Analysis and methods in nonsmooth and nonconvex optimization
- Authors: Xu, Huifu
- Date: 1998
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "The purpose of this thesis is to propose, by a variety of techniques from nonsmooth and convex analysis, numerical methods for the solution of nonsmooth equations and nonconvex minimization problems arising in mathematical programming, economics, engineering, and sciences."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Analytical and numerical approaches to evaluate the effect of time-dependent and time-independent soil characteristics on the stability of deep excavations
- Authors: Ghadrdan, Mohsen
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Excavating the ground for different purposes, such as extracting valuable materials or undertaking urban construction, may cause concerns regarding the stability of the formed slopes, which can affect the environment, the economy, and human lives. Slope stability analysis in large-scale and deep excavations such as open-pit mines is challenging due to uncertainties regarding varying material parameters, complex field conditions and lack of or insufficient data such as pore water pressure distribution, in-situ stress conditions, and discontinuities. Despite different advanced analytical and numerical slope stability techniques having been developed, slope stability analysis may produce unreliable conclusions due to these uncertainties and challenges. This study’s objective is to investigate the effect of different factors associated with slope stability through a case study of the Yallourn brown coal open pit mine in Australia. In this study, the two most common slope stability methods—the Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM)—were employed. A comprehensive study was conducted to determine how the generation and dissipation of Negative Excess Pore-Water Pressure (NEPWP) affect slope stability assessments. Additionally, due to the complex geological stratigraphy of the site, different scenarios for geological layering were defined and investigated for the slope stability analyses. Moreover, the sensitivity of the slope stability assessment to not only different material characteristics but also different formulations and assumptions of LEM and FEM are presented.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Anger : Specific cognitive and developmental factors : An investigation into the specific associations between anger, early maladaptive schemas and parenting
- Authors: Maud, Monica
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Three studies were undertaken to explore cognitive underpinnings of anger.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
Anti-war, radical youth revolt, Victoria, 1965-1975
- Authors: Butler, Nicholas
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: This thesis is a political history of the emergence and evolution of selected radical, left, student and workers movements in Victoria between 1965 and 1975. It examines the development of radical alliances, demonstrations and public actions using documentary materials and oral accounts provided during interviews. It argues that the radical left movement in Victoria began within the Monash University Labor Club, which subsequently generated radical groups outside the university. During this timeframe, both military conscription for the Vietnam War and the war itself became focal points for oppositional political mobilisation in Victoria. In 1967, the Monash Labor Club’s disruptive campaign against university authority was sufficiently popular for the club to turn its attention to disrupting the war effort. Soon, its locus of operations shifted into the general anti-war movement and the Labor Club established new, non-student, and avowedly communist and revolutionary organisations. Roughly termed the “Maoists,” by 1970 these organisations coalesced into the Worker Student Alliance (WSA), which grew rapidly to become a “left-wing” body that challenged the leadership of the established “left” organisations. The cessation of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War removed a major cause for radical action and, despite the generation of some important campaigns to replace it, the WSA dissolved itself in 1974.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
AOP and HLA : A new aspect on distributed simulation development
- Authors: Pokorny, Timothy
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: This thesis develops a method for combining AOP and HLA, leveraging the separation-of-concerns approach used by AOP to allow the creation of core models, free from simulation distribution semantics. Through the use of automated tools, these models are then woven with a generic-HLA aspect, producing an HLA-enabled simulation component. Using AOP in this manner removes the need for model developers to have an in-depth understanding of the HLA, helping to remove the prime factor restricitng a broader uptake of distributed simulation technologies: development complexity.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Applicability of LAMP as a field diagnostic test for haemonchus contortus and fasciola hepatica infection
- Authors: Bari, Tanjina
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Gastrointestinal parasites Haemonchus contortus and Fasciola hepatica are major impediments to livestock production worldwide. Faecal egg counts remain the most commonly used and widely accepted diagnostic tool for these parasites; however, there is a need for improved, field-applicable diagnostics. In this study, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was optimised and evaluated for the detection of H. contortus (in sheep) and F. hepatica (in cattle) infection. LAMP assays were optimised to enable visual detection using calcein dye. DNA extraction techniques were developed that have the potential for on-farm application. Faeces suspended in water, heated, then centrifuged, with two cheap and stable chemicals, enabled detection of H. contortus at clinically relevant infection burdens. For F. hepatica, a faeces-water suspension was sieved to remove particulate matter, then physical disruption (bead-beating) was applied. LAMP was conducted under laboratory conditions and in the field; compared to FEC (the most commonly used diagnostic for the target parasites) and PCR. LAMP was conducted using three incubation methods: a commercially available thermocycler; a field-friendly low-cost portable styrofoam esky; and a dedicated field applicable LAMP incubator. The general trend was for LAMP to have high sensitivity but only moderate specificity when compared to FEC. However, the use of PCR (both pathogens) and a highly sensitive amended FEC (F. hepatica only) suggested that the apparent low specificity was the result of LAMP being able to detect low-level parasite infection when conventional FEC could not. A LAMP assay paired with a potentially field-applicable DNA extraction was able to adequately detect haemonchosis at ‘clinically relevant’ parasite burdens in a laboratory study. A field study for the detection of F. hepatica demonstrated the potential utility of LAMP on-farm. The studies conducted in this thesis demonstrate the potential of LAMP for parasitic disease diagnosis in agriculture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Application of nonsmooth optimisation to data analysis
