Don't sell social science short

The News of the Week article that reports on Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) questioning the need to fund social science research at the National Science Foundation is alarming and shortsighted ("Senate panel chair asks why NSF funds social sciences," 12 May, p. 829). Social science research is at the fundamental core of basic research and has much to contribute to the economic viability of the United States. Twenty years of direct and jointly funded social and ecosystem science research at Colorado State University's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory has produced deep insights into environmental and societal impacts of political upheaval, land use, and climate change in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Beyond greatly advancing our understanding of the coupled human-environmental system, the partnership of social and ecosystem science has brought scientists and decision-makers together to begin to develop solutions to difficult problems.

Reconfiguring the higher education value chain

Forces of demand and supply are changing the dynamics of the higher education market. Transformation of institutions of higher learning into competitive enterprise is underway. Higher education institutions are seemingly under intense pressure to create value and focus their efforts and scarce funds on activities that drive up value for their respective customers and other stakeholders. Porter’s generic ‘value chain’ model for creating value requires that the activities of an organization be segregated in to discrete components for value chain analysis to be performed. Recent trends in higher education make such segregation possible. Therefore, it is proposed that the academic process can be unbundled into discrete components which have well developed measures. A reconfigured value chain for higher education, with its own value drivers and critical internal linkages is also proposed in this paper.

Visual assessment of pedestrian crashes

Of the numerous factors that play a role in fatal pedestrian collisions, the time of day, day of the week, and time of year can be significant determinants. More than 60% of all pedestrian collisions in 2007 occurred at night, despite the presumed decrease in both pedestrian and automobile exposure during the night. Although this trend is partially explained by factors such as fatigue and alcohol consumption, prior analysis of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System database suggests that pedestrian fatalities increase as light decreases after controlling for other factors. This study applies graphical cross-tabulation, a novel visual assessment approach, to explore the relationships among collision variables. The results reveal that twilight and the first hour of darkness typically observe the greatest frequency of pedestrian fatal collisions. These hours are not necessarily the most risky on a per mile travelled basis, however, because pedestrian volumes are often still high. Additional analysis is needed to quantify the extent to which pedestrian exposure (walking/crossing activity) in these time periods plays a role in pedestrian crash involvement. Weekly patterns of pedestrian fatal collisions vary by time of year due to the seasonal changes in sunset time. In December, collisions are concentrated around twilight and the first hour of darkness throughout the week while, in June, collisions are most heavily concentrated around twilight and the first hours of darkness on Friday and Saturday. Friday and Saturday nights in June may be the most dangerous times for pedestrians. Knowing when pedestrian risk is highest is critically important for formulating effective mitigation strategies and for efficiently investing safety funds. This applied visual approach is a helpful tool for researchers intending to communicate with policy-makers and to identify relationships that can then be tested with more sophisticated statistical tools.

Social clubs and social capital : the effect of electronic gaming machines in disadvantaged regions on the creation or destruction of community resilience

The role of particular third sector organisations, Social Clubs, in supporting gambling through the use of EGMs in venues presents as a difficult social issue. Social Clubs gain revenue from gambling activities; but also contribute to social well-being through the provision of services to communities. The revenues derived from gambling in specific geographic locales has been seen by government as a way to increase economic development particularly in deprived areas. However there are also concerns about accessibility of low-income citizens to Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMS) and the high level of gambling overall in these deprived areas. We argue that social capital can be viewed as a guard against deleterious effects of unconstrained use of EGM gambling in communities. However, it is contended that social capital may also be destroyed by gambling activity if commercial business actors are able to use EGMs without community obligations to service provision. This paper examines access to gambling through EGMs and its relationship to social capital and the consequent effect on community resilience, via an Australian case study. The results highlight the potential two-way relationship between gambling and volunteering, such that volunteering (and social capital more generally) may help protect against problems of gambling, but also that volunteering as an activity may be damaged by increased gambling activity. This suggests that, regardless of the direction of causation, it is necessary to build up social capital via volunteering and other social capital activities in areas where EGMS are concentrated. The study concludes that Social Clubs using EGMs to derive funds are uniquely positioned within the community to develop programs that foster social capital creation and build community resilience in deprived areas.

