Teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge for integrated social education : a middle years of schooling perspective from Australia

Integrated social education in Australia is a divisive educational issue. The last decade has been marked by a controversial integrated social studies curriculum called Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) where history, geography and environmental studies were integrated with civics and citizenship. The introduction of a compulsory K-10 Australian Curriculum from 2011, however, marks the return to history and geography and the abandonment of SOSE. Curriculum reform aside, what do teachers think is essential knowledge for middle years social education? The paper reports on a phenomenographical exploration of thirty-one middle school teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge for SOSE. Framed by Shulman’s (1986, 1987) theoretical framework of the knowledge base for teaching, the research identified seven qualitatively different ways of understanding essential knowledge for integrated social education. The study indicates a practice-based theorization of integrated social education that justifies attention to disciplinary process and teacher identity in middle school social education.

Weaving yarns : the lived experience of Indigenous Australians with adult-onset disability in Brisbane

Indigenous Australians have lower levels of health than mainstream Australians and (as far as statistics are able to indicate) higher levels of disability, yet there is little information on Indigenous social and cultural constructions of disability or the Indigenous experience of disability. This research seeks to address these gaps by using an ethnographic approach, couched within a critical medical anthropology (CMA) framework and using the “three bodies” approach, to study the lived experience of urban Indigenous people with an adult-onset disability. The research approach takes account of the debate about the legitimacy of research into Indigenous Australians, Foucault‟s governmentality, and the arguments for different models of disability. The possibility of a cultural model of disability is raised. After a series of initial interviews with contacts who were primarily service providers, more detailed ethnographic research was conducted with three Indigenous women in their homes and with four groups of Indigenous women and men at an Indigenous respite centre. The research involved multiple visits over a period extending more than two years, and the establishment of relationships with all participants. An iterative inductive approach utilising constant comparison (i.e. a form of grounded theory) was adopted, enabling the generation and testing of working hypotheses. The findings point to the lack of an Indigenous construct of disability, related to the holistic construction of health among Indigenous Australians. Shame emerges as a factor which affects the way that Indigenous Australians respond to disability, and which operates in apparent contradiction to expectations of community support. Aspects of shame relate to governmentality, suggesting that self-disciplinary mechanisms have been taken up and support the more obvious exertion of government power. A key finding is the strength of Indigenous identity above and beyond other forms of identification, e.g. as a person with a disability, expressed in forms of resistance by individuals and service providers to the categories and procedures of the mainstream. The implications of a holistic construction of health are discussed in relation to the use of CMA, the interpretation of the “three bodies”, governmentality and resistance. The explanatory value of the concept of sympatricity is discussed, as is the potential value of a cultural model of disability which takes into account the cultural politics of a defiant Indigenous identity.

Social studies disciplinary knowledge: Tensions between state curriculum and national assessment requirements

In this chapter, we are particularly concerned with making visible the general principles underlying the transmission of Social Studies curriculum knowledge, and considering it in light of a high-stakes mandated national assessment task. Specifically, we draw on Bernstein’s theoretical concept of pedagogic models as a tool for analysing orientations to teaching and learning. We introduce a case in point from the Australian context: one state Social Studies curriculum vis-a-vis one part of the Year Three national assessment measure for reading. We use our findings to consider the implications for the disciplinary knowledge of Social Studies in the communities in which we are undertaking our respective Australian Research Council Linkage project work (Glasswell et al.; Woods et al.). We propose that Social Studies disciplinary knowledge is being constituted, in part, through power struggles between different agencies responsible for the production and relay of official forms of state curriculum and national literacy assessment. This is particularly the case when assessment instruments are used to compare and contrast school results in highly visible web based league tables (see, for example, http://myschoolaustralia.ning.com/).