- Authors: Ugon, Julien
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: The research presented in this thesis is two-fold: on the one hand, major data mining problems are reformulated as mathematical programming problems. These problems should be carefully designed, since from their formulation depends the efficiency, perhaps the existence, of the solvers. On the other hand, optimisation methods are adapted to solve these problems, most of which are nonsmooth and nonconvex. This part is delicate, as the solution is often required to be good and obtained fast. Numerical experiments on real-world datasets are presented and analysed.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Application of psycholinguistic features to authorship profiling for first language, gender and age group
- Authors: Torney, Rosemary
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Much of the fraud committed in cyberspace involves the misrepresentation of the demographic data of the perpetrator via the medium of seemly anonymous text messages. One way to address this issue is to apply techniques from the field of authorship characterisation or profiling which is the analysis of text to determine the demographic profile of the author. Most of the previous research into authorship characterisation has used counts and ratios of lexicographically based features that include words, parts of words and Parts Of Speech (POS) contained within the text. This study examines the effectiveness of classifying the first language, gender and age group of an author using a set of features developed in the psycholinguistic field (the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count - LIWC), both as a single type feature set and in combination with the lexicographically based features used in previous studies (function words, character bigrams and POS unigrams and bigrams). This study also searched for the smallest, most effective subset of each feature set that was practical, by ranking the features using three feature selection algorithms and systematically reducing the number used. In addition, the study explored the effective lower word limit for accurate classification by reducing the text size by regular increments. LIWC was found to be more effective than a similar number of any of the lexicographic feature types, and to add insight rather than noise when combined with these feature types. This held to be true for both the full and reduced text sizes for all three demographic classes examined. In addition it was found that the size of feature sets could be greatly reduced while still maintaining effective levels of classification accuracy.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Applied aspirations : design and applied art at the Ballarat Technical Art School during the early twentieth century
- Authors: Whetter, Elise
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Applied art and design schools operate at the nexus of art, industry, and education. During the early decades of the twentieth century, the regionally located Ballarat Technical Art School (BTAS) was the leading institution of its kind in Victoria, Australia, amid shifting economic, cultural, and pedagogical conditions. Emerging from a 1907 amalgamation of institutions, and subsequently administrated by the School of Mines Ballarat (SMB), BTAS was equipped with the assets, experience, and historic reputation necessary to surpass its provincial and metropolitan rivals. This micro-historical case-study employs qualitative analysis of primary sources to investigate the aims, outputs, and importance of BTAS, contextualised by the expectations and influences it operated under during the inaugural principalship of artist and educator, Herbert Henry Smith. Smith oversaw the training of designers, craftspeople, artists, and teachers from 1907 until his retirement in early 1940—a period of tumultuous events, fiscal obstacles, and social and cultural debate. The institution was accountable to diverse stakeholders and arbiters of taste, and successive cohorts learned in a contested space between tradition, origination, and modernisation. Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural theory serves to navigate this web of hierarchies, assumptions, and tensions, while secondary sources help contextualise findings. This thesis also discusses the suite of drawing, design and material-based disciplines delivered at BTAS as single subjects, full courses, and supplementary art-trade training. Throughout, featured students provide examples of regionally trained, Australian designer-maker and artist-teacher experiences. BTAS students learned from ambitious and skilled men and women, benefited from strong professional networks, and fostered a notable esprit-de-corps. The school was significant for its contribution to female technical training. The school’s pre-eminent position was modified during the late 1920s, when much art and art-teacher training was re-centred in Melbourne. Yet, the valuable, compelling, and widespread influence of Ballarat Technical Art School graduates resonated for decades.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Applying prospect-refuge theory to a local environment : My house and the nature strip outside my house
- Authors: Ryan, Vin
