Factor analysis of the self-report Dysexecutive (DEX-S) Questionnaire

The self-rating Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX-S) is a recently developed standardized self-report measure of behavioral difficulties associated with executive functioning such as impulsivity, inhibition, control, monitoring, and planning. Few studies have examined its construct validity, particularly for its potential wider use across a variety of clinical and nonclinical populations. This study examines the factor structure of the DEX-S questionnaire using a sample of nonclinical (N = 293) and clinical (N = 49) participants. A series of factor analyses were evaluated to determine the best factor solution for this scale. This was found to be a 4-factor solution with factors best described as inhibition, intention, social regulation, and abstract problem solving. The first 2 factors replicate factors from the 5-factor solutions found in previous studies that examined specific subpopulations. Although further research is needed to evaluate the factor structure within a range of subpopulations, this study supports the view that the DEX has the factor structure sufficient for its use in a wider context than only with neurological or head-injured patients. Overall, a 4-factor solution is recommended as the most stable and parsimonious solution in the wider context.

Investigating information requirements for evaluating effectiveness of marine protected areas - Indonesian case studies

Identifying the information needs of managers and other stakeholders is an important first step in designing an evaluation of management effectiveness for marine protected areas (MPAs) that will be relevant to local circumstances and useful for improving management practices. Information requirements for evaluating effectiveness were investigated at two MPAs in Indonesia. Results show that, despite similar management objectives, information needs for evaluation differ between sites and those differences reflect the unique context within which management operates in each case. The scope of information needs at each site covers a broad range of issues including context, planning, resources, processes, outputs, and outcomes. Relevant components of a variety of different evaluation tools will need to be used to satisfy information needs at these sites. Evaluation tools that are based primarily on stated management objectives or the expressed views of a few key stakeholders are unlikely to be very useful for improving management in these cases.

Localizing a global discipline - Designing new planning programs in Sri Lanka

In order to be relevant and useful in a fragmented developing country context, community and regional planning needs to shift away from the use of rigid tools to more flexible, adaptive approaches. An international review of planning curricula indicated a widespread consensus with respect to key competencies required of planners. This understanding was used in the development of new teaching programs at three Sri Lankan universities. Complementing the technical core knowledge areas, strong emphases on problem structuring, critical and strategic thinking, and the understanding of the political and institutional contexts appear to be crucial to making the agenda of planning for sustainable development more than a fashionable cliche. In order for these core areas to have relevance in a developing country context, however, planning curricula need to achieve a balance between local priorities and a global perspective.

Management effectiveness: Assessing management of protected areas?

To maximise the potential of protected areas, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses in their management and the threats and stresses that they face. There is increasing pressure on governments and other bodies responsible for protected areas to monitor their effectiveness. The reasons for assessing management effectiveness include the desire by managers to adapt and improve their management strategies, improve planning and priority setting and the increasing demands for reporting and accountability being placed on managers, both nationally and internationally. Despite these differing purposes for assessment, some common themes and information needs can be identified, allowing assessment systems to meet multiple uses. Protected-area management evaluation has a relatively short history. Over the past 20 years a number of systems have been proposed but few have been adopted by management agencies. In response to a recognition of the need for a globally applicable approach to this issue, the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas developed a framework for assessing management effectiveness of both protected areas and protected area systems. This framework was launched at the World Conservation Congress in Jordan in 2000. The framework provides guidance to managers to develop locally relevant assessment systems while helping to harmonise assessment approaches around the world. The framework is strongly linked to the protected area management process and is adaptable to different types and circumstances of protected areas around the world. Examples from Fraser Island in Australia and the Congo Basin illustrate the use of the framework.

The role of migration in urban transition : studies of the relationship between migration and modernisation for Brisbane and Stockholm

Wilbur Zelinsky formulated a Hypothesis of Mobility Transition in 1971,in which he tried to relate all aspects of mobility to the Demographic Transition and modernisation. This dissertation applies the theoretical framework, proposed by Zelinsky and extended to encompass a family of transitions, to understand migration patterns of city regions. The two city regions, Brisbane and Stockholm, are selected as case studies, representing important city regions of similar size, but drawn from contrasting historical settings. A comparison of the case studies with the theoretical framework aims to determine how the relative contributions of net migration, the source areas of migrants, and the migration intensity change with modernisation. In addition, the research also aims to identify aspects of modernisation affecting migration. These aspects of migration are analysed with a "historical approach" and a "multivariate approach". An extensive investigation into the city regions' historical background provides the source, from which evidence for a relationship between migration and modernisation is extracted. With this historical approach, similarities and differences in migration patterns are identified. The other research approach analyse multivariate data, from the last two decades, on migration flows and modernisation. Correlations between migration and key aspects of modernisation are tested with multivariate regression, based on an alternative version of a spatial interaction model. The project demonstrates that the changing functions of cities and the structural modernisation are influential on migration. Similar patterns are found, regarding the relative contributions of net migration and natural increase to population growth. The research finds links between these changes in the relative contribution of net migration and demographic modernisation. The findings on variations in urban and rural source areas of migrants to city regions do not contradict the expected pattern, but data limitations prevent definite conclusion to be drawn. The assessment of variations in migration intensity resulted in the expected pattern not being supported. Based on Swedish data, the hypothesised increase in migration intensity is rejected. Interactional migration data also show patterns different from those derived from the theoretical framework. The findings, from both research approaches, suggested that structural modernisation affected migration flows more than demographic modernisation. The findings lead to a formulation of hypothesised patterns for migration to city regions. The study provides an important research contribution by applying the two research approaches to city regions. It also combines the study of internal and international migration to address the research objectives within a framework of transitional change.