Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerabili ....Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerability, dependency and the like. This project aims to better understand and address the tensions between the protection of children and their participation in research, and to explore how ethics committees, parents, other gatekeepers and children themselves manage and navigate these tensions.Read moreRead less
Developing the capacity to model the impact of interventions that target high-risk drinking among young Australians. Alcohol use is a major contributing factor to social and health problems among young Australians. The project will inform the development of effective policy by providing multidisciplinary research evidence and the capacity to model how various interventions impact on the prevalence of alcohol-related problems.
Being 'fat' in today's world: A socio-cultural investigation of overweight and obesity. What does it feel like to constantly struggle with your weight? Over 60% of Australians are overweight or obese, and many of these have battled with their weight for most of their adult lives. In an innovative approach to obesity, researchers at Monash University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Canberra and Deakin University are investigating the poignancy of experience of living with obesity ....Being 'fat' in today's world: A socio-cultural investigation of overweight and obesity. What does it feel like to constantly struggle with your weight? Over 60% of Australians are overweight or obese, and many of these have battled with their weight for most of their adult lives. In an innovative approach to obesity, researchers at Monash University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Canberra and Deakin University are investigating the poignancy of experience of living with obesity in Australia. The aim of the study, which also includes a review of how obesity is represented by Australian newspapers, will use narratives to provide public health, health promotion and media strategies which resonate with the lived reality of obese and overweight people.Read moreRead less
The Intergenerational Transmission of Joblessness. The project aims to unpack the mechanisms, channels and factors that drive joblessness from one generation to the next in Australia and across Europe, Asia and the United States. By creating a rich longitudinal dataset on families across the selected countries, it plans to challenge existing theories by asking whether aspects of family’s work–welfare trajectories, values and dynamics play out differently across multiple nations, over time and in ....The Intergenerational Transmission of Joblessness. The project aims to unpack the mechanisms, channels and factors that drive joblessness from one generation to the next in Australia and across Europe, Asia and the United States. By creating a rich longitudinal dataset on families across the selected countries, it plans to challenge existing theories by asking whether aspects of family’s work–welfare trajectories, values and dynamics play out differently across multiple nations, over time and in different labour market, institutional and family contexts. Project results may provide evidence-based knowledge for the development of effective interventions to avert the persistence of joblessness across generations.Read moreRead less
Genetic Identity Testing and the Family: the articulation between biotechnology and family relationships, politics and policy. Genetic identity testing cuts to the very nature of the family itself. For the first time in human history, it is possible to identify paternity - and misattributed paternity - with reasonable certainty. Parentage testing has become a vehicle for the fathers? rights movement, and is influencing the management of child support policy. Governments are currently developing ....Genetic Identity Testing and the Family: the articulation between biotechnology and family relationships, politics and policy. Genetic identity testing cuts to the very nature of the family itself. For the first time in human history, it is possible to identify paternity - and misattributed paternity - with reasonable certainty. Parentage testing has become a vehicle for the fathers? rights movement, and is influencing the management of child support policy. Governments are currently developing broad policy frameworks on this issue. Yet there is almost no social research on parentage testing. This study will provide scope for Australian leadership in an area of study that will become progressively more important with the rapid development of DNA chip technology. Read moreRead less
Modelling the Diffusion of Innovation in Marketing Research. This project will identify and explain the utilisation of marketing research in Australian organisations. The major (but not exclusive) focus will be the diffusion of Internet-based marketing research innovations. Previous studies of marketing research have been limited, through focussing on only one sector (such as tourism) or aspect of usage, or by using small samples, or by excluding important Internet innovations or managerial eval ....Modelling the Diffusion of Innovation in Marketing Research. This project will identify and explain the utilisation of marketing research in Australian organisations. The major (but not exclusive) focus will be the diffusion of Internet-based marketing research innovations. Previous studies of marketing research have been limited, through focussing on only one sector (such as tourism) or aspect of usage, or by using small samples, or by excluding important Internet innovations or managerial evaluations. This project will investigate the diffusion of marketing research across many industrial sectors, over several years. The project will yield "benchmarking" benefits of immediate value, and enduring benefits through the continuing evaluation of innovative research practices.Read moreRead less