An identification of factors influencing police workplace motivation

Police work tasks are diverse and require the ability to take command, demonstrate leadership, make serious decisions and be self directed (Beck, 1999; Brunetto & Farr-Wharton, 2002; Howard, Donofrio & Boles, 2002). This work is usually performed in pairs or sometimes by an officer working alone. Operational police work is seldom performed under the watchful eyes of a supervisor and a great amount of reliance is placed on the high levels of motivation and professionalism of individual officers. Research has shown that highly motivated workers produce better outcomes (Whisenand & Rush, 1998; Herzberg, 2003). It is therefore important that Queensland police officers are highly motivated to provide a quality service to the Queensland community. This research aims to identify factors which motivate Queensland police to perform quality work. Researchers acknowledge that there is a lack of research and knowledge in regard to the factors which motivate police (Beck, 1999; Bragg, 1998; Howard, Donofrio & Boles, 2002; McHugh & Verner, 1998). The motivational factors were identified in regard to the demographic variables of; age, sex, rank, tenure and education. The model for this research is Herzberg’s two-factor theory of workplace motivation (1959). Herzberg found that there are two broad types of workplace motivational factors; those driven by a need to prevent loss or harm and those driven by a need to gain personal satisfaction or achievement. His study identified 16 basic sub-factors that operate in the workplace. The research utilised a questionnaire instrument based on the sub-factors identified by Herzberg (1959). The questionnaire format consists of an initial section which sought demographic information about the participant and is followed by 51 Likert scale questions. The instrument is an expanded version of an instrument previously used in doctoral studies to identify sources of police motivation (Holden, 1980; Chiou, 2004). The questionnaire was forwarded to approximately 960 police in the Brisbane, Metropolitan North Region. The data were analysed using Factor Analysis, MANOVAs, ANOVAs and multiple regression analysis to identify the key sources of police motivation and to determine the relationships between demographic variables such as: age, rank, educational level, tenure, generation cohort and motivational factors. A total of 484 officers responded to the questionnaire from the sample population of 960. Factor analysis revealed five broad Prime Motivational Factors that motivate police in their work. The Prime Motivational Factors are: Feeling Valued, Achievement, Workplace Relationships, the Work Itself and Pay and Conditions. The factor Feeling Valued highlighted the importance of positive supportive leaders in motivating officers. Many officers commented that supervisors who only provided negative feedback diminished their sense of feeling valued and were a key source of de-motivation. Officers also frequently commented that they were motivated by operational police work itself whilst demonstrating a strong sense of identity with their team and colleagues. The study showed a general need for acceptance by peers and an idealistic motivation to assist members of the community in need and protect victims of crime. Generational cohorts were not found to exert a significant influence on police motivation. The demographic variable with the single greatest influence on police motivation was tenure. Motivation levels were found to drop dramatically during the first two years of an officer’s service and generally not improve significantly until near retirement age. The findings of this research provide the foundation of a number of recommendations in regard to police retirement, training and work allocation that are aimed to improve police motivation levels. The five Prime Motivational Factor model developed in this study is recommended for use as a planning tool by police leaders to improve motivational and job-satisfaction components of police Service policies. The findings of this study also provide a better understanding of the current sources of police motivation. They are expected to have valuable application for Queensland police human resource management when considering policies and procedures in the areas of motivation, stress reduction and attracting suitable staff to specific areas of responsibility.

Longing to belong : social inclusion and wellbeing among youth with refugee backgrounds in the first three years in Melbourne, Australia

For young people with refugee backgrounds, establishing a sense of belonging to their family and community, and to their country of resettlement is essential for wellbeing. This paper describes the psychosocial factors associated with subjective health and wellbeing outcomes among a cohort of 97 refugee youth (aged 11-19) during their first three years in Melbourne, Australia. The findings reported here are drawn from the Good Starts Study, a longitudinal investigation of settlement and wellbeing among refugee youth conducted between 2004 and 2008. The overall aim of Good Starts was to identify the psychosocial factors that assist youth with refugee backgrounds in making a good start in their new country. A particular focus was on key transitions: from pre-arrival to Australia, from the language school to mainstream school, and from mainstream school to higher education or to the workforce. Good Starts used a mix of both method and theory from anthropology and social epidemiology. Using standardized measures of wellbeing and generalised estimating equations to model the predictors of wellbeing over time, this paper reports that key factors strongly associated with wellbeing outcomes are those that can be described as indicators of belonging e the most important being subjective social status in the broader Australian community, perceived discrimination and bullying. We argue that settlement specific policies and programs can ultimately be effective if embedded within a broader socially inclusive society - one that offers real opportunities for youth with refugee backgrounds to flourish.

