysis, and how real estate spin envelopes itself in today’s society. From content analyses and observations of journalism in the real estate rounds of the two major newspapers in South East Queensland, I found that journalists were using massive quantities of real estate spin supplied by PR practitioners and other associated industry sources. This spin is supplanting investigative newsroom journalism, thus allowing newspapers to operate with minimal staffing levels yet still able to publish large weekly real estate news sections. My research also revealed growing commercialisation of real estate news through increasing outsourcing of journalistic work to a writing bureau, which could jeopardise both the professions of journalism and public relations in the future.

This thesis contributes to improvements in effectively communicating population related cancer distributions and the associated burden of cancer on Australian communities. This thesis presents a new algorithm for creating an alternative map displays of tessellating hexagons. Alternative map displays can emphasise statistics in countries that contain densely populated cities. It is accompanied by a software implementation that automates the choice of one hexagon to represent each geographic unit, ensuring the statistic for each is equitably presented. The case study comparing a traditional choropleth map to the alternative hexagon tile map contributes to a growing field of visual inference studies.

Regardless of age, background, or socioeconomic status, children must learn to read in order to be successful in school and in their future careers. Reading is an essential skill necessary to be successful in all other academic content areas. Despite the importance of this skill, American Indian children consistently score below the national average on tests of reading ability and reading comprehension. During recent years, many schools in the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) system requested funding through the Reading First initiative. Schools used the funding and support provided by the BIE Reading First grant to attempt system-wide change at the school level in order to refocus efforts on increasing reading achievement. The current study investigated the impact of the Reading First Initiative on American Indian students in kindergarten through third grade. Results suggest that the models and methods employed using funding from the Reading First grant had a positive impact on certain aspects of reading achievement in students. Instructional Leadership Changes had a negative impact on student achievement while certain reading programs were found to have a more positive impact on some students than others. Furthermore, regardless of beginning of year reading level, all students showed increased gain in end-of-year outcome scores over time. Same grade cohort groups of students in kindergarten, second, and third grades demonstrated increased average scores over time as schools continued to implement Reading First models. Finally, while the gap between students with intensive needs and their peers was not erased, it also did not widen. Based on research indicating gain for these students is often below that of their peers, this is an important finding. Thus, it appears that the impact of Reading First in relation to teaching younger students the basic building blocks needed to read with fluency in the later grades was positive in the current sample.

The Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD) is a collaboration of hospitals, sexual health clinics and specialist general practices throughout Australia, established in April 1999. Core data variables collected include demographic data, immunological and virological markers, AIDS diagnosis, antiretroviral and prophylactic treatment and cause of death. The first electronic data transfer occurred in September 1999 followed by six monthly data transfers thereafter. All analyses included in this thesis are based on patients recruited to AHOD by March 2004. By March 2004, 2329 patients had been recruited to AHOD from 27 sites throughout Australia. Of these, 352 (15%) patients were recruited from non-metropolitan clinics. The majority of patients were male (94%), and infected with HIV through male homosexual contact (73%). Almost 90% of AHOD patients are antiretroviral treatment experience, and the majority of patients are receiving triple therapy as mandated by standard of care guidelines in Australia. Antiretroviral treatment use has changed in Australia reflecting changes in the availability of new treatment strategies and agents. The crude mortality rate was 1.58 per 100 person years, and of the 105 deaths, more than half died from HIV-unrelated deaths. The prevalence of HBV and HCV in AHOD was 4.8% and 10.9%, respectively. HIV disease progression in the era of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) among AHOD patients is consistent with what has been reported in developed countries. Common factors associated with HIV disease progression were low CD4 cell count, high viral load and prior treatment with mono or double therapy at the time of commencing HAART. This was demonstrated in AHOD in terms of long-term CD4 cell response, the rate of changing combination antiretroviral therapy and factors predicting death. HBV and HCV coinfection is also relatively common in AHOD, similar to other developed country cohorts. Coinfection does not appear to be serious impediments to the treatment of HIV infected patients. However, HIV disease outcome following HAART does appear to be adversely affected by HIV/HCV coinfection but not in terms of HIV/HBV coinfection. Patients attending non-metropolitan sites were found to be similar to those attending metropolitan sites in terms of both immunological response and survival.

The temporal and spatial variability in wind speed and direction was investigated in a study of the mesoscale wind fields in the Canberra region. The statistical description of the winds was based on twelve months of three-hourly data at seventeen sites obtained in a joint program carried out by the Division of Land Use Research, CSIRO, the National Capital Development Commission, and the Bureau of Meteorology. The statistical analysis proceeded in stages. The first two stages were concerned with the determination and examination of averages and measures of dipersion. Information on the temporal variability in regional wind, defined as the average of the winds at the seventeen collection sites, provided the first insight into the important determinants of winds in the region. The data were then categorized on the basis of the information thus obtained, and the averages over time for each site were analysed in each category. The variation between sites revealed the extent of the spatial variability in the region. For each category, for each site, there were perturbations around the average state, and in the last stage of the study, the analysis examined how the perturbations were related across sites using correlation coefficients. Generalized Procrustes Analysis was used, followed by the extensive use of cluster analysis. Linear modelling techniques were used at all stages of the study, not only for wind speed, but also for wind direction which is an angular variate and thus required different modelling procedures. The models related the variables of interest to terrain features such as position, elevation and surface roughness. These models allowed an informed judgement to be made on the likelihood of accurately estimating the winds at other locations in the region using interpolation techniques.

