The relevance of demographic variables in assessing student satisfaction: a study of international postgraduate students

Servicing an increasingly diverse international student community in the globally competitive education market is a challenge faced by Australian universities. Market forecasts indicate a seven-fold increase in the number of students seeking higher education overseas by 2025 (Bohm et al, 2002) and with the growing diversity and competitiveness of the industry, universities will need to focus on factors influencing student satisfaction to improve service quality where required.

This paper, using logistic regression, ANOVA, and MANOVA, investigates the influence of country, age and gender with regard to satisfaction among international postgraduate students from four Asian countries studying in universities in Victoria. The results indicate that there is an inverse relationship between age and satisfaction among postgraduate students while the gender of the students does not have an impact on satisfaction, and that significant differences are evident between the four countries investigated with respect to the levels of satisfaction.

The discovery of generalized causal models with mixed variables using MML criterion

One major difficulty frustrating the application of linear causal models is that they are not easily adapted to cope with discrete data. This is unfortunate since most real problems involve both continuous and discrete variables. In this paper, we consider a class of graphical models which allow both continuous and discrete variables, and propose the parameter estimation method and a structure discovery algorithm based on Minimum Message Length and parameter estimation. Experimental results are given to demonstrate the potential for the application of this method.

Tonic sol-fa in South Africa : a case study of endogenous musical practice

Tonic Sol-fa was introduced to South Africa during the mid nineteenth century initially by Christian missionaries and later by professional educators to schools, teacher training institutions and local communities. Despite Tonic Sol-fa being the principal means of formal pedagogy and the most commonly-accepted notational medium through which South African communities have developed and sustained what is unquestionably a vibrant choral music tradition, there has been some fairly forthright condemnation of the overall effects of European music - particularly tonal-functional harmony - on indigenous culture. Agawu (2003) and Nzewi (1999), for example, have identified what they describe as the adverse effects of European music on African culture.

This paper counters these criticisms in one respect. It argues that, as one of the most prominent manifestations of European musical culture in sub-Saharan Africa, Tonic Sol-fa represents what Ntuli (2001) identifies as endogenous knowledge - knowledge acquired from non-indigenous sources that has been assimilated and integrated with indigenous knowledge to become the collective heritage of a people. This contention is supported by four short case studies of indigenous South African composers - two past and two contemporary musicians - who have utilised Tonic Sol-fa in their choral music writing and teaching, albeit in differing ways. The paper aims to counter the general criticism that European music has been injurious to indigenous African culture; rather it argues that in reality this manifestation of European music represents an exemplar of endogenous knowledge.

Granger causality among house price and macroeconomic variables in Victoria

This study analyses the dynamic causality of four macroeconomic variables on house prices. The four macroeconomic variables have interrelationships with house prices in certain lagged terms, but these relationships are not always the same as the notions put forward in prior research. The relationships are detected to be unstable in the three observation periods. The instability of these relationships would cause difficulty in predicting house prices in the market, especially for policy makers and market participants.

Community reintegration of ex-prisoners : type and degree of change in variables influencing successful reintegration

Community reintegration of ex-prisoners is an important issue in efforts to reduce recidivism. The present study examined the multiple, complex, and dynamic nature of variables influencing successful reintegration by assessing the type and degree of change in reintegration variables over time. Participants were 79 adult prisoners (54 male, 25 female) who completed a prerelease questionnaire 1 month before their release, which focused on prison-related variables, participant background, and anticipated conditions upon release. A postrelease questionnaire was administered to the same participants at 1-4 weeks and 3-4 months postrelease, focusing on the quality of life conditions experienced following release. Results indicate that current health ratings and several indicators of drug use were significantly different over the three measurement phases. Ratings of employment and housing stability, finance, and social support were unchanged over the postrelease period. Theoretical implications of the present investigation for reintegration theory are discussed, together with practical applications.

Effect of process variables on formation of dynamic strain induced ultrafine ferrite during hot torsion testing

Ultrafine grain sizes were produced using hot torsion testing of a 0.11C-1.68Mn-0.20Si (wt-%) steel, with ultrafine ferrite (<1 µm) nucleating intragranularly during testing by dynamic strain induced transformation. A systematic study was made of the effect of isothermal deformation temperature, strain level, strain rate, and accelerated cooling during deformation on the formation of ultrafine ferrite by this process. Decreasing the isothermal testing temperature below the Ae₃ temperature led to a greater driving force for ferrite nucleation and thus more extensive nucleation during testing; the formation of Widmanstätten ferrite prior to, or early during, deformation imposed a lower temperature limit. Increasing the strain above that where ferrite first began 0.8 at 675C and a strain rate of 3 s¯¹ increased the intragranular nucleation of ferrite. Strain rate appeared to have little effect on the amount of ferrite formed. However, slower strain rates led to extensive polygonisation of the ferrite formed because more time was available for ferrite recovery. Accelerated cooling during deformation followed by air cooling to room temperature led to a uniform microstructure consisting of very fine ferrite grains and fine spherical carbides located in the grain boundaries regions. Air cooling after isothermal testing led to carbide bands and a larger ferrite grain size.