Alternative analytical methods for the identification of cancer-related symptom clusters

Advances in symptom management strategies through a better understanding of cancer symptom clusters depend on the identification of symptom clusters that are valid and reliable. The purpose of this exploratory research was to investigate alternative analytical approaches to identify symptom clusters for patients with cancer, using readily accessible statistical methods, and to justify which methods of identification may be appropriate for this context. Three studies were undertaken: (1) a systematic review of the literature, to identify analytical methods commonly used for symptom cluster identification for cancer patients; (2) a secondary data analysis to identify symptom clusters and compare alternative methods, as a guide to best practice approaches in cross-sectional studies; and (3) a secondary data analysis to investigate the stability of symptom clusters over time. The systematic literature review identified, in 10 years prior to March 2007, 13 cross-sectional studies implementing multivariate methods to identify cancer related symptom clusters. The methods commonly used to group symptoms were exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and principal components analysis. Common factor analysis methods were recommended as the best practice cross-sectional methods for cancer symptom cluster identification. A comparison of alternative common factor analysis methods was conducted, in a secondary analysis of a sample of 219 ambulatory cancer patients with mixed diagnoses, assessed within one month of commencing chemotherapy treatment. Principal axis factoring, unweighted least squares and image factor analysis identified five consistent symptom clusters, based on patient self-reported distress ratings of 42 physical symptoms. Extraction of an additional cluster was necessary when using alpha factor analysis to determine clinically relevant symptom clusters. The recommended approaches for symptom cluster identification using nonmultivariate normal data were: principal axis factoring or unweighted least squares for factor extraction, followed by oblique rotation; and use of the scree plot and Minimum Average Partial procedure to determine the number of factors. In contrast to other studies which typically interpret pattern coefficients alone, in these studies symptom clusters were determined on the basis of structure coefficients. This approach was adopted for the stability of the results as structure coefficients are correlations between factors and symptoms unaffected by the correlations between factors. Symptoms could be associated with multiple clusters as a foundation for investigating potential interventions. The stability of these five symptom clusters was investigated in separate common factor analyses, 6 and 12 months after chemotherapy commenced. Five qualitatively consistent symptom clusters were identified over time (Musculoskeletal-discomforts/lethargy, Oral-discomforts, Gastrointestinaldiscomforts, Vasomotor-symptoms, Gastrointestinal-toxicities), but at 12 months two additional clusters were determined (Lethargy and Gastrointestinal/digestive symptoms). Future studies should include physical, psychological, and cognitive symptoms. Further investigation of the identified symptom clusters is required for validation, to examine causality, and potentially to suggest interventions for symptom management. Future studies should use longitudinal analyses to investigate change in symptom clusters, the influence of patient related factors, and the impact on outcomes (e.g., daily functioning) over time.

Examining psychosocial influences on speeding in Australian and Chinese contexts : a social learning approach