Australian Football (AF) matches consist of high and low intensity activities and specific periods of play. Previous research has identified maximum periods of high intensity using a rolling time frame approach. However, the development of a non-uniform analysis method may be more desirable in intermittent type sports. Additionally, there is a paucity of information within the published literature that describes how to use such data to improve training design and subsequent monitoring. Furthermore, the physical and technical characteristics of specific phases of play have been identified in recent research. However, these findings can be developed further by ascertaining the effect of playing position, field location and successful/ unsuccessful play. The impact of factors such as venue and a player’s physical capacity and the constraints these may have upon performance should also be systematically analysed. The purpose of the present PhD research project, therefore, was to gain a greater understanding of the physical and technical demands of AF in specific phases of play, and how this data can be used to evaluate performance and inform training program design. To achieve this, six studies were included in the project to identify maximum periods of play using the ball in play (BiP) method, whilst additionally contextualising these time periods with key technical actions (e.g., kicks) (Study 1), the physical and technical demands of offence, defence, and contested phases of play, and how these outputs may be affected by playing position, successful and unsuccessful play, field location, environment and players’ physical capacity (Studies 3 and 5). Additionally, the intensity distribution was compared between competitive matches and small-sided games during training (Study 4). Based on this, position specific drills were established and running intensities in the drills were investigated (Study 6). Study one ascertained the maximum running intensities of ball in play (BiP) periods, and contextualised these with technical (e.g., kicks) actions. The findings demonstrated that maximum BiP period intensity was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher than that derived using whole match data methods for all measured metrics (relative distance high-speed running, very high-speed running, PlayerLoadTM, high-intensity efforts, and acceleration efforts). However, no significant differences were found between playing positions. A technical action (e.g., a kick) was recorded in 21-48% of the maximum BiP periods, depending upon the primary microsensor technology metric assessed, with kicks and handballs constituting > 50% of all actions performed. Study two uniquely assessed the impact of sudden rule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 season) upon match running performance and injuries within AF. The total distance (ES=1.28), high-speed ( > 18 km/h) (ES=0.44) and very high-speed ( > 24 km/h) (ES=0.27) distances, PlayerLoadTM (ES=0.96), high-intensity efforts (ES=0.48), and accelerations (ES=0.33) were smaller (p ≤ 0.01) for the 2020 than the 2019 season. Expressed relative to playing time, distance (ES=-0.38), PlayerLoadTM (ES=-0.27), and acceleration efforts (ES=-0.50) were greater (p < 0.05) for the 2020 than the 2019 season. No significant differences in maximum ball-in-play periods nor the difference between the 1st and 4th quarters were evident. Injury rates remained similar between 2019 (3.36 per game) and 2020 (3.55 per game). However, the proportion of injuries that led to lost time (missed games) was greater for the 2020 (38%) than 2019 season (24%). The changes in the rules had a profound impact on player performance and increased the likelihood of time loss injuries. Study three compared the physical and technical demands between offence, defence, and contested phases of play within playing positions (backs, forwards, and midfielders). Furthermore, study two ascertained the effect of field location upon offence, defence, and contested play, as well as making comparisons between successful and unsuccessful offence and defence. The results indicated that relative measures of distance, high-speed running, accelerations and decelerations were significantly (p < 0.001) higher in defence versus offence and contested play for backs, and in offence versus defensive and contested play for forwards. Amongst midfielders, only relative measures of distance and high-speed running were significantly (p < 0.001) greater in offence versus defence and contested play, with no significant differences between phases for accelerations and decelerations. Successful offence was underpinned by greater physical and technical demands for midfielders and forwards, whereas the opposite was found for backs. Unsuccessful defence was largely categorised by increases in physical output, whereas tackles and marks were increased in successful defence. Larger field locations (e.g., full ground) recorded the highest distance and high-speed running per minute, however, no pattern was evident for acceleration or deceleration efforts relative to playing time. These findings demonstrate that phase of play (offence, defence, contested), as well as successful and unsuccessful phases have different physical and technical demands, which vary between playing positions and field location. Study four compared the intensity distribution of BiP periods from competitive matches to the intensity distribution of SSGs in 10% intensity buckets, using maximum BiP periods as a reference point. Although few significant differences were noted between BiP periods from matches and SSGs, several players were unable to record the same percentage of efforts in the higher intensity buckets. Specifically, 25 of 67 players (37%) did not record any SSGs efforts within intensity buckets classified as ≥ 90% for relative distance. Additionally, 33 of 67 (49%) and 28 of 67 (42%) of players recorded no SSGs efforts in buckets classified as ≥ 80% for relative measures of high-speed running and acceleration efforts respectively. Therefore, SSGs are a sub-optimal training stimulus for the purpose of exposing all players in a team to the running intensities recorded in the most intense periods of play. Study five examined the effect of both match (e.g., venue) and player (e.g., physical capacity, and playing experience) factors on the physical and technical performance of players in successful offence and defence, as well as maximum BiP periods. The main findings regarding match factors were highlighted during successful defence, where playing at home significantly reduced both distance and high-speed running relative to playing time (moderate effect size), as well as significantly increasing the rate of tackles (small effect size). During successful offence, 1-repetition maximum trap bar deadlift relative to body mass significantly increased relative distance (large effect size), and high-speed running (moderate effect size). During successful defence, increased performance (i.e., shorter time to completion) upon the two-kilometre time trial significantly increased relative distance (large effect size), high-speed running (large effect size), and acceleration efforts (moderate effect size). Additionally, increased two-kilometre time trial performance significantly increased relative distance and high-speed running within maximum BiP periods (both large effect size). Playing experience had a significant effect upon the rate of kicks and marks in successful offence, where those with moderate experience performed a greater amount (both moderate effect size). Furthermore, those with lower playing experience performed greater relative distance and high-speed running in maximum BiP periods (both moderate effect size). Study six established position specific drills and assessed their utility to match or supersede the running intensities recorded during maximum BiP periods from competitive matches, whilst concurrently training the technical (e.g., kicks) actions commonly recorded in AF. Three drills were designed for this purpose, which included offence, defence, and a combination drill (where two players performed the drill at the same time, one as the forward and one as the back). All three training drills recorded significantly greater (p < 0.001) measures of distance, high and very high-speed running, and high-intensity efforts relative to playing time when compared to maximum BiP periods. Only the defence drill recorded significantly (p < 0.001) greater measures of PlayerLoadTM and accelerations relative to playing time than BiP periods. Conversely, accelerations per minute were significantly (p < 0.001) greater in BiP periods than those recorded during both the offence and combination drill. When comparing the drills to each other, all measured metrics were significantly (p < 0.001) greater for the defence drill when compared to the offence drill, whilst distance, high-speed running, PlayerLoadTM, and accelerations were significantly (p < 0.001) greater when compared to the combination drill. These findings demonstrate that a position specific drill may be an attractive addition to AF players training regimes where the aim is match, or supersede, the highest intensity periods derived from competitive matches whilst concurrently training technical aspects of performance. The findings demonstrate that utilising discrete analysis methods (BiP, offence, defence, contested) can provide greater detail for practitioners concerning the physical and technical characteristics of AF matches. Additionally, these characteristics may be influenced by factors such as playing venue and a player’s levels of physical capacity. The data presented within the studies may be used to optimise representative training (e.g., SSGs) or a position specific drill may be integrated into training in order to expose players to the relevant physical and technical demands. Future research should explore additional features (e.g., change of direction, collisions, time to execute skill) that may enhance the application of position specific drills, as well as exploring if the uptake of such drills improves aspects of both physical (e.g., time trial performance) and match performance (e.g., running intensity, skill execution).

The Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme (ADIDS) provides a database containing both raw and processed data relating to milk production in Australia. This thesis provides estimations of potential milk production for dairy breeding using dairy animal data and artificial neural networks (ANNs). By predicting daughter milk production from data representative of dams in a herd and artificial insemination sires, an evaluation of those potential daughter results can lead to the selection of a breeding sire for that herd. Relevant data fields and derived attributes from the dairy database that significantly affect the daughter milk production are utilised in the development of a prediction model. Further research of data fields proven to influence daughter milk production, results in a set of rules extracted for human interpretation. Only Victorian data is used in this study.