Culture-fair assessment : challenging Indigenous students through effortful mathematics teaching

This paper reports on a mathematics education research project centred on teachers’ pedagogical practices and capacity to assess Indigenous Australian students in a culture-fair manner. The project has been funded by the Australian Research Council Linkage program and is being conducted in seven Catholic and Independent primary schools in north Queensland. Our Industry Partners are Catholic Education and the Association of Independent Schools, Queensland. The study aims to provide greater understanding about how to build more equitable assessment practices to address the issue of underperforming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students in regional and remote Australia. The goal is to identify ways forward by attending to culture-fair assessment practice. The research is exploring the attitudes, beliefs and responses of Indigenous students to assessment in the context of mathematics learning with particular focus on teacher knowledge in these educational settings in relation to the design of assessment tasks that are authentic and engaging for these students in an accountability context. This approach highlights how teachers need to distinguish the ‘funds of knowledge’ (González, Moll, Floyd Tenery, Rivera, Rendón, Gonzales & Amanti, 2008) that Indigenous students draw on and how teachers need to be culturally responsive in their pedagogy to open up curriculum and assessment practice to allow for different ways of knowing and being

Paving for diverse pathways : using industry-linked learning to support Performing Arts students in their transition to protean careers

Statistics presented in Australia Council reports such as Don’t Give Up Your Day Job (2003), and Artswork: A Report On Australians Working in the Arts 1 and 2 (1997, 2005), and in other studies on destinations for Performing Arts graduates, demonstrate the diversity of post-graduation pathways for our students, the prevalence of protean careers, and the challenges in developing a sense of professional identity in a context where a portfolio of work across performance making, producing, administration and teaching can make it difficult for young artists to establish career status and capital in conventional terms (cf. Dawn Bennett, “Academy and the Real World: Developing Realistic Notions of Career in the Performing Arts”, Arts & Humanities in Higher Education, 8.3, 2009). In this panel, academics from around Australia will consider the ways in which Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies as a discipline is deploying a variety of practical, professional and work-integrated teaching and learning activities – including performance-making projects, industry projects, industry placements and student-initiated projects – to connect students with the networks, industries and professional pathways that will support their progression into their career. The panellists include Bree Hadley (Queensland University of Technology), Meredith Rogers (La Trobe University), Janys Hayes (Woolongong University) and Teresa Izzard (Curtin University). The panelists will present insights into the activities they have found successful, and address a range of questions, including: How do we introduce students to performance-making and / or producing models they will be able to employ in their future practice, particularly in light of the increasingly limited funds, time and resources available to support students’ participation in full-scale productions under the stewardship of professional artists?; How and when do we introduce students to industry networks?; How do we cater for graduates who will work as performers, writers, directors or administrators in the non-subsidised sector, the subsidised sector, community arts and education?; How do we category cater for graduates who will go on to pursue their work in a practice-as-research context in a Higher Degree?; How do we assist graduates in developing a professional identity? How do we assist graduates in developing physical, professional and personal resilience?; How do we retain our connections with graduates as part of their life-long learning?; Do practices and processes need to differ for city or regionally based / theoretically or practically based degree programs?; How do our teaching and learning activities align with emergent policy and industrial frameworks such as the shift to the “Producer Model” in Performing Arts funding, or the new mentorship, project, production and enterprise development opportunities under the Australia Council for the Arts’ new Opportunities for Young and Emerging Artists policy framework?

Fleshed out comic yarn : a review

Calendar Girls. By Tim Firth. Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane, April 10. AN adaptation of the 2003 film of the same name, Calendar Girls is a light piece of entertainment. Following the death of her husband John from leukaemia, Annie and her friend Chris convince the members of their local Yorkshire Women's Institute to pose for a nude calendar to raise funds to refurbish the local hospital's run-down relatives' room. This premise -- and the opportunities for comic engagement it entails -- drives the plot of Tim Firth's stage adaptation of Calendar Girls.