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Jay Appleton’s prospect-refuge theory asserts that there are innate, evolutionary factors that influence how we respond to the landscapes around us. Appleton identifies an instinctive desire for prospect and refuge as significant factors that influence the way that we read and respond to our surroundings. Appleton’s notion of prospect is one that encapsulates our desire to seek opportunity and interest from our surroundings. His notion of refuge refers to a desire to seek safety and shelter from within the same environment. Where Appleton seeks meaning from historical notions of landscape, subsequent writers and practitioners have applied prospect-refuge theory to broader categories that encapsulate a notion of environment, this is particularly the case within the field of architecture. Since prospect-refuge theory is largely forgotten within the field of fine art, this project seeks to test its currency as an applicable and useful tool for a contemporary visual art practitioner. My aim here is to test the limits of prospect-refuge theory by applying its universal principles to a set of parochial and idiosyncratic concerns that form part of my visual arts practice. Specifically I look at a personal set of associations that I have with the spaces of my suburban home and nature strip. I seek to use prospect-refuge theory as a means through which to contextualise these personal responses within a broader and more complex discourse.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Approaches to learning : perceptions about Chinese international undergraduates in Australian Universities
- Authors: Li, Boli
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Chinese students constitute the largest cohort of international undergraduates in Australian universities, comprising 37.3% in 2019. However, there is a scarcity of research examining perceptions of how Chinese international students (CIS) learn in Australian universities, from the broader context of the students themselves, their Australian teachers and Australian domestic student (ADS) counterparts. Drawing on the 3P (Presage-Process-Product) framework by Biggs, Kember, and Leung (2001), this thesis explored the perceptions of CIS, and their lecturers and classmates regarding their approaches to learning in Australian universities. Utilising a mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2014), surveys were conducted with 156 CIS and 212 ADS incorporating a validated survey by Biggs et al. (2001) called the R-SPQ-2F. Interviews were also conducted with 10 CIS and 10 Australian academics from two Australian universities, one regional and the other metropolitan. The findings demonstrated that perceptions of CIS were characterised by a unique learning structure that differed from ADS in a number of ways, particularly in relation to group learning, the use of understanding and memorisation strategies, and classroom engagement. It was noted that these disparities did not support the generally held view of CIS as mainly surface oriented learners who preferred rote-learning techniques (Grimshaw, 2007). While adopting similar levels to ADS of deep approach strategies in their learning, CIS also used more surface and achieving approaches than ADS, and tended to incorporate memorising with understanding in their learning process. However, it was also evident that the approaches used by CIS in Australia were often more complex than what was easily observed. For instance, their reticence in class was not necessarily indicative of passive learning, but instead, suggestive of the complexity of context that needs to encompass the ‘whole being’ of these students, i.e., their personality, culture, and most of all, the dynamics of their perceived approaches to their learning. This study also investigated negotiations that occurred between CIS and their Australian lecturers. While CIS’ learning approaches were greatly shaped and determined by academics’ instructional decisions involving curriculum, teaching patterns and assessment procedures, it was also found that academics’ instructional activities were reshaped and counter-determined by CIS’ learning approaches. As a result, a Co-constructed Model of Learning and Teaching (CMLT) for CIS in Australian universities, based on the 3P framework (Biggs et al., 2001), was developed to assist future education experiences for international students. This study is significant in that it has given voice to Chinese students, enabling a greater understanding of their experiences in Australian universities to emerge, in conjunction with and supplemented by insights provided by their Australian student counterparts and educators. It has enabled both international and domestic students the opportunity to reflect on possible cultural impacts on learning, hopefully improving their capacities to act as effective global citizens. It has also afforded an opportunity for academics to reflect on their beliefs and practices in relation to teaching diverse student cohorts, which will hopefully deepen their understanding of the complexities that come with the increasing globalisation of education.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Are nurse academics technology ready? A mixed methods study of Australian nurse academics’ attitudes to technologies in teaching
- Authors: Browning, Mark
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Technology use in higher education teaching has become widespread and ubiquitous, affecting many areas of teaching and learning (Bond et al., 2020). Nurse education has been impacted by this shift with increasing use of technologies in the classroom (Koch, 2014). Although there has been a large research focus relating to students’ elearning, there has been less focus on the academic and their elearning role, in particular, how academic attitudes influence technology use in teaching (Drysdale et al., 2013; Martin, Polly, et al., 2020). The aim of this study was to explore nurse academics’ attitudes to technology and the influence attitude has on their use of technologies in teaching. There were three objectives: 1) To investigate nurse academics’ attitudes to technology through the Technology Readiness Index 2.0 (TRI 2). 2) To develop an understanding of how and why nurse academics engage with technology through individual interviews. 