[Truncated abstract] Background Emergency department (ED) presentations of respiratory infections are not well described. Baseline ED data are needed to monitor trends, and to help evaluate the impact of health interventions, and assess changes in clinical practice for these conditions. Aims: To describe the epidemiology of respiratory infections diagnosed in Western Australian hospital EDs from 2000 to 2003; to determine the extent and usefulness of bacterial cultures ordered in hospital, and to describe and evaluate the antibiotic prescribing pattern in the ED setting. Methods: The cohort consisted of patients diagnosed with a respiratory infection at the ED of Perth's major metropolitan teaching hospitals from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2003. The analysis was based on a linked data set containing patient data from the Emergency Department Information System, the Hospital Morbidity Data Set, the death registry, and the Ultra Laboratory Information System. Further, a sample of patient medical records from 1 adult hospital was examined to assess antibiotic prescribing practice. Results: Overall, there were 37,455 presentations (28,885 patients) given an ED diagnosis of a respiratory infection. Of these, 14,884 (39.7%, 95% CI: 39.2 to 40.2) were admitted and 715 (1.9%, 95% CI: 1.8 to 2.0) died in hospital. The infections included; 48.1% acute upper respiratory infections (URI), 18.5% pneumonia, 23.5% other acute lower respiratory infections (LRI), 7.4% chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with lower respiratory infection (COPD+), 1.3% influenza or viral pneumonia and 1.2% other URI. Children accounted for 80.7% of acute URI diagnoses, COPD+ mainly affected the elderly, just over 40% of pneumonia diagnoses were in patients 65 years or older and 30.7% in patients younger than 15 years. ... The most common pathogen isolated from blood was Streptococcus pneumoniae and 10.4% (95% CI: 4.8 to 16.0) had reduced susceptibility to penicillin. For those diagnosed with pneumonia, Strep. pneumoniae accounted for over 90% of pathogens isolated from the blood of young children and isolation of Enterobacteriaceae from blood increased with age. Around 30% of patients had positive sputum cultures and from these Haemophilus influenzae, Strep. pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the most common organisms grown. Of those diagnosed with pneumonia, acute LRI or COPD+, 34.7% (95% CI: 26.1 to 43.3) of S. aureus isolated from sputum and 16.4% (95% CI: 7.1 to 25.7) from blood were methicillin resistant. Of 366 adult patient medical records reviewed, 56.8% (95% CI: 51.7 to 61.9) noted that an antibiotic was prescribed in the ED and amoxycillin was the most frequently prescribed. For those with pneumonia, concordance between prescribing guidelines and practice was low. Conclusions The administrative data sets used in the present study are useful for monitoring outcomes for respiratory infections diagnosed in the ED. Pneumonia continues to place a burden on the hospital system. Routine blood and sputum cultures have limited value. However, an appropriately designed surveillance program is needed to monitor potential Abstract v respiratory pathogens and assist in monitoring the appropriateness of current empiric antimicrobial therapy.

The research presented in this thesis is two-fold: on the one hand, major data mining problems are reformulated as mathematical programming problems. These problems should be carefully designed, since from their formulation depends the efficiency, perhaps the existence, of the solvers. On the other hand, optimisation methods are adapted to solve these problems, most of which are nonsmooth and nonconvex. This part is delicate, as the solution is often required to be good and obtained fast. Numerical experiments on real-world datasets are presented and analysed.
Doctor of Philosophy

[Truncated abstract. Please see pdf format for complete text.] Background : The excess burden of mortality born by young Indigenous Australians and the disparity in infant and childhood mortality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians have been well documented. The accuracy and completeness of national data describing the health of Indigenous Australians is inconsistent. The Western Australia (WA) Maternal and Child Health Research Database (MCHRDB), is a linked total population database that includes perinatal maternal and infant data, and infant and childhood morbidity and mortality data. Overall, these data are more than 99% complete, with a similar high level of completeness and validity for Indigenous Western Australians. Aim : The aim of this thesis is to measure Indigenous infant (0 to <1 year) and childhood (>=1 to <19 years) mortality and the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous infants and children in WA for birth cohorts from 1980 to 1997 inclusive. To achieve this aim a number of secondary aims were identified, including the measurement of certain maternal and infant variables, and the age-specific, all-cause and cause-specific mortality for WA infants and children. Method : The study comprises a longitudinal birth cohort study, the primary data source being the MCHRDB. Data included on the MCHRDB are complete for all births in WA from 1980 onwards, with new birth cohorts linked on an annual basis. Maternal and infant variables and the geographical location of the residence and the time of birth and death were included in the descriptive and multivariate analyses. Each infant and childhood death was coded using a three-digit code developed primarily for research purposes. The descriptive analyses of mortality referred to the probability of dying in infancy and in childhood as the cumulative mortality risk (CMR), for various diseases and various population subgroups. Age-specific childhood rates were also calculated. The results of multivariate analyses included the fitting of Cox and Poisson regression models, and estimates of effect were represented as hazard ratios (Cox regression) and relative rates (Poisson regression). Results : Between 1980 and 1997, births to Indigenous mothers accounted for 6% of total WA births. Approximately 46% of Indigenous births were to mothers living in a remote location compared to 9% of non-Indigenous births. Indigenous mothers gave birth at an earlier age (30% of births were to teenage mothers compared to 6% of non-Indigenous births), and were more likely to be single than non-Indigenous mothers (40% Indigenous, 9% non-Indigenous). Indigenous infants had more siblings, were born at an earlier gestation and with a lower birth weight and percentage of expected birth weight. The CMR for Indigenous infants was 22 per 1000 live births compared with 6.7 for non- Indigenous infants, a relative risk (RR) of 3.3 (95%CI 3.0, 3.6). While there was a decrease in the CMR over the birth year groups for both populations, the disparity between the rate of Indigenous and non-Indigenous infant mortality increased. The Indigenous postneonatal (>28 to 365 days) mortality rate (11.7 per 1,000 neonatal survivors) was higher than the neonatal (0 to 28 days) mortality rate (10.3 per 1,000 live births). This profile differed from that for non-Indigenous infants, where the neonatal mortality rate (4.3 per 1,000 live births) was nearly twice that of the postneonatal mortality rate (2.4 per 1,000 neonatal survivors). The main causes of infant mortality among Indigenous infants were potentially preventable. These causes were infection followed by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which differed from the main causes for non-Indigenous infants, sequelae of prematurity and birth defects. The CMR attributable to SIDS increased over the years amongst Indigenous infants and decreased significantly over the years in the non-Indigenous population. Furthermore, the disparity in mortality between the two populations increased and, in 1995 to 1997, was over seven times higher amongst Indigenous infants. The CMR was highest amongst infants living in remote locations for all causes of death except for Indigenous deaths attributable to SIDS, where the risk of death was highest amongst infants living in metropolitan locations. With the exception of infection, there was no difference in cause-specific mortality amongst Indigenous infants according to geographical location. Indigenous infants living in a remote location were at a significantly increased risk of death due to infection compared with their peers living in a rural or metropolitan location. The risk of death for Indigenous children was more than three times higher than for non-Indigenous children. This risk was significantly increased when most of the perinatal maternal and infant variables were considered.