Exploring the role of relationship variables in predicting customer voice to a service worker

Customers’ perceptions of service workers’ trustworthiness and power, and their commitment to the service worker were investigated as possible determinants of the likelihood of customer voice directly to the service worker in the event of a service failure. Set in the context of hairdressing salons, it was found that hair stylists’ perceived trust (benevolence and credibility) and expert power were positively associated with clients’ intention to voice. By contrast, the level of coercive power hair stylists were perceived to have was negatively associated with intentions to voice. Hair stylists’ perceived benevolence was the strongest predictor of client voice.

Interobserver reproducibility of histopathologic prognostic variables in primary cutaneous melanomas

Background: The prognosis for patients with localized primary cutaneous melanoma is known to depend principally on tumor thickness, and to a lesser extent on ulcerative state and Clark level. We have recently found in an analysis of 3661 patients that tumor mitotic rate (TMR) is also an important prognostic parameter, ranking second only to tumor thickness. However, few studies have assessed the accuracy and reproducibility with which these features of a melanoma are recorded by histopathologists.
Aim: To assess interobserver reproducibility of major pathologic prognostic parameters in cutaneous melanoma.
Methods: Single hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides of 69 dermally invasive primary cutaneous melanomas were circulated among six pathologists with differing experience in the assessment of melanocytic tumors. The observers independently determined the tumor thickness, Clark level of invasion, ulcerative state, and TMR for each lesion. Intraclass correlation coefficients and kappa scores for multiple ratings per subject were calculated.
Results: The intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.96 for tumor thickness and 0.76 for TMR. The kappa scores were 0.83 for ulcerative state and 0.60 for Clark level. These results indicated excellent agreement among the pathologists for measurements of tumor thickness, ulcerative state, and TMR and fair to good agreement for Clark level.
Conclusions: Appropriately trained and experienced histopathologists can assess prognostically important features of melanomas accurately and reproducibly. Given our recent finding of the significance of TMR in determining prognosis, it is important that this feature be assessed by a standardized method and documented for all primary cutaneous melanomas.

Wages, career progression, training and work family policies : an integrated approach to explaining gender discrimination

While the Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) literature suggests that considerable progress has been made towards addressing gender-based discrimination (primarily through legal instruments), direct and indirece forms of discrimination persist and tend to be perpetuated through organisational practices (Tomaskovic-Devey 2001). Women are still receive less remuneration than men and are disadvantaged with respect to fundamental entitlements such as promotion and training and education. Furthermore, as more women enter employment the issue of work and family balance has become an organisational priority. There is a large body of research literature in the disciplines of economics, sociology, industrial relations, human resource management, organisational studies and public administration that examines the sources, nature and extent of gender-based discrimination in labour markets. This paper seeks to integrate this literature by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem of women, EEO and discrimination. It is argued that our understanding of discrimination is greatly enhanced by theories and models that incorporate both economic and organisational explanations. Furthermore, it is argued that discrimination in terms of promotion, pay and training are endogenous. That is, the interrelationship between these variables needs to be taken into account simultaneously to accurately estimate the degree of direct and indirect discrimination that women face. The paper provides a review of the literature on the key themes of pay equity, career progression, education and training and work-family policy, and seeks to provide a synthesis of key themes. Emerging from this literature are a number of testable hypotheses. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.

The relationship between emotional state and other variables influencing successful reintegration of ex-prisoners

This study investigated the multiple, complex, dynamic and interactive variables influencing successful reintegration of ex-prisoners, with a particular focus on the role of emotional state in the reintegration process. This involved conduct of a survey to a large group of prisoners approaching release and subsequently following release from prisons in Victoria and Queensland. Participants were 101 adult prisoners who completed a pre-release questionnaire one month prior to their release that focused on prison-related variables, participant background, and anticipated conditions upon release. A post-release questionnaire was administered to the same participants at one to four weeks and three to four months post-release, focusing on the quality of life conditions experienced following release. As well, the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory were completed at each interview. Of interest, was the level and degree of change in prisoner ratings of depression, anxiety, and anger at pre-release and extending over the post-release period. As well, the strength of relationship between emotional state and the main variables influencing reintegration was investigated; that is, the degree to which reintegration variables (such as social support, drug use, post-release program participation, rated health) are associated with depression, anxiety, and anger among ex-prisoners. The report commences with the description of an ecological model of community reintegration that enables the main variables that may influence reintegration of ex-prisoners to be easily conceptualised and understood. A review of the international and Australian literature relevant to community reintegration of ex-prisoners is then presented, consistent with this conceptual framework, with a specific emphasis on the role of emotional state in post-release outcomes for this group. In the second section, the study design and method are described, with the results presented in the third section. The fourth and final section of the report includes a discussion of the results, implications for reintegration theory, and practical implications for promoting successful reintegration of ex-prisoners.