Speeding remains a significant contributing factor to road trauma internationally, despite increasingly sophisticated speed management strategies being adopted around the world. Increases in travel speed are associated with increases in crash risk and crash severity. As speed choice is a voluntary behaviour, driver perceptions are important to our understanding of speeding and, importantly, to designing effective behavioural countermeasures. The four studies conducted in this program of research represent a comprehensive approach to examining psychosocial influences on driving speeds in two countries that are at very different levels of road safety development: Australia and China. Akers’ social learning theory (SLT) was selected as the theoretical framework underpinning this research and guided the development of key research hypotheses. This theory was chosen because of its ability to encompass psychological, sociological, and criminological perspectives in understanding behaviour, each of which has relevance to speeding. A mixed-method design was used to explore the personal, social, and legal influences on speeding among car drivers in Queensland (Australia) and Beijing (China). Study 1 was a qualitative exploration, via focus group interviews, of speeding among 67 car drivers recruited from south east Queensland. Participants were assigned to groups based on their age and gender, and additionally, according to whether they self-identified as speeding excessively or rarely. This study aimed to elicit information about how drivers conceptualise speeding as well as the social and legal influences on driving speeds. The findings revealed a wide variety of reasons and circumstances that appear to be used as personal justifications for exceeding speed limits. Driver perceptions of speeding as personally and socially acceptable, as well as safe and necessary were common. Perceptions of an absence of danger associated with faster driving speeds were evident, particularly with respect to driving alone. An important distinction between the speed-based groups related to the attention given to the driving task. Rare speeders expressed strong beliefs about the need to be mindful of safety (self and others) while excessive speeders referred to the driving task as automatic, an absent-minded endeavour, and to speeding as a necessity in order to remain alert and reduce boredom. For many drivers in this study, compliance with speed limits was expressed as discretionary rather than mandatory. Social factors, such as peer and parental influence were widely discussed in Study 1 and perceptions of widespread community acceptance of speeding were noted. In some instances, the perception that ‘everybody speeds’ appeared to act as one rationale for the need to raise speed limits. Self-presentation, or wanting to project a positive image of self was noted, particularly with respect to concealing speeding infringements from others to protect one’s image as a trustworthy and safe driver. The influence of legal factors was also evident. Legal sanctions do not appear to influence all drivers to the same extent. For instance, fear of apprehension appeared to play a role in reducing speeding for many, although previous experiences of detection and legal sanctions seemed to have had limited influence on reducing speeding among some drivers. Disregard for sanctions (e.g., driving while suspended), fraudulent demerit point use, and other strategies to avoid detection and punishment were widely and openly discussed. In Study 2, 833 drivers were recruited from roadside service stations in metropolitan and regional locations in Queensland. A quantitative research strategy assessed the relative contribution of personal, social, and legal factors to recent and future self-reported speeding (i.e., frequency of speeding and intentions to speed in the future). Multivariate analyses examining a range of factors drawn from SLT revealed that factors including self-identity (i.e., identifying as someone who speeds), favourable definitions (attitudes) towards speeding, personal experiences of avoiding detection and punishment for speeding, and perceptions of family and friends as accepting of speeding were all significantly associated with greater self-reported speeding. Study 3 was an exploratory, qualitative investigation of psychosocial factors associated with speeding among 35 Chinese drivers who were recruited from the membership of a motoring organisation and a university in Beijing. Six focus groups were conducted to explore similar issues to those examined in Study 1. The findings of Study 3 revealed many similarities with respect to the themes that arose in Australia. For example, there were similarities regarding personal justifications for speeding, such as the perception that posted limits are unreasonably low, the belief that individual drivers are able to determine safe travel speeds according to personal comfort with driving fast, and the belief that drivers possess adequate skills to control a vehicle at high speed. Strategies to avoid detection and punishment were also noted, though they appeared more widespread in China and also appeared, in some cases, to involve the use of a third party, a topic that was not reported by Australian drivers. Additionally, higher perceived enforcement tolerance thresholds were discussed by Chinese participants. Overall, the findings indicated perceptions of a high degree of community acceptance of speeding and a perceived lack of risk associated with speeds that were well above posted speed limits. Study 4 extended the exploratory research phase in China with a quantitative investigation involving 299 car drivers recruited from car washes in Beijing. Results revealed a relatively inexperienced sample with less than 5 years driving experience, on average. One third of participants perceived that the certainty of penalties when apprehended was low and a similar proportion of Chinese participants reported having previously avoided legal penalties when apprehended for speeding. Approximately half of the sample reported that legal penalties for speeding were ‘minimally to not at all’ severe. Multivariate analyses revealed that past experiences of avoiding detection and punishment for speeding, as well as favourable attitudes towards speeding, and perceptions of strong community acceptance of speeding were most strongly associated with greater self-reported speeding in the Chinese sample. Overall, the results of this research make several important theoretical contributions to the road safety literature. Akers’ social learning theory was found to be robust across cultural contexts with respect to speeding; similar amounts of variance were explained in self-reported speeding in the quantitative studies conducted in Australia and China. Historically, SLT was devised as a theory of deviance and posits that deviance and conformity are learned in the same way, with the balance of influence stemming from the ways in which behaviour is rewarded and punished (Akers, 1998). This perspective suggests that those who speed and those who do not are influenced by the same mechanisms. The inclusion of drivers from both ends of the ‘speeding spectrum’ in Study 1 provided an opportunity to examine the wider utility of SLT across the full range of the behaviour. One may question the use of a theory of deviance to investigate speeding, a behaviour that could, arguably, be described as socially acceptable and prevalent. However, SLT seemed particularly relevant to investigating speeding because of its inclusion of association, imitation, and reinforcement variables which reflect the breadth of factors already found to be potentially influential on driving speeds. In addition, driving is a learned behaviour requiring observation, guidance, and practice. Thus, the reinforcement and imitation concepts are particularly relevant to this behaviour. Finally, current speed management practices are largely enforcement-based and rely on the principles of behavioural reinforcement captured within the reinforcement component of SLT. Thus, the application