[Truncated abstract] The malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) is a large, ground-dwelling bird that is listed as threatened in all states of Australia in which it occurs. Its range encompasses much of southern Australia; however, much of it has been cleared for agriculture. Malleefowl are thought to have suffered substantial decline owing to multiple threats that include habitat loss, predation from exotic predators, grazing of habitat by introduced herbivores and fire - common threats in the decline of many Australian vertebrate species. The malleefowl has an unmistakeable appearance, unique biology, and widespread distribution across Australia. Consequently, it has been the focus of much scientific and community interest. In the Western Australian wheatbelt, community groups are working to conserve the species and have been actively collecting data on its distribution for over 15 years. The vast majority of these data are presence-only and have been collected in an opportunistic manner but, combined with long-term data from government agencies and museums spanning over 150 years, they present a significant opportunity to inform ecological questions relevant to the conservation of the species. The purpose of this study was to answer key ecological questions regarding the distribution, status and habitat preferences of malleefowl using unstructured occurrence records supplemented by reliable absences derived from Bird Atlas data sets and targeted surveys. Malleefowl in the Western Australian wheatbelt were used as a case study to illustrate: 1) how the decline of a species can be quantified and causes of that decline identified; and 2) how threats can be identified and responses to threats explored. I used bioclimatic modelling to define and explore variation within the climatic niche of the Malleefowl across Australia. '...' This thesis provides substantial additional knowledge about the ecology, distribution and status of malleefowl in Western Australia. It also illustrates how opportunistic and unstructured data can be augmented to investigate key aspects of a species' ecology. Despite the limitations of these data, which primarily relate to variation in observer effort across time and space, they can provide important outcomes that may not be achieved using standard survey and data collection techniques. The utility of opportunistic data is greatest in situations where the species: is recognisable and easily observed; is relatively sedentary; and occurs within a landscape containing consistent land use and habitat types. The approaches used in this study could be applied by researchers to situations where community interest exists for species with these attributes. At a national scale, the malleefowl is predicted to decline by at least 20% over the next three generations. The findings of this thesis suggest that the future for the species in the Western Australian wheatbelt may not be as dire as predicted elsewhere within its range, owing largely to the easing and cessation of threatening processes (e.g. land clearing, grazing of habitat by livestock) and the ability of the species to occupy a variety of habitat types. Despite this perceived security, some caution must be exercised until there is a more complete knowledge of the impact of fox predation and reduced rainfall due to climate change on malleefowl populations. Furthermore, the status of the species beyond the agricultural landscapes in Western Australia requires closer examination.

This thesis examines the implications of using different correlation input matrices and estimation techniques in confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) when analyzing ordinal, nonnormal data derived from responses of recently arrived Australian immigrants to the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The GHQ-12 is one of the most widely used instruments for determining wellbeing in populations. The response format of the GHQ-12 comprises four ordinal categories and underlying distributions of data obtained invariably do not approximate univariate or multivariate normality. Owing to these data properties, consideration should be given to the application of appropriate statistical approaches for analyzing this type of data sets. This study also investigates the extent to which the GHQ-12 is invariant across gender and cultural groups. A three-dimensional measurement model for the GHQ-12 was initially examined for four groups of Australian immigrants who originated from Hong Kong (n = 201), Mainland China (n =213), former Yugoslavia (n = 259), and the United Kingdom (n = 428). A series of CFAs using either a Pearson�s product-moment or a polychoric correlation input matrix and employing either maximum likelihood (ML), weighted least squares (WLS) or diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) estimation methods was conducted on the data. A comparison of the parameter estimates and goodness-of-fit statistics obtained for the different analyses provided support for using polychoric correlation input matrices and DWLS estimation in CFAs when analyzing ordinal, nonnormal data with smaller sample sizes. Invariance tests across gender and cultural groups were conducted on a second-order measurement model for the GHQ-12, culminating in significant differences between the two Asian and two European cohorts. The GHQ-12 was invariant for immigrants from Hong Kong and Mainland China, as well as for males and females from the United Kingdom. Partial invariance of the GHQ-12 was found for immigrants from Asia, the United Kingdom, and former Yugoslavia and for Asian males and females. Findings from the present study suggest that estimating models based on nonnormal ordinal responses using polychoric correlations with DWLS is more likely to result in a solution with higher parameter estimates and better indices of fit than other approaches. Further research should be conducted on real and simulated data to investigate the efficacy of WLS and DWLS estimation in CFAs when using polychoric correlations as the input data for varying categorical response formats, with a range of model and sample sizes.

In an era of acute concern about airline safety, bird strikes are still one of the major hazards to aviation worldwide. The severity of the problem is such that it is mandatory in all developed countries to include bird management as part of airport safety management programs. In Australia, there are approximately 500 bird aircraft strikes per year (Bailey 2000). Brisbane airport has a relatively high occurrence of strikes, with an average of 77 recorded every year (2002-2004). Given the severity of the problem, a variety of techniques have been employed by airports to reduce bird strikes. Scare devices, repellents, continuous patrols for bird hazing, use of raptors to clear airspace of birds and depredation are used by many airports. Even given the diversity of control methods available, it is accepted that habitat management is the most effective long term way to control birds in and around the airport space. Experimental studies have shown that habitat manipulation and active scaring measures (shooting, scaring etc), can reduce bird numbers to an acceptable level. The current study investigated bird populations in six major vegetation habitat types identified within the operational and surrounding areas of Brisbane airport. In order to determine areas where greater bird control and management should be focused, bird abundance, distribution, and activity were recorded and habitats that pose the greatest bird strike risk to aircraft were identified. Secondly, species with high hazard potential were identified and ranked according to their hazard potential to aircraft. This study also investigated the effectiveness of different vegetation management options to reduce bird species abundance within operational areas of Brisbane airport. Four different management options were compared. Each management option was assessed for grass structural complexity and potential food resources available to hazardous bird species. Analysis of recorded data showed that of the habitats compared within the Brisbane airport boundaries, grasslands surrounding runways, taxiways and aprons possess the greatest richness and abundance of bird species that pose the greatest potential hazard to aircraft. Ibis and the Australian kestrel were identified as the bird species that pose the greatest risk to aircraft at Brisbane airport, and both were found in greatest numbers within the managed grasslands surrounding operational areas at the airport. An improved reporting process that allows correct identification of all individual bird species involved in bird strikes will not only increase the accuracy of risk assessments, but will also allow implementation of more effective control strategies at Brisbane airport. Compared with current grassland management practice, a vegetation management option of maintaining grass height at 30-50cm reduced total bird utilisation by 89% while utilisation of grassland by potentially hazardous birds was also reduced by 85%. Maintaining grass height within the 30-50cm range also resulted in a 45% reduction in the number of manipulations required per year (11 to 6), when compared with current management practices, and a 64% reduction in annual maintenance cost per hectare. When extrapolated to the entire maintained grass area at Brisbane airport, this resulted in a saving of over $60 000 annually. Optimisation of potential hazard reduction will rely on future studies that investigate the effect of particular vegetation species that could replace the existing mix of grasses used at Brisbane airport and an understanding of the relative importance of vegetation structure and food supply in determining utilisation by potentially hazardous bird species.