Exploring Consumers' Switching and Loyalty Behaviours: Brand Relationship Dynamics. For marketers and academics, understanding the ways that consumers develop relationships with brands is of utmost importance. Brands may inspire loyalty, repeat purchases, continued use, and switching behaviour over time. Yet, continued brand usage and switching behaviours have not yet been studied systematically from a relationship perspective. Fournier's (1998) perspective on brand relationships is used to unde ....Exploring Consumers' Switching and Loyalty Behaviours: Brand Relationship Dynamics. For marketers and academics, understanding the ways that consumers develop relationships with brands is of utmost importance. Brands may inspire loyalty, repeat purchases, continued use, and switching behaviour over time. Yet, continued brand usage and switching behaviours have not yet been studied systematically from a relationship perspective. Fournier's (1998) perspective on brand relationships is used to understand changes in brand behaviours as changes in underlying consumer-brand relationships. This study, using qualitative semi-structured interviews and longitudinal brand diary keeping, will uncover the personal, social, and cultural meanings associated with brand-related changes, significantly advancing our understanding of brand relationship dynamics.
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Modelling Consumer Decision States. This research will examine the evolution of consumer decision states as products/categories mature and investigate how choice experiments can be developed to predict new product choices. Technological developments have made it feasible to expose large numbers of respondents to choice experiments enhanced with a process of Information Acceleration. A longitudinal experimental approach is proposed that monitors consumers' awareness, consideration and choice for ....Modelling Consumer Decision States. This research will examine the evolution of consumer decision states as products/categories mature and investigate how choice experiments can be developed to predict new product choices. Technological developments have made it feasible to expose large numbers of respondents to choice experiments enhanced with a process of Information Acceleration. A longitudinal experimental approach is proposed that monitors consumers' awareness, consideration and choice for one mature and two new products. This will allow for the developing of models that take into account the different rates at which consumers progress through decision states, leading to improved forecasts of new product trial and adoption.Read moreRead less
Can commerce be authentic? Developing and testing consumer-based measures of brand authenticity. Academics and practitioners identify the management of brand authenticity as a critical success factor in building brand equity. Significant opportunities exist for Australian firms to benefit from application of a brand authenticity scale in the development of brand communication strategies. In particular, small firms where reputation can be built on an authentic connection to family or regional his ....Can commerce be authentic? Developing and testing consumer-based measures of brand authenticity. Academics and practitioners identify the management of brand authenticity as a critical success factor in building brand equity. Significant opportunities exist for Australian firms to benefit from application of a brand authenticity scale in the development of brand communication strategies. In particular, small firms where reputation can be built on an authentic connection to family or regional history; tourism organisations where consumption is driven by authenticity; or exporters of local brands where perceptions of what is authentically Australian are critical. It is also significant for sports organisations where the opportunity to self-authenticate is a major motivation for consumers whether spectator or participant.Read moreRead less
Maximizing Dimensional Efficiency With Minimal Cardinality Pattern Combinations. Making optimal use of dimensional capacity is often fundamental to the efficiency of processes in science and industry. Many important applications use combinations of patterns to achieve this. For example, in paper and in steel manufacturing, reels are divided lengthwise into cutting patterns, combined so as to minimize waste. In medicine, radiation patterns are combined to effectively treat cancerous tumours. ....Maximizing Dimensional Efficiency With Minimal Cardinality Pattern Combinations. Making optimal use of dimensional capacity is often fundamental to the efficiency of processes in science and industry. Many important applications use combinations of patterns to achieve this. For example, in paper and in steel manufacturing, reels are divided lengthwise into cutting patterns, combined so as to minimize waste. In medicine, radiation patterns are combined to effectively treat cancerous tumours. By addressing the common mathematical structure underlying pattern combination, this project will account for a hitherto neglected critical factor - the solution cardinality - making fully optimized solutions available for the first time to many applications in science and industry.Read moreRead less