of SLT to a behaviour such as speeding offers promise in advancing our understanding of the factors that influence speeding, as well as extending our knowledge of the application of SLT. Moreover, SLT could act as a valuable theoretical framework with which to examine other illegal driving behaviours that may not necessarily be seen as deviant by the community (e.g., mobile phone use while driving). This research also made unique contributions to advancing our understanding of the key components and the overall structure of Akers’ social learning theory. The broader SLT literature is lacking in terms of a thorough structural understanding of the component parts of the theory. For instance, debate exists regarding the relevance of, and necessity for including broader social influences in the model as captured by differential association. In the current research, two alternative SLT models were specified and tested in order to better understand the nature and extent of the influence of differential association on behaviour. Importantly, the results indicated that differential association was able to make a unique contribution to explaining self-reported speeding, thereby negating the call to exclude it from the model. The results also demonstrated that imitation was a discrete theoretical concept that should also be retained in the model. The results suggest a need to further explore and specify mechanisms of social influence in the SLT model. In addition, a novel approach was used to operationalise SLT variables by including concepts drawn from contemporary social psychological and deterrence-based research to enhance and extend the way that SLT variables have traditionally been examined. Differential reinforcement was conceptualised according to behavioural reinforcement principles (i.e., positive and negative reinforcement and punishment) and incorporated concepts of affective beliefs, anticipated regret, and deterrence-related concepts. Although implicit in descriptions of SLT, little research has, to date, made use of the broad range of reinforcement principles to understand the factors that encourage or inhibit behaviour. This approach has particular significance to road user behaviours in general because of the deterrence-based nature of many road safety countermeasures. The concept of self-identity was also included in the model and was found to be consistent with the definitions component of SLT. A final theoretical contribution was the specification and testing of a full measurement model prior to model testing using structural equation modelling. This process is recommended in order to reduce measurement error by providing an examination of the psychometric properties of the data prior to full model testing. Despite calls for such work for a number of decades, the current work appears to be the only example of a full measurement model of SLT. There were also a number of important practical implications that emerged from this program of research. Firstly, perceptions regarding speed enforcement tolerance thresholds were highlighted as a salient influence on driving speeds in both countries. The issue of enforcement tolerance levels generated considerable discussion among drivers in both countries, with Australian drivers reporting lower perceived tolerance levels than Chinese drivers. It was clear that many drivers used the concept of an enforcement tolerance in determining their driving speed, primarily with the desire to drive faster than the posted speed limit, yet remaining within a speed range that would preclude apprehension by police. The quantitative results from Studies 2 and 4 added support to these qualitative findings. Together, the findings supported previous research and suggested that a travel speed may not be seen as illegal until that speed reaches a level over the prescribed enforcement tolerance threshold. In other words, the enforcement tolerance appears to act as a ‘de facto’ speed limit, replacing the posted limit in the minds of some drivers. The findings from the two studies conducted in China (Studies 2 and 4) further highlighted the link between perceived enforcement tolerances and a ‘de facto’ speed limit. Drivers openly discussed driving at speeds that were well above posted speed limits and some participants noted their preference for driving at speeds close to ‘50% above’ the posted limit. This preference appeared to be shaped by the perception that the same penalty would be imposed if apprehended, irrespective of what speed they travelling (at least up to 50% above the limit). Further research is required to determine whether the perceptions of Chinese drivers are mainly influenced by the Law of the People’s Republic of China or by operational practices. Together, the findings from both studies in China indicate that there may be scope to refine enforcement tolerance levels, as has happened in other jurisdictions internationally over time, in order to reduce speeding. Any attempts to do so would likely be assisted by the provision of information about the legitimacy and purpose of speed limits as well as risk factors associated with speeding because these issues were raised by Chinese participants in the qualitative research phase. Another important practical implication of this research for speed management in China is the way in which penalties are determined. Chinese drivers described perceptions of unfairness and a lack of transparency in the enforcement system because they were unsure of the penalty that they would receive if apprehended. Steps to enhance the perceived certainty and consistency of the system to promote a more equitable approach to detection and punishment would appear to be welcomed by the general driving public and would be more consistent with the intended theoretical (deterrence) basis that underpins the current speed enforcement approach. The use of mandatory, fixed penalties may assist in this regard. In many countries, speeding attracts penalties that are dependent on the severity of the offence. In China, there may be safety benefits gained from the introduction of a similar graduated scale of speeding penalties and fixed penalties might also help to address the issue of uncertainty about penalties and related perceptions of unfairness. Such advancements would be in keeping with the principles of best practice for speed management as identified by the World Health Organisation. Another practical implication relating to legal penalties, and applicable to both cultural contexts, relates to the issues of detection and punishment avoidance. These two concepts appeared to strongly influence speeding in the current samples. In Australia, detection avoidance strategies reported by participants generally involved activities that are not illegal (e.g., site learning and remaining watchful for police vehicles). The results from China were similar, although a greater range of strategies were reported. The most common strategy reported in both countries for avoiding detection when speeding was site learning, or familiarisation with speed camera locations. However, a range of illegal practices were also described by Chinese drivers (e.g., tampering with or removing vehicle registration plates so as to render the vehicle unidentifiable on camera and use of in-vehicle radar detectors). With regard to avoiding punishment when apprehended, a range of strategies were reported by drivers from both countries, although a greater range of strategies were reported by Chinese drivers. As the results of the current research indicated that detection avoidance was strongly associated with greater self-reported speeding in both samples, efforts to reduce avoidance opportunities are strongly recommended. The practice of randomly scheduling speed camera locations, as is current practice in Queensland, offers one way to minimise site learning. The findings of this research indicated that this practice should continue. However, they also indicated that additional strategies are needed to reduce opportunities to evade detection. The use of point-to-point speed detection (also known as sectio