In an era of acute concern about airline safety, bird strikes are still one of the major hazards to aviation worldwide. The severity of the problem is such that it is mandatory in all developed countries to include bird management as part of airport safety management programs. In Australia, there are approximately 500 bird aircraft strikes per year (Bailey 2000). Brisbane airport has a relatively high occurrence of strikes, with an average of 77 recorded every year (2002-2004). Given the severity of the problem, a variety of techniques have been employed by airports to reduce bird strikes. Scare devices, repellents, continuous patrols for bird hazing, use of raptors to clear airspace of birds and depredation are used by many airports. Even given the diversity of control methods available, it is accepted that habitat management is the most effective long term way to control birds in and around the airport space. Experimental studies have shown that habitat manipulation and active scaring measures (shooting, scaring etc), can reduce bird numbers to an acceptable level. The current study investigated bird populations in six major vegetation habitat types identified within the operational and surrounding areas of Brisbane airport. In order to determine areas where greater bird control and management should be focused, bird abundance, distribution, and activity were recorded and habitats that pose the greatest bird strike risk to aircraft were identified. Secondly, species with high hazard potential were identified and ranked according to their hazard potential to aircraft. This study also investigated the effectiveness of different vegetation management options to reduce bird species abundance within operational areas of Brisbane airport. Four different management options were compared. Each management option was assessed for grass structural complexity and potential food resources available to hazardous bird species. Analysis of recorded data showed that of the habitats compared within the Brisbane airport boundaries, grasslands surrounding runways, taxiways and aprons possess the greatest richness and abundance of bird species that pose the greatest potential hazard to aircraft. Ibis and the Australian kestrel were identified as the bird species that pose the greatest risk to aircraft at Brisbane airport, and both were found in greatest numbers within the managed grasslands surrounding operational areas at the airport. An improved reporting process that allows correct identification of all individual bird species involved in bird strikes will not only increase the accuracy of risk assessments, but will also allow implementation of more effective control strategies at Brisbane airport. Compared with current grassland management practice, a vegetation management option of maintaining grass height at 30-50cm reduced total bird utilisation by 89% while utilisation of grassland by potentially hazardous birds was also reduced by 85%. Maintaining grass height within the 30-50cm range also resulted in a 45% reduction in the number of manipulations required per year (11 to 6), when compared with current management practices, and a 64% reduction in annual maintenance cost per hectare. When extrapolated to the entire maintained grass area at Brisbane airport, this resulted in a saving of over $60 000 annually. Optimisation of potential hazard reduction will rely on future studies that investigate the effect of particular vegetation species that could replace the existing mix of grasses used at Brisbane airport and an understanding of the relative importance of vegetation structure and food supply in determining utilisation by potentially hazardous bird species.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of perceptions crime victims have of the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office. This project focused on crime victims' perceptions of communication channels and service delivery at the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office. This research is based on a victim survey used for primary data collection.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.
This project studies employment containment in Melbourne, Australia. Employment containment is a measure of the proportion of people that work in a location close to their home. Recent urban planning policies in Melbourne have aimed to improve employment containment in the city’s suburbs. While there has been analysis of the rates at which people both live and work within broadly defined ‘local areas’, little work has been done to investigate employment containment using smaller and more uniform catchment areas as the unit of analysis. This research attempts such a finer scale analysis using dasymetric downscaling techniques. A regression modelling approach supported by land use data, alongside a binary dasymetric method, is used to develop fine scale estimates of employment distribution, while binary and populationdensity weighted methods are used to develop a fine scale estimate of working population distribution. For the employment distribution estimate, the Poisson model that distributed employment to employment-related land use classes produced the smallest error. However, the error produced by this model is still high. For the working population distribution estimate, the population-density weighted estimate is the more accurate of the approaches, and overall produced low error. For the employment containment analysis, a number of employment centres were randomly selected and an employment containment catchment has been derived from a 5 km2 commuting distance catchment. Commuting flows from an origin-destination matrix were areaweighted to estimate flows into the employment centre from the 5 km2 catchment. The method is found to be potentially useful; however inspecting the results of this employment containment calculation highlighted flaws in the current estimates that should be addressed before the measures can be used to further analyse employment containment in Melbourne. Improvements to this method would support urban strategic and transport planning analyses at a metropolitan-wide scale.

This thesis presents three essays on the analysis of historical meteorological data in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has established a network of more than one thousand stations across Australia that have recordings dating from early last century, resulting in a large dataset of meteorological records. These data provide important information on the dynamics of the Australian climate system and systematic investigation using these data can help us to better understand our climate and prepare for possible changes. The purpose of this thesis is to develop models and methods to analyse such meteorological data from a statistical perspective. In Chapter 2, a spatia-temporal model is developed based on monthly average temperature data at 177 locations in south-eastern Australia over 40 years. Guided by a preliminary analysis, a model with components dealing with spatial varying mean and seasonality, short-term and long-term temporal trends is built, and the space-time interaction is modelled by the kernel-convolution method. It is shown that the temperature has become warmer in most of the south-eastern Australia during the period under investigation. In Chapter 3, a new duration-dependent Hidden Markov Model is proposed as an extension to the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and Non-homogeneous Hidden Markov Model (NHMM) which assumes that the transition probabilities are either constant or only depend on some independent variables. The possibility of duration-dependent effects is formally considered in this chapter where the transition probabilities are allowed to be explicitly correlated to duration - how long the hidden system has been in the current state. This approach is used to model the amount of daily rainfall amount at 5 locations in Darwin, Northern Territory. For data arising from climate phenomenon, such as the temperature and rainfall data considered here, it is common for outliers to be present. The presence of outliers could unduly influence the results of any analysis that are conducted and make conclusion non-robust. But it is often difficult to detect them simultaneously because of the masking effect. Motivated by this problem, a general method is proposed in Chapter 4 for identifying multiple influential observations in regression models. The ability of this method is tested and illustrated by both a thorough simulation and several examples.