A review of rationale for allocating costs and payments in producing and supplying public sector information PART A of 2 Parts – Chapters 1, 2 and 3) 13 March 2011 version

This work reviews the rationale and processes for raising revenue and allocating funds to perform information intensive activities that are pertinent to the work of democratic government. ‘Government of the people, by the people, for the people’ expresses an idea that democratic government has no higher authority than the people who agree to be bound by its rules. Democracy depends on continually learning how to develop understandings and agreements that can sustain voting majorities on which democratic law making and collective action depends. The objective expressed in constitutional terms is to deliver ‘peace, order and good government’. Meeting this objective requires a collective intellectual authority that can understand what is possible; and a collective moral authority to understand what ought to happen in practice. Facts of life determine that a society needs to retain its collective competence despite a continual turnover of its membership as people die but life goes on. Retaining this ‘collective competence’ in matters of self-government depends on each new generation: • acquiring a collective knowledge of how to produce goods and services needed to sustain a society and its capacity for self-government; • Learning how to defend society diplomatically and militarily in relation to external forces to prevent overthrow of its self-governing capacity; and • Learning how to defend society against divisive internal forces to preserve the authority of representative legislatures, allow peaceful dispute resolution and maintain social cohesion.

AITPM national newsletter December 2008 president's report

It’s fast approaching the end of the year and the festive season, and I have a few things on my mind. First, how I’ll fit in all of my holiday plans and projects within my period of leave, which always seems to pass oh so quickly! But more important are the two issues of global financial uncertainty and safe travel. Judging by what is in the media, it appears to be proving difficult for any self respecting financial industry specialist to define and grapple with the so-called current economic crisis, let alone those of us who have not been formally and extensively schooled in the sciences of finance and economics. Perhaps the latter is even more of a “black art” than the discipline of transport planning. The situation has affected all of us with our superannuation and/or share portfolios; however, judging by the still-crowded shopping centres in many areas, the downstream general economic impacts appear to be less serious in Australia than in other developed countries, even with the significant market fluctuations taking place. There are many important decisions facing Australian governments, from the top down, on how they manage their budgets and spending. Infrastructure spending is in competition with other necessities such as the public health system and education. But it appears that infrastructure is an avenue of public spending that, over all time windows, may be able to significantly bolster local economies and that of the nation as a whole. This, however, is against the spectre of deficits. I would suggest that now, more than ever, we as transport and other professionals within the system, should use our knowledge and experience to take a key role in helping government and the private sector make sound decisions on infrastructure planning, delivery and management.

Identifying good re-engagement practice : case studies from Brisbane North and West Youth Connections action research

This report summarises the action research undertaken by the Brisbane North and West Youth Connections Consortium during 2010 and facilitated by staff from QUT. The Consortium consists of a lead agency which undertakes both program coordination and direct service delivery (Brisbane Youth Service) and four other agencies across the region who undertake direct service delivery. Funds for Youth Connections are provided by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. This report describes and analyses the participatory action research (PAR) undertaken in 2011, including eight case studies exploring questions seen as important to the re-engagement of young people in education and training.

Researching for social justice: Contextual, conceptual and methodological challenges

Reforming schooling to enable engagement and success for those typically marginalised and failed by schools is a necessary task for educational researchers and activists concerned with injustice. However, it is a difficult pursuit, with a long history of failed attempts. This paper outlines the rationale of an Australian partnership research project, Redesigning Pedagogies in the North (RPiN), which took on such an effort in public secondary schooling contexts that, in current times, are beset with 'crisis' conditions and constrained by policy rationales that make it difficult to pursue issues of justice. Within the project, university investigators and teachers collaborated in action research that drew on a range of conceptual resources for redesigning curriculum and pedagogies, including: funds of knowledge, vernacular or local literacies; place-based education; the 'productive pedagogies' and the 'unofficial curriculum' of popular culture and out-of-school learning settings. In bringing these resources together with the aim of interrupting the reproduction of inequality, the project developed a methodo-logic which builds on Bourdieuian insights.

