ANZAC day to VP day : arguements and interpretations

This paper offers a survey of recent military historiography. The author considers its fragmentary nature, and argues for integrative and comparative approach.

Who is responsible for the protection of children? Implicit and explicit interpretations of marketing messages

In this paper, we examine ethical issues related to advertising to children in light of evidence that people can hold ‘implicit’ as well as ‘explicit’ consumer attitudes. From a review of the important features of implicit versus explicit attitudes, we hypothesise three important features of implicit consumer attitudes in children. First, we suggest they are likely to be acquired automatically from, in part, exposure to marketing messages. Second, we predict that these attitudes will be resistant to change through reflection or reason by the child or other person. Third, we hypothesise that children’s implicit consumer attitudes will be powerful predictors of their consumer choices in many situations. We discuss the implications for the ethics of marketing to children, and propose a research framework to begin investigating this important issue.

A study of performing techniques and interpretations of G.F. Handel's operatic and oratorio arias for contralto voice

A comprehension of the interpretations and performing techniques of Handel's works is sought in order to perform a program of his vocal works. Genres, 17th and 18th century performance practice, modern interpretation of the repertoire and the author's personal realisations are examined.

Gorbachev and the end of the Cold War : interpretations and implications for international relations theory

By arguing that international relations scholarship fails to explain adequately the end of the Cold War because it gives insufficient consideration to the role performed by Mikhail Gorbachev, the thesis makes a case for the systematic examination of the part played by individual political actors in international affairs.

Architecture - culture : connections, representations, interpretations and implications

The thesis proposes a theory of the "relevance" and "significance" of cultures to human beings and the world, and a methodology to measure these. It applies architecture (as a culture) as the generator of thought and as an experimental case. A case study applies the theory and methodology in practice and contains as its main material a history of ideas in contemporary architecture.

Interpretations of corruption in intercultural bargaining

There is a fine line in business negotiations between being perceived as corrupt and having proper engagement with the natural tension and excitement of the business bargaining process. Combining literature review and experiential observation we provide a framework that will assist global business managers to more successfully negotiate cross-cultural business transactions. We identify some archetypal underpinnings of bargaining in a business context and question the established perceptions of corruption in intercultural business dealings. We conclude that different cultural systems produce variations of negotiating behaviour that need to be judged with a deeper local knowledge to avoid simply transferring inappropriate labels.

Variation in postsampling treatment of avian blood affects ecophysiological interpretations

The fluid component of blood is widely used in ecophysiological investigations, including measures of immune function and stable isotope ecology. After blood collection, delayed separation of blood extracellular fluids from red blood cells is known to affect the concentration of a wide range of biochemical compounds in the resulting fluid, as does prevention of clotting (producing plasma) when compared with blood allowed to clot (producing serum). One challenge when investigating immune function and stable isotope ecology, therefore, is discriminating variation because of the effect of the biological factors of interest from potential methodological artefacts. This study assesses how seven widely used measures of immune function and stable isotope composition respond both to delayed separation of the cellular and fluid components and to the clotting of blood samples from two species of waterfowl. Samples that remained uncentrifuged for up to 12 h did not differ from those centrifuged within 15 min of sampling from the same individuals, indicating that samples from a wide range of field conditions may remain highly comparable. However, the outcome of three of the four immunological assays and two of the three isotopic analyses was highly dependent on the type of fluid, with higher immunological activity and higher relative concentrations of heavy carbon and total nitrogen in plasma compared to serum. Researchers interested in immune function and stable isotope ecology may obtain the most useful results by ensuring that they use a single fluid type in their investigations.

Consent: male interpretations of sexual interactions

 This research examined men’s perceptions of sexual consent. Study 1 showed that consent varied according to factors such as the relationship status of a woman. Study 2 found that sex worker clients have a clear understanding of what consent entails within the client-sex worker interaction.

Unhealthy food promotion to under 18s: deeper insights, new interpretations.

 This work explores unhealthy food and beverage promotion to children and adolescents with members of the marketing and food and beverage industries, and public health professionals. It identifies areas of partial agreement, while emphasizing that responses cannot be separated from contextual factors that influence the way stakeholders understand this issue.