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies Management
The research field of the master's thesis is in Knowledge Management (hereinafter: KM). During the last few years, KM becomes one of the essential factors for the successful business and companies are becoming more knowledge-based, and they are focusing more on the people's 'minds' rather than their 'hands' to fulfil the need to knowledge (Wong, 2005). The main focus of this study is in success factors of KM having in consideration that Small and Medium Enterprises (hereinafter: SMEs) have fewer resources and opportunities, both human and financial (Farvaque & Voss, 2009). This research is about the main factors of KM that plays a successful role in SMEs in the United Arab Emirates (hereinafter: UAE), Qatar & Pakistan. SMEs in the manufacturing and services sector have taken under study to evaluate the success factors of KM implementation. To implement the KM in the organization can be hard for those who are not ready to accept the change in the organizational structure but with the implementation of KM they can survive, grow and maintain the sustainable competitive advantage (Antoncic & Omerzel, 2008). The research itself is focused on information and manufacturing SMEs sector keeping in mind that it's a service industry, e.g., where both, computer and human resources interaction are visible, and the industry has involved with many stakeholders.

Population ageing is a public health success story. However, the perceived pressures that the arrival of the ‘baby boomer’ generation will demand of the health system, coupled with the financial implications of a shrinking tax base, are cause for concern. By 2056 it is estimated that a quarter of Australians will be 65 years and older, double the current proportion. Concurrently demand for residential aged care services will also increase. In Australia, aged care services are funded by the Australian Government via subsidies paid to service providers, based on the assessed care level required by each eligible client. The level of this subsidy is based on a validated measure of the resident’s care needs that is assessed on admission to an aged care facility and then, at a minimum, annually thereafter. Residential aged care is the principal consumer of the aged care budget and it is predicted that costs will increase with the increasing proportion of aged in the population. Approximately 5% of Australians 65 years and older currently live in residential aged care, and the annual recurrent cost of their care is $6.6 billion. Review of resident care levels has shown that over the past decade the acuity of residents entering aged care facilities has increased while the length of stay of a newly admitted resident has decreased. The increase in resident separations via death will exert further pressure on care services already struggling with staff shortages and increased costs. Such changes highlight an imperative to develop models that will predict the cost basis of care for residents in the increasingly rapid resident turnover environment. Prediction of care needs and associated costs for an increasing number of elderly can be made based on population change estimates, but this is a coarse measure at best. Models that predict in advance the clinical and resource needs of the elderly described in the literature can potentially be used by policy makers and service providers to bring some certainty in planning future care and resource demands. One of these is the ‘trajectory of decline’ model which was articulated by Joanne Lynn in the 1990’s. This model, empirically tested in an elderly USA community population in collaboration with June Lunney and colleagues in 2002, revealed five trajectories grouped by their cause of death. The model has been subsequently utilised in a number of policy documents in the UK, USA, EU and Australia and has also been used as a clinical tool for planning end-of-life care in the elderly population. The model predicts that as an elderly person progresses along their illness trajectory the resources required to support them will increase or decrease with the level of care needed. However, the trajectory of decline concept has not been tested in an elderly nursing home population, whose principal mode of separation is death. This thesis explores if the trajectory of decline, as proposed by Joanne Lynn and empirically tested by June Lunney and colleagues is existent in a nursing home population in Australia; and if there are comparable trajectories to those identified in their research. To replicate the existing empirical studies of this concept in a different population, two critical measures were required: (1) the cause of death to determine trajectory group membership; and (2) a measure of function in a nursing home population. In this study data were collected from the nursing home records of 247 deceased residents utilising the validated Resident Classification Scale (RCS) as the primary measure of function. This provided a total of 990 RCS scores available for analysis. Cause of death data were obtained from the Tasmanian Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The degree to which the elderly residents of nursing homes fit the trajectory profiles proposed by Lynn and empirically tested by Lunney and colleagues was examined with a novel statistical analysis using multivariate statistics which allowed the trajectory of each individual to contribute to the analysis. Using this statistic, a predictive model was developed to examine the effect of the variables on the measure of function, the RCS, over the whole admission period as well as the 12 months prior to death. These results inform the discussion examining the extent to which the trajectory of decline can prospectively predict the decline in functional ability of this elderly population. The principal findings of this research are that there are four trajectories of functional decline to death in this nursing home population when grouped by their cause of death. More than half the subjects comprised the frailty group with the remainder distributed in similar proportions as found by Lunney and colleagues in the cancer, heart and lung failure and ‘other’ group which is poorly specified. Using routinely collected data, the functional trajectory of each group can be identified from the point of admission to the nursing home to death and are generally comparable to the trajectories for each group described in the literature. However, in relation to the functional profile, the Frailty Group is statistically different to the other three groups, but the other three groups are not different to each other. A further finding is that there is poor agreement between what is written on the death certificate and the routine diagnosis made while the resident is still alive which reduces the utility of this concept for the purposes of prospective care planning. Repeating this study prospectively using a standardised medical admission will determine whether the four groups exist in this population or whether two groups, as suggested by this study, would be a better fit.

The relative importance of demographic or 'grower characteristics' as variables that influence adoption of environmentally innovative canegrowing practices is questioned in this thesis. Research, which involved a quantitative study of over 1000 sugarcane producers from Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, indicates that 'socio-cultural' factors are equally, and in some cases more, significant predictors of the adoption of environmentally innovative canegrowing practices than growers' personal attributes. The research indicates that the social, cultural and economic contexts that growers operate within considerably influence the extent to which knowledge is acquired and environmentally innovative canegrowing practices adopted. Analysis of the data utilises a range of demographic and property characteristics variables, and socio-cultural variables (such as group involvement, gendered division of labour and on-farm knowledge production) to determine their relationship to the adoption of environmentally innovative canegrowing practices.

Research and development into new and environmentally innovative canegrowing practices, as well as the transfer of such innovations, has primarily occurred through the medium of science and technology. Established methods of 'extension', which have previously been used to transfer knowledge in relation to new cane varieties and more productive means of producing sugarcane, are now being turned towards encouraging producers towards environmentally innovative agricultural practices. The degree to which scientific research and development, coupled with traditional methods of 'technology transfer' has been successful in promoting the adoption of environmental innovations is a topic that members of the sugar industry and the wider community have increasingly called into question. The adoption of environmental innovations has not been readily discernible at a ground level and has led to a belief that the extent of take-up of environmentally innovative canegrowing practices has been quite limited.

Scientific organisations involved with the sugar industry had expected that the adoption of new technology would relate in some way to the producer's age, level of education, years of experience or other 'personal' or demographic characteristics. Furthermore, the perceived low rate of adoption led industry personnel to believe that established methods of research and extension no longer had the support or confidence of sugarcane growers. To the contrary, the research for this thesis has found that growers do hold traditional methods of extension in high regard. This is particularly so in the case of advice received from the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES), the oldest and most established research, development and extension agency in the sugar industry.

This thesis is substantially based upon a 'materialist' premise and argues that knowledge in relation to innovative canegrowing practices is both produced and diffused through social relationships and social practices. A sociological approach, which brings the 'materiality' of human existence to the forefront of analysis, is used to argue that scientific and lay forms of knowledge are produced through the actions of and interactions between human subjects.