Do we have a legally binding contract?

Legal advisers are often called upon to advise whether informal correspondence between clients may give rise to a binding contract. The decision of Mullins J in Teviot Downs Estate Pty Ltd v MTAA Superannuation Fund (Flagstone Creek and Spring Mountain Park) Property Pty Ltd [2003] QSC 403 provides general guidance as to matters that may be relevant when faced with this thorny issue.

Evaluation of financial incentives as a quality improvement strategy in the public hospital context : clinician attitudes, design variables, and economic costs

In 2008, a three-year pilot ‘pay for performance’ (P4P) program, known as ‘Clinical Practice Improvement Payment’ (CPIP) was introduced into Queensland Health (QHealth). QHealth is a large public health sector provider of acute, community, and public health services in Queensland, Australia. The organisation has recently embarked on a significant reform agenda including a review of existing funding arrangements (Duckett et al., 2008). Partly in response to this reform agenda, a casemix funding model has been implemented to reconnect health care funding with outcomes. CPIP was conceptualised as a performance-based scheme that rewarded quality with financial incentives. This is the first time such a scheme has been implemented into the public health sector in Australia with a focus on rewarding quality, and it is unique in that it has a large state-wide focus and includes 15 Districts. CPIP initially targeted five acute and community clinical areas including Mental Health, Discharge Medication, Emergency Department, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Stroke. The CPIP scheme was designed around key concepts including the identification of clinical indicators that met the set criteria of: high disease burden, a well defined single diagnostic group or intervention, significant variations in clinical outcomes and/or practices, a good evidence, and clinician control and support (Ward, Daniels, Walker & Duckett, 2007). This evaluative research targeted Phase One of implementation of the CPIP scheme from January 2008 to March 2009. A formative evaluation utilising a mixed methodology and complementarity analysis was undertaken. The research involved three research questions and aimed to determine the knowledge, understanding, and attitudes of clinicians; identify improvements to the design, administration, and monitoring of CPIP; and determine the financial and economic costs of the scheme. Three key studies were undertaken to ascertain responses to the key research questions. Firstly, a survey of clinicians was undertaken to examine levels of knowledge and understanding and their attitudes to the scheme. Secondly, the study sought to apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) to the process indicators to assess if this enhanced the scheme and a third study examined a simple economic cost analysis. The CPIP Survey of clinicians elicited 192 clinician respondents. Over 70% of these respondents were supportive of the continuation of the CPIP scheme. This finding was also supported by the results of a quantitative altitude survey that identified positive attitudes in 6 of the 7 domains-including impact, awareness and understanding and clinical relevance, all being scored positive across the combined respondent group. SPC as a trending tool may play an important role in the early identification of indicator weakness for the CPIP scheme. This evaluative research study supports a previously identified need in the literature for a phased introduction of Pay for Performance (P4P) type programs. It further highlights the value of undertaking a formal risk assessment of clinician, management, and systemic levels of literacy and competency with measurement and monitoring of quality prior to a phased implementation. This phasing can then be guided by a P4P Design Variable Matrix which provides a selection of program design options such as indicator target and payment mechanisms. It became evident that a clear process is required to standardise how clinical indicators evolve over time and direct movement towards more rigorous ‘pay for performance’ targets and the development of an optimal funding model. Use of this matrix will enable the scheme to mature and build the literacy and competency of clinicians and the organisation as implementation progresses. Furthermore, the research identified that CPIP created a spotlight on clinical indicators and incentive payments of over five million from a potential ten million was secured across the five clinical areas in the first 15 months of the scheme. This indicates that quality was rewarded in the new QHealth funding model, and despite issues being identified with the payment mechanism, funding was distributed. The economic model used identified a relative low cost of reporting (under $8,000) as opposed to funds secured of over $300,000 for mental health as an example. Movement to a full cost effectiveness study of CPIP is supported. Overall the introduction of the CPIP scheme into QHealth has been a positive and effective strategy for engaging clinicians in quality and has been the catalyst for the identification and monitoring of valuable clinical process indicators. This research has highlighted that clinicians are supportive of the scheme in general; however, there are some significant risks that include the functioning of the CPIP payment mechanism. Given clinician support for the use of a pay–for-performance methodology in QHealth, the CPIP scheme has the potential to be a powerful addition to a multi-faceted suite of quality improvement initiatives within QHealth.