3) To integrate the quantitative (Objective 1) and qualitative (Objective 2) findings in order to gain a holistic understanding of academics’ use of technologies in teaching. A mixed methods sequential explanatory design consisting of two phases was used to address the aim. The first phase was a survey based on a previously validated, 16 item questionnaire, the Technology Readiness Index 2.0 (TRI 2), which was distributed to Australian nurse academics. The second phase included semi-structured individual interviews focussed on academics’ use and attitudes to technology, incorporating elements from the survey. The Technology Readiness Index 2.0 (TRI 2) was used in this study for the first time with nurse academics. The phase one findings indicate that nurse academics were technology ready, had higher overall TRI mean score than the general population (Parasuraman & Colby, 2015), but with similar outcomes to previous nurse academic research. Of note was that TRI was significantly associated with frequency of technology use, number of technologies used and self-rated confidence to use technology. The findings revealed three main Technology Readiness groups, representing three attitudes to technology in teaching: Explorers, Sceptics and Hesitators. Explorers were found to be innovative, positive and confident in their use of technology; Sceptics showed aversion to technology, were cautious when considering the impact on pedagogy and concerned about the impact on interpersonal skills; Hesitators showed preference for traditional teaching and distrust and were anxious about technology use. Overall, attitudes were found to be complex, based on experience and the potential impact technology may have on nursing students. The groups identified in this thesis explain behaviours and enable institutes to support academics in their engagement with technology. Recommendations include flexible training to meet the needs of academics, the use of simple and reliable technology across TR groups and adjusting workloads to account for the time-consuming nature of technology. There is also a need for academics to consider their attitudes to technology and the impact this may have on their teaching. This thesis demonstrates that technology engagement is not a binary choice but a complex process based on attitudes and other factors.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Aspects of stuckness in Mervyn Peakes's fiction / Alice Mills
- Authors: Mills, Alice
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "This thesis argues that stuckness is a central trope in all of Mervyn Peake's extended works of fiction and that most of Peake's characters become stuck at critical points in their lives."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Assessing healthcare providers' performance with and without risk adjustment
- Authors: Morales-Silva, Daniel
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: This study focuses on how healthcare data can be used to draw comparisons between healthcare providers (surgeons or hospitals). Depending on the type of access to datasets, these comparisons can be done with or without risk adjustment. For us, risk adjustment refers to the use of patient-level information to explain variation in healthcare spending, resource utilisation and health outcomes. For unadjusted comparisons, we highlight the diagnostic potential that radar plots offer for reporting on outcome indicators. These outcome indicators were obtained from hospital admissions of patients undergoing certain surgical procedures. We address two drawbacks of radar plots: presence of missing information and order of indicators. By introducing a consolidated view at provider level, we define an uncomplicated ranking of providers which can be used to identify potential low and high performers. For risk adjusted comparisons, we introduce a novel and robust methodology that enables comparisons of healthcare providers across multiple hierarchies, namely, surgeons, teams, departments and hospitals, using a consistent approach. Our methodology puts the patient at the centre of the analysis, and thus, can be used for personalised predictions (e.g. expected length of stay, costs and probability of being transferred to intensive care unit). Our findings suggest that the observed variation in selected outcome indicators, such as length of stay and charges of healthcare providers, cannot be explained by patient characteristics alone. Importantly, we have also observed that the perceived performance, on selected outcome indicators, of providers can change substantially following risk adjustment. Healthcare is unique in that clinical expertise is essential in guiding decision making and in informing all statistical models that seek to describe patient outcomes. For future iterations of our models, we will seek greater clinical input.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Assessing productive soil - landscapes in Victoria using digital soil mapping
- Authors: Robinson, Nathan
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Spatial soil information is used to support questions on agriculture and the environment from global to local scales. Historically, soil mapping has been used to inform and guide a multitude of land users with their decisions. Demand for specific spatial soil information is increasing in response from a wider range of users operating across agricultural and environmental domains. To satisfy these demands, users must be provided with practical and relevant spatial soil information. Novel approaches are required to deal with global deficiencies in available soil information. A major limitation to this is the plethora of incongruent legacy data with poor spatial and temporal coverage. This research study initially identifies the specific needs of users for spatial soil information with a focus on the requirements of biophysical modellers. Secondly, error sources that hamper Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) are identified, described and assessed using pH in practical and relevant examples. A final aim is to spatially predict soil properties (e.g. clay mineralogy) that underpin soil chemical behaviour. This is achieved by harmonising legacy data in combination with new spectroscopy techniques and a spatial inference approach. The spatial soil information needs of biophysical modellers in Victoria, Australia were found to be consistent with global needs for information including soil water characteristics, organic carbon and effective rooting depth. To accommodate stochastic and epistemic uncertainties in spatial soil information, uncertainty frameworks proved effective to deal with, and understand the limitations of legacy data in spatial inference models. Robust and reliable spectroscopic models for properties that are linked to functions and services delivered by soil were achieved and used in 3D spatial models. These findings will enable a tactical response through the delivery of pertinent spatial soil information that is contemporary, quality assured and sought by users. Learnings presented should enable producers of spatial soil information to be more comprehensive in their delivery of products that are easy to use, accessible and understood by a growing user community.
- Description: Doctor of