The research indicates that the adoption of environmentally innovative canegrowing practices is quite widespread but in the main does not bear sufficiently strong significant relationships to grower's personal (demographic) characteristics or socio-economic variables such as the size, productivity or profitability of the canegrowing enterprise. Moreover, while significant relationships have been found between adoption and various 'socio-cultural' variables such as 'group involvement', 'sources of information', 'attitudes to chemical usage' and 'attitudes to the current state of the industry', the relationships are also trivial in accounting for variance in the adoption variables.

Furthermore, while practices are assumed to be applicable across the sugar industry, adoption is found to be influenced by factors peculiar to local canegrowing areas. The research undertaken highlights the fact that activities, which occur at the farm level are imbued with a cultural complexity that goes beyond - the mere production of agricultural commodities for the sake of accumulation of an economic surplus.

It is apparent that a range of factors influence the extent to which environmentally innovative agricultural practices are adopted in the sugar industry. While demographic and farm characteristics go some way towards accounting for the adoption of environmental innovations in the sugar industry, the social and socio-cultural conditions under which growers operate must also be taken into consideration.

碩士
國立中山大學
人力資源管理研究所
87
The accountants at the Bureau of Accounting & Statistics of Kaohsiung City Government are employees of the government but being assigned to other units due to the business necessity. Owing to their main job function-neutral supervising, these accountants are facing dual managerial systems, and some conflicts from both their role-plays and lobbyists as well. This thesis is to study further about the job satisfaction of these accountants under such a special working environment. Research variables include organizational commitment to the Bureau of Accounting & Statistics, organizational commitment to the assigned units, role conflict, job characteristics, job satisfaction and lobbying. Among them, while role conflict is acting as a mediating variable, both commitments which consist of affective, continuous and normative dimensions, lobbying and job characteristics are the independent variables and job satisfaction which includes internal, external and general satisfaction is the dependent variable. The results of this research indicate as follows: (1) For the organizational commitment to the Bureau of Accounting & Statistics, males have higher affective commitment and normative commitment than females. Managerial levels have higher affective commitment and continuous commitment than non-managerial levels. (2) For the organizational commitment to the assigned units, males have higher affection commitment than females. Accountants whose education background at the high-school or vocational-school level have higher affective commitment than those who are bachelors. Nevertheless, education level shows a significant difference on normative commitment, however, there''s no significant difference between the two groups under Scheffe test. (3) Both affective and normative commitments to the Bureau of Accounting & Statistics are highly negatively correlated with those to the assigned units. In addition, job characteristic is significantly positively correlated with organizational commitment and job satisfaction, but negatively correlated with role conflict. (4) Lobbying has positive correlation with role conflict. (5) Accountants who have higher continuous commitments both to the Bureau of Accounting & Statistics and the assigned units feel more discordant in assigned units. (6) The normative commitments both to the Bureau of Accounting & Statistics and the assigned units are in proportion to the external satisfaction. The affective commitment to the assigned units is correlated with the internal satisfaction. Besides, either affective or normative commitment to the assigned units has a direct effect on the general satisfaction. (7) While role conflict is acting as a mediating variable, both job characteristics and lobbying are correlated with job satisfaction.

In April 2003, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) issued a strategic direction to the AASB to develop an accounting standard that would harmonise Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Government Finance Statistics (GFS) accounting for Australian public sector entities. Australia is the only jurisdiction that has developed and implemented such an accounting standard. This thesis examines how and why the FRC made the decision to issue this strategic direction in a qualitative historic case study. The main data sources are oral histories and archival and other written documents. The thesis adopts the perspective that public sector accounting standards are essentially a type of public policy and adopts an agenda setting theoretical framework to investigate the events. Addressing previous calls for the use of a more sophisticated construct to investigate accounting agenda setting processes, the thesis develops a holistic, epistemologically and theoretically grounded framework combining existing theoretical lenses. The theoretical framework introduces discourse to the investigation of accounting agenda setting, enabling new insights into the political nature this process. The theoretical aspect of this thesis highlights the importance of considerations of institutional political and discursive elements and individual and collective actors in investigations of accounting agenda setting. The thesis argues that policy entrepreneurs (PEs) faced problems during the preparation of the federal government budget papers for the financial year 1999/2000. They identified the idea of GAAP/GFS harmonisation as a potential solution to their problems. At that point in time, however, other issues dominated the agendas of governments and standard setters. This created a need for the PEs to engage in a strategic process to convince the standard setters to consider and act upon GAAP/GFS harmonisation. The PEs initially focused their lobbying activity on the accounting standard setting bodies. At some point in time, it became evident, however, that the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) might not decide to develop a desired accounting standard. As a result, the PEs refocused their lobbying on the AASB’s oversight body, the FRC, which essentially provided the strategic direction to the AASB. As part of the agenda setting process, the PEs had to search for a set of problems that served as a justification for their policy solution. They also created a new epistemic community that was bound by the belief that GAAP and GFS accounting principles could be harmonised and serve microeconomic GAAP and macroeconomic GFS objectives. The thesis found that the PEs were able to exploit a window of opportunity to convince the FRC of their favoured solution. FRC members from non-public sector backgrounds relied on the expertise of public-sector members and the support of the epistemic community for the project. In essence, the thesis argues that the FRC and the AASB lost control over their agendas in the GAAP/GFS harmonisation agenda setting case. Policy implications from this research project are that the institutional independence of the FRC and the AASB should be reconsidered. In addition, the institutional arrangements for public sector accounting standards should be reflected on in the light of the lack of contribution of FRC members without-public sector experience. Last, a more formalised agenda setting project should be implemented.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 2014.

The primary aim of this study was to determine the Internet applications being adopted within local sporting clubs and to determine the adoption factors that affect both local sporting clubs and their members. Within this primary aim, the study examined, *The areas where Internet applications are being employed; *The factors that drive the adoption of these Internet applications; and *An assessment of the impact of these Internet applications on local sporting clubs and their members.

