The Business of Unfinished Business : Reflections on Co-construction of Meanings in Research Encounters

My concern in this commentary is the discrepancy between cultural psychologists' theoretical claims that meanings are co-constructed by, with and for individuals in ongoing social interaction, and their research practices where researcher's and research participant's meaning-making processes are separated in time into sequential turns. I argue for the need to live up to these theoretical assumptions, by making both the initial research encounter and the researcher's later interpretation process more co-constructive. I suggest making the initial research encounter more co-constructive by paying attention to these moments when the negotiated flow of interaction between researcher and research participant breaks down, for it allows the research participant's meaning-making to be traced and makes the researcher's efforts towards meaning more explicit. I propose to make the later interpretation process more co-constructive by adopting a more open-ended and dialogical way of writing that is specifically addressed to research participants and invites them to actively engage with researcher's meaning-making.

Assessing the welfare effects of microfinance in Vietnam : empirical results from a quasi-experimental survey

This article analyses the effects of NGO microfinance programmes on household welfare in Vietnam. Data on 470 households across 25 villages were collected using a quasi-experimental survey approach to overcome any self-selection bias. The sample was designed so that member households of microfinance programmes were compared with non-member households with similar characteristics. The analysis shows no significant effects of participation in NGO microfinance on household welfare, proxied by income and consumption per adult equivalent.

Women at work! evaluating equal employment policies and outcomes in construction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine equal employment policies in Australia’s male-dominated construction industry and categorise the types of activities undertaken against an equal employment typology to identify links to outcomes for women in the form of increased participation and management. Design/methodology/approach To explore the issue of low representation of women in construction through the content analysis of 83 construction organisations’ equal employment opportunity (EEO) reports. Findings This industry is not engaging with equal employment issues and the numbers of women working in the industry and/or management are based on individual decision rather than an institutional commitment to equality in diversity. Research limitations/implications Australian legislation mandates organisational reporting of relevant data and offers public access to this information offering a unique data set. Practical implications An ageing population means that the predominately older male workforce is leaving construction in greater numbers with fewer potential replacements making new labour markets a vital consideration. Social implications Legislation and organisational policies designed to promote EEO for women have existed in numerous countries for decades. One objective of this legislation was to reduce male domination in senior positions and industries/occupations where women were under-represented. Despite this, few women are employed in construction in operational or management roles worldwide. Originality/value This study offers a comprehensive analysis of a male-dominated industry in one jurisdiction rather than a few selected cases and uses a broader rigorous typology for analysis that acknowledges both equal and different treatment options.

What determines weight loss behaviour and body weight satisfaction in Australia? Evidence from the HILDA survey

This thesis undertakes an empirical investigation to identify factors that influence the decision to undertake weight loss behaviour using the nationally representative HILDA dataset. Although many factors influenced the decision, the findings suggested that body weight satisfaction was the greatest determinant of weight loss dieting. This thesis therefore conducted a further empirical study to analyse the determinants of body weight satisfaction. A rank-hypothesis was found to better predict variation in body weight satisfaction levels than the absolute value of the individual's Body Mass Index (BMI) or the relative-norm hypothesis, which are commonly reported in the literature.

A subexponential construction of graph coloring for multiparty computation

We show the first deterministic construction of an unconditionally secure multiparty computation (MPC) protocol in the passive adversarial model over black-box non-Abelian groups which is both optimal (secure against an adversary who possesses any tconstruction based on coloring of planar graphs. More specifically, following the result of Desmedt et al. (2012) that the problem of MPC over non-Abelian groups can be reduced to finding a t-reliable n-coloring of planar graphs, we show the construction of such a graph which allows a path from the input nodes to the output nodes when any t-party subset is in the possession of the adversary. Unlike the deterministic constructions from Desmedt et al. (2012) our construction has subexponential complexity and is optimal at the same time, i.e., it is secure for any t

A survey: Error control methods used in bio-cryptography

Integration of biometrics is considered as an attractive solution for the issues associated with password based human authentication as well as for secure storage and release of cryptographic keys which is one of the critical issues associated with modern cryptography. However, the widespread popularity of bio-cryptographic solutions are somewhat restricted by the fuzziness associated with biometric measurements. Therefore, error control mechanisms must be adopted to make sure that fuzziness of biometric inputs can be sufficiently countered. In this paper, we have outlined such existing techniques used in bio-cryptography while explaining how they are deployed in different types of solutions. Finally, we have elaborated on the important facts to be considered when choosing appropriate error correction mechanisms for a particular biometric based solution.

Educate Plus 2014 Benchmarking Survey

In late 2014, the fifth biennial Educate Plus benchmarking study was conducted to track educational development in Australia and New Zealand. The 2014 survey built upon the four previous studies, which began in 2005. All participants were asked questions regarding institutional information, personal information, salary information and advancement office information. Following this, they could choose to complete at least one of the following sections according to their role/s: fundraising, marketing & communications, alumni & community relations, and admissions.

Online survey of will drafters - Families and generational asset transfers: Making and challenging wills in contemporary Australia

A national online survey of private and public will drafters distributed through State/public trustee offices in seven states/territories and law societies and community legal centres across all states/territories yielded 257 responses. The survey, using questions, scales and case scenarios sought to canvas perceptions of difficulties facing will drafters and the strategies used to address them.

Heavy vehicle safety in Oman: Police interviews and heavy vehicle driver survey and focus groups. Third Report of the Heavy Vehicle Safety Research in Oman Project for The Research Council of Oman.

Over the past six months the project has undertaken three key, separate, data collection rounds. Each of these rounds focused on essentially different issues within the broader common construct of heavy vehicle road safety. This document will initially report on a series of two key qualitative data collections rounds. Firstly it will detail findings and report on discussions held in focus groups with 43 heavy vehicle drivers. The second qualitative study involved a series of interviews undertaken with 19 police officers from various levels of command and operations within the Royal Oman Police. The final data collection round reported on in this document is a roadside survey questionnaire undertaken with 400 heavy vehicle drivers.

Analysis of construction dispute review boards

This paper presents the results of a research project undertaken to assess the impact of DRBs on the construction program of a large scale highway agency. Three dimensions of DRB impact were assessed: (1)influence on project cost and schedule performance, (2) effectiveness of DRBs in preventing and resolving construction disputes, and (3) costs of DRB implementation. The analyses encompass data from approximately 3,000 projects extending over a 10 year period (2000-2009).

Issues in obstacle detection for autonomous mining and construction vehicles

This paper discusses a Dumber of key issues for the development of robust, obstacle detection systems for autonomous mining and construction vehicles. A taxonomy of obstacle detection systems is described; An overview of the state-of- the-art in obstacle detection for outdoor autonomous vehicles is presented with their applicability to the mining and construction environments noted. The issue of so-called fail-safe obstacle detection is then discussed. Finally, we describe the development of an obstacle detection system for a mining vehicle.

Swing load stabilization for mining and construction applications

This paper discusses the issue of sensing and control for stabilizing a swinging load. Our work has focused in particular on the dragline as used for overburden stripping in open-pit coal mining, but many of the principles would also be applicable to construction cranes. Results obtained from experimental work on a full-scale production dragline are presented.

Final report : Estimating the extent of unlicensed driving: Roadside licence check survey - Wave2. Report to Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads

This report documents a second, revised roadside licence check survey undertaken by the Queensland Police Service (QPS) in conjunction with roadside random breath testing (RBT) traffic operations. The methodology utilised was devised by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q), Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and QPS, after consideration of a number of options.