New Media and Public Communication: Mapping Australian User-Created Content in Online Social Networks

Presentation describling a project in data intensive research in the humanities. Measuring activity of publically available data in social networks such as Blogosphere, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube

Workplace design in the knowledge economy : a case of the NetWorkPlace™©

This thesis explores a way to inform the architectural design process for contemporary workplace environments. It reports on both theoretical and practical outcomes through an exclusively Australian case study of a network enterprise comprised of collaborative, yet independent business entities. The internet revolution, substantial economic and cultural shifts, and an increased emphasis on lifestyle considerations have prompted a radical re-ordering of organisational relationships and the associated structures, processes, and places of doing business. The social milieu of the information age and the knowledge economy is characterised by an almost instantaneous flow of information and capital. This has culminated in a phenomenon termed by Manuel Castells as the network society, where physical locations are joined together by continuous communication and virtual connectivity. A new spatial logic encompassing redefined concepts of space and distance, and requiring a comprehensive shift in the approach to designing workplace environments for today’s adaptive, collaborative organisations in a dynamic business world, provides the backdrop for this research. Within the duality of space and an augmentation of the traditional notions of place, organisational and institutional structures pose new challenges for the design professions. The literature revealed that there has always been a mono-organisational focus in relation to workplace design strategies. The phenomenon of inter-organisational collaboration has enabled the identification of a gap in the knowledge relative to workplace design. This new context generated the formulation of a unique research construct, the NetWorkPlace™©, which captures the complexity of contemporary employment structures embracing both physical and virtual work environments and practices, and provided the basis for investigating the factors that are shaping and defining interactions within and across networked organisational settings. The methodological orientation and the methods employed follow a qualitative approach and an abductively driven strategy comprising two distinct components, a cross-sectional study of the whole of the network and a longitudinal study, focusing on a single discrete workplace site. The complexity of the context encountered dictated that a multi-dimensional investigative framework was required to be devised. The adoption of a pluralist ontology and the reconfiguration of approaches from traditional paradigms into a collaborative, trans-disciplinary, multi-method epistemology provided an explicit and replicatable method of investigation. The identification and introduction of the NetWorkPlace™© phenomenon, by necessity, spans a number of traditional disciplinary boundaries. Results confirm that in this context, architectural research, and by extension architectural practice, must engage with what other disciplines have to offer. The research concludes that no single disciplinary approach to either research or practice in this area of design can suffice. Pierre Bourdieau’s philosophy of ‘practice’ provides a framework within which the governance and technology structures, together with the mechanisms enabling the production of social order in this context, can be understood. This is achieved by applying the concepts of position and positioning to the corporate power dynamics, and integrating the conflict found to exist between enterprise standard and ferally conceived technology systems. By extending existing theory and conceptions of ‘place’ and the ‘person-environment relationship’, relevant understandings of the tensions created between Castells’ notions of the space of place and the space of flows are established. The trans-disciplinary approach adopted, and underpinned by a robust academic and practical framework, illustrates the potential for expanding the range and richness of understanding applicable to design in this context. The outcome informs workplace design by extending theoretical horizons, and by the development of a comprehensive investigative process comprising a suite of models and techniques for both architectural and interior design research and practice, collectively entitled the NetWorkPlace™© Application Framework. This work contributes to the body of knowledge within the design disciplines in substantive, theoretical, and methodological terms, whilst potentially also influencing future organisational network theories, management practices, and information and communication technology applications. The NetWorkPlace™© as reported in this thesis, constitutes a multi-dimensional concept having the capacity to deal with the fluidity and ambiguity characteristic of the network context, as both a topic of research and the way of going about it.