Death and serious injuries caused by heavy vehicle crashes occur daily in the heavy vehicle transport industry, which has been described as the deadliest industry to work in. There is much suffering and grief amongst families caused by these deaths and serious injuries, and there is a significant financial burden costing the economy billions of dollars each year, yet crash investigations do not appear to identify the underlying causes of these crashes and why heavy vehicle drivers, as well as other road users, are being killed or seriously injured. This is a worldwide problem and not unique to any one country. This research has been undertaken to identify whether systemic investigations are needed to improve safety in the heavy vehicle transport industry. A systemic investigation is the detailed process of collecting and analysing crash information from a broad and varied scope, using a wide range of resources, techniques and methods in order to identify and establish the underlying causes of a crash. The heavy vehicle transport industry operates in a socio-technical system that has been described as a multi-layered hierarchical system, which is multifaceted, non-linear and complex, and contains a level of uncertainty where actors, technologies and tasks are interacting across levels of the hierarchical layers. Their relationships are interlinked and interconnected, having causal ties where there are direct or indirect operational requirements. For this research the socio-technical system has been identified as consisting of government, regulatory/enforcement agencies, supply chain parties, heavy vehicle companies, drivers/co-drivers, and environment/road and vehicles. A part of the heavy vehicle transport industry socio-technical system comprises of policies, rules, legislation and procedures to help guide the decision-making process to ensure both safety and compliance within the system. The intent is captured in the legislation that governs the system where compliance to the legislation is required. Heavy vehicle crashes are investigated by state and territory police forces as well as regulatory agencies. These police forces and regulatory agencies have a mandate to investigate for the purposes of identifying driver liability, and as a consequence look for blame. However, the recent enactment of the Heavy Vehicle National Law and Compliance and Enforcement legislation does not support this approach and seeks to apportion blame throughout the logistics chain, rather than placing blame on the driver. This research discovered that there are a number of underlying causes that adversely influence heavy vehicle driver behaviour and contribute to crashes; however, these causes are not usually identified in investigations, with the outcome of an investigation often being to blame the driver. Investigations do not tend to look at the socio-technical system within which the heavy vehicle transport industry operates to identify the interactions and interconnections that can influence and impact upon a driver’s behaviour. In most instances when human errors are identified the investigation ceases with no further exploration as to what caused the human errors. This research has identified that investigators do not use a systemic investigation methodology, indeed many who have conducted investigations of heavy vehicle crashes have no knowledge of what a systemic investigation is. In addition, this research discovered that investigators did not have the training, skills and competencies or specialist knowledge of the heavy vehicle transport industry to investigate heavy vehicle crashes. These investigators primarily gained their skills and competencies ‘on the job’ through a tacit transfer of knowledge, essentially learning as they worked. Unfortunately, the investigators from the state and territory police forces and regulatory agencies are not specialists in the heavy vehicle transport industry and lack the understanding of the heavy vehicle transport socio-technical system. These investigators have a mandate to investigate for the purposes of prosecution, and as a consequence look for the attribution of blame. These agencies do not apply a systemic investigation methodology to determine the underlying causes of a crash. Even the recent enactment of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, which seeks to apportion liability to others throughout the logistics chain, is consistent with this prosecutorial approach. In contrast, investigations into aviation, rail and maritime incidents are conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which adopts a “no blame-no liability” investigation methodology, albeit one that is not systemic. These investigations are tailored to each specific domain which seeks to uncover underlying causes without attributing blame. Incident investigations in these transport modalities have facilitated a reduction in rates of serious incidents. Consequently, the adoption of such an approach to heavy vehicle crash investigations should also result in a reduction of serious crashes due to a more comprehensive uncovering and understanding of underlying causative factors. This research was conducted in three stages. The first stage consisted of a literature review that identified the socio-technical system within which the heavy vehicle transport industry operates, the underlying causes of heavy vehicle crashes identified by academic research, the legislative regimes governing the heavy vehicle transport industry, the actors involved in the heavy vehicle transport system, and what investigation methods are currently being used to conduct heavy vehicle crash investigations. Stage two consisted of two parts: the first part being a survey of heavy vehicle transport industry participants seeking their responses to twenty survey statements, and the second part being semi-structured interviews of investigators who have investigated heavy vehicle crashes. Stage three also consisted of two parts. Part one was a thematic analysis of investigation reports completed by the ATSB of investigations of heavy vehicles crashing with trains at level crossing that occurred between 2000-2019. Part two was a thematic analysis of Coronial report findings of heavy vehicle fatal crashes that occurred in Australia between 2005 and 2020. This research identified that a number of stakeholders have called for the ATSB to take over investigations of heavy vehicle crashes; however, the ATSB are under resourced to meet their current obligations and may not be best suited to conduct investigations of heavy vehicle fatal crashes. The ATSB have also, in the past, been criticised for not having suitable systemic investigation processes in place. This research’s original contribution to knowledge is the development of an investigation framework that can be used by investigative agencies to assist with investigations of heavy vehicle crashes. The investigation framework will help direct investigators in their search for answers to identify the underlying causes of a heavy vehicle crash. The framework instructs the investigator to look beyond blame and driver error and motivates the investigator to look at other underlying causes and contributory factors influencing driver behaviour. This research has obtained evidence to support the need for a dedicated heavy vehicle crash investigation agency which uses a systemic investigation methodology to investigate crashes. Additionally, the research has identified the need for investigators to be trained in the necessary systemic investigation techniques and to gain knowledge and develop skills specific to the heavy vehicle transport industry. This research has developed an investigation framework that can be used by investigators to conduct investigations of heavy vehicle crashes. This framework is a systemic methodology that when applied will ensure investigators delve deeply to uncover the underlying causes from within the heavy vehicle transport socio-technical system, rather than assigning blame to the driver and ceasing investigations when human error has been identified.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Identifying spatial and temporal patterns of disease occurrence by mapping the residential locations of affected people can provide information that informs response by public health practitioners and improves understanding in epidemiological research. A common method of locating patients at the individual level is geocoding residential addresses stored in electronic medical records (EMRs) using address matching procedures in a geographic information system (GIS). While the process of geocoding is becoming more common in public health studies, few researchers take the time to examine the effects of using different address databases on match rate and positional accuracy of the geocoded results. This research examined and compared accuracy and match rate resulting from four commonly-used geocoding databases applied to sample of 59,341 subjects residing in and around Marion County/ Indianapolis, IN. The results are intended to inform researchers on the benefits and downsides to their selection of a database to geocode patient addresses in EMRs.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Oral health is crucial to overall health and a focus of the U.S. Health Center program, which provides preventive dental services in medically underserved communities. Dental hygiene is an oral health profession whose practice is focused on dental disease prevention and oral health promotion. Variations in the practice and regulation of dental hygiene has been demonstrated to influence access to dental care at a state level; restrictive policies are associated lower rates of access to care. Understanding whether and to what extent policy variations affect availability and access to dental care and the oral health of medically underserved communities served by grantees of the U.S. Health Center program is the focus of this study. This longitudinal study examines dental service utilization at 1,135 health center grantees that received community health center funding from 2004 to 2011. The Dental Hygiene Professional Practice Index (DHPPI) was used as an indicator of the state policy environment. The influence of grantee and state level characteristics are also considered. Mixed effects models were used to account for correlations introduced by the multiple hierarchical structure of the data. Key findings of this study demonstrate that state policy environment is a predictor of the availability and access to dental care and the oral health status of medically underserved communities that received care at a grantee of the U.S. Health Center program. Grantees located in states with highly restrictive policy environments were 73% less likely to deliver dental services and, those that do, provided care to 7% fewer patients than those grantees located in states with the most supportive policy environments. Population’s served by grantees from the most restrictive states received less preventive care and had greater restorative and emergency dental care needs. State policy environment is a predictor of availability and access to dental care and the oral health status of medically underserved communities. This study has important implications for policy at the federal, state, and local levels. Findings demonstrate the need for policy and advocacy efforts at all levels, especially within states with restrictive policy environments.