Giving Muslim girls ‘a voice’: the possibilities and limits to challenging patriarchal interpretations of Islam in one English community

This paper presents the philosophies and practices of ‘Laura’, a young English community liaison worker and former religious studies teacher who has recently converted to Islam. Drawing on data generated from a qualitative and predominantly interview‐based research project that investigated issues of pedagogy and social justice in English schools, the focus is on Laura’s efforts to support Muslim girls through an Islamic discussion group. The paper highlights how Laura draws on Islamic beliefs to support the girls’ questioning of patriarchal interpretations of Islam within their Pakistani immigrant community. The paper also provides insight, however, into some of the tensions and limitations of Laura’s liberatory approach in terms of her positioning as white, western, and middle‐class. Against this backdrop, a self‐reflexive approach that is sensitive to how ‘ethnic‐specific sociability’ shapes understandings and enactments of gender is advocated. Such an approach is presented as central in considering how spaces of gender justice might be mobilised within community environments where unprecedented levels of multi‐cultural fragmentation and diversity have amplified tensions and conflict between and amongst racial and religious groups.

"When I saw walking I just kind of took it as wheeling": interpretations of mobility-related items in generic, preference-based health state instruments in the context of spinal cord injury

Background : In health economic analyses, health states are typically valued using instruments with few items per dimension. Due to the generic (and often reductionist) nature of such instruments, certain groups of respondents may experience challenges in describing their health state. This study is concerned with generic, preference-based health state instruments that provide information for decisions about the allocation of resources in health care. Unlike physical measurement instruments, preference-based health state instruments provide health state values that are dependent on how respondents interpret the items. This study investigates how individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) interpret mobility-related items contained within six preference-based health state instruments.

Methods : Secondary analysis of focus group transcripts originally collected in Vancouver, Canada, explored individuals’ perceptions and interpretations of mobility-related items contained within the 15D, Assessment of Quality of Life 8-dimension (AQoL-8D), EQ-5D-5L, Health Utilities Index (HUI), Quality of Well-Being Scale Self-Administered (QWB-SA), and the 36-item Short Form health survey version 2 (SF-36v2). Ritchie and Spencer’s ‘Framework Approach’ was used to perform thematic analysis that focused on participants’ comments concerning the mobility-related items only.

Results : Fifteen individuals participated in three focus groups (five per focus group). Four themes emerged: wording of mobility (e.g., ‘getting around’ vs ‘walking’), reference to aids and appliances, lack of suitable response options, and reframing of items (e.g., replacing ‘walking’ with ‘wheeling’). These themes reflected item features that respondents perceived as relevant in enabling them to describe their mobility, and response strategies that respondents could use when faced with inaccessible items.

Conclusion : Investigating perceptions to mobility-related items within the context of SCI highlights substantial variation in item interpretation across six preference-based health state instruments. Studying respondents’ interpretations of items can help to understand discrepancies in the health state descriptions and values obtained from different instruments. This line of research warrants closer attention in the health economics and quality of life literature.

Metaphors are good mirrors: reflecting on change for teacher educators

In this paper we discuss the use of metaphor as an educative tool for reflection. In the instance of this paper we use metaphor to reflect on the personal images of change that were used by some women teacher educators to make sense of their professional lives and practices over the last decade. This last decade in teacher education has seen significant institutional and cultural change. The paper discusses the strengths and limitations of the use of metaphor. The different interpretations of these metaphors illustrates how these women have used metaphor for explaining facets of change in their professional lives. The challenge of professional renewal is apparent in the metaphors in the ways that complexity, change, journeys, and movement are indicated. Reflection on change in professional practice needs to be continuous. Use of metaphor in the way described in this paper encourages that ongoing process.

The perception of racism in ambiguous scenarios

Recent theorising on the nature of racism suggests that over the last few decades it has come to be expressed in more subtle and ambiguous ways because while many Whites proclaim egalitarian values, their cognitions and behaviour are influenced by prejudices that are buried deep in their psyche. This leads to the possibility that those who perpetrate and those who experience racism may have different interpretations of events that involve racism. Essed (1991) has suggested that because they are exposed to racism systematically, those who experience racism are in a good position to detect it if they have both knowledge of normal behaviour for particular situations, and a general knowledge of racism. Using Essed's model of the assessment of racist events, the descriptions of six videotaped ambiguously racist scenarios given by 40 Caucasian students and 40 Asian students were analysed to determine whether situational or general knowledge of racism was evident. Contrary to expectations, the Asian students, who belong to a group targeted with racism in Australia, were less likely to see racism in the scenarios. Finding the scenarios to be acceptable indicated a lack of situational knowledge and, hence, an inability to use general knowledge of racism if it exists. The role of cultural values in the application of situational knowledge is discussed, and further empirical investigations of Essed's model are proposed.