Spectral coding methods for speech compression and speaker identification

This thesis investigates aspects of encoding the speech spectrum at low bit rates, with extensions to the effect of such coding on automatic speaker identification. Vector quantization (VQ) is a technique for jointly quantizing a block of samples at once, in order to reduce the bit rate of a coding system. The major drawback in using VQ is the complexity of the encoder. Recent research has indicated the potential applicability of the VQ method to speech when product code vector quantization (PCVQ) techniques are utilized. The focus of this research is the efficient representation, calculation and utilization of the speech model as stored in the PCVQ codebook. In this thesis, several VQ approaches are evaluated, and the efficacy of two training algorithms is compared experimentally. It is then shown that these productcode vector quantization algorithms may be augmented with lossless compression algorithms, thus yielding an improved overall compression rate. An approach using a statistical model for the vector codebook indices for subsequent lossless compression is introduced. This coupling of lossy compression and lossless compression enables further compression gain. It is demonstrated that this approach is able to reduce the bit rate requirement from the current 24 bits per 20 millisecond frame to below 20, using a standard spectral distortion metric for comparison. Several fast-search VQ methods for use in speech spectrum coding have been evaluated. The usefulness of fast-search algorithms is highly dependent upon the source characteristics and, although previous research has been undertaken for coding of images using VQ codebooks trained with the source samples directly, the product-code structured codebooks for speech spectrum quantization place new constraints on the search methodology. The second major focus of the research is an investigation of the effect of lowrate spectral compression methods on the task of automatic speaker identification. The motivation for this aspect of the research arose from a need to simultaneously preserve the speech quality and intelligibility and to provide for machine-based automatic speaker recognition using the compressed speech. This is important because there are several emerging applications of speaker identification where compressed speech is involved. Examples include mobile communications where the speech has been highly compressed, or where a database of speech material has been assembled and stored in compressed form. Although these two application areas have the same objective - that of maximizing the identification rate - the starting points are quite different. On the one hand, the speech material used for training the identification algorithm may or may not be available in compressed form. On the other hand, the new test material on which identification is to be based may only be available in compressed form. Using the spectral parameters which have been stored in compressed form, two main classes of speaker identification algorithm are examined. Some studies have been conducted in the past on bandwidth-limited speaker identification, but the use of short-term spectral compression deserves separate investigation. Combining the major aspects of the research, some important design guidelines for the construction of an identification model when based on the use of compressed speech are put forward.

AIDS and pro-social television : industry, policy and Australian television drama

This thesis examines the intersection of popular cultural representations of HIV and AIDS and the discourses of public health campaigns. Part Two provides a comprehensive record of all HIV related storylines in Australian television drama from the first AIDS episode of The Flying Doctors in 1986 to the ongoing narrative of Pacific Drive, with its core HIV character, in 1996. Textual representations are examined alongside the agency of "cultural technicians" working within the television industry. The framework for this analysis is established in Part One of the thesis, which examines the discursive contexts for speaking about HIV and AIDS established through national health policy and the regulatory and industry framework for broadcasting in Australia. The thesis examines the dominant liberal democratic framework for representation of HIV I AIDS and adopts a Foucauldian understanding of the processes of governmentality to argue that during the period of the 1980s and 1990s a strand of social democratic discourse combined with practices of self management and the management of the Australian population. The actions of committed agents within both domains of popular culture and health education ensured that more challenging expressions of HIV found their way into public culture.