Timeliness and Clinical Impact of Hospital-Initiated Medication Reviews

Background: Medication-related problems often occur in the immediate post-discharge period. To reduce medication misadventure the Commonwealth Government funds home medicines reviews (HMRs). HMRs are initiated when general practitioners refer consenting patients to their community pharmacists, who then engage accredited pharmacists to review patients' medicines in their homes. Aim: To determine if hospital-initiated medication reviews (HIMRs) can be implemented in a more timely manner than HMRs; and to assess the impact of a bespoke referral form with comorbidity-specific questions on the quality of reports. Method: Eligible medical inpatients at risk of medication misadventure were referred by the hospital liaison pharmacist to participating accredited pharmacists post-discharge from hospital. Social, demographic and laboratory data were collected from medical records and during interviews with consenting patients. Issues raised in the HIMR reports were categorised: intervention/action, information given or recommendation, and assigned a rank of clinical significance. Results: HIMRs were conducted within 11.6 6.6 days postdischarge. 36 HIMR reports were evaluated and 1442 issues identified - information given (n = 1204), recommendations made (n = 88) and actions taken (n = 150). The majority of issues raised (89%) had a minor clinical impact. The bespoke referral form prompted approximately half of the issues raised. Conclusion: HIMRs can be facilitated in a more timely manner than post-discharge HMRs. There was an associated positive clinical impact of issues raised in the HIMR reports.

Refining animal models in fracture research: Seeking consensus in optimising both animal welfare and scientific validity for appropriate biomedical use

Background In an attempt to establish some consensus on the proper use and design of experimental animal models in musculoskeletal research, AOVET (the veterinary specialty group of the AO Foundation) in concert with the AO Research Institute (ARI), and the European Academy for the Study of Scientific and Technological Advance, convened a group of musculoskeletal researchers, veterinarians, legal experts, and ethicists to discuss, in a frank and open forum, the use of animals in musculoskeletal research. Methods The group narrowed the field to fracture research. The consensus opinion resulting from this workshop can be summarized as follows: Results & Conclusion Anaesthesia and pain management protocols for research animals should follow standard protocols applied in clinical work for the species involved. This will improve morbidity and mortality outcomes. A database should be established to facilitate selection of anaesthesia and pain management protocols for specific experimental surgical procedures and adopted as an International Standard (IS) according to animal species selected. A list of 10 golden rules and requirements for conduction of animal experiments in musculoskeletal research was drawn up comprising 1) Intelligent study designs to receive appropriate answers; 2) Minimal complication rates (5 to max. 10%); 3) Defined end-points for both welfare and scientific outputs analogous to quality assessment (QA) audit of protocols in GLP studies; 4) Sufficient details for materials and methods applied; 5) Potentially confounding variables (genetic background, seasonal, hormonal, size, histological, and biomechanical differences); 6) Post-operative management with emphasis on analgesia and follow-up examinations; 7) Study protocols to satisfy criteria established for a "justified animal study"; 8) Surgical expertise to conduct surgery on animals; 9) Pilot studies as a critical part of model validation and powering of the definitive study design; 10) Criteria for funding agencies to include requirements related to animal experiments as part of the overall scientific proposal review protocols. Such agencies are also encouraged to seriously consider and adopt the recommendations described here when awarding funds for specific projects. Specific new requirements and mandates related both to improving the welfare and scientific rigour of animal-based research models are urgently needed as part of international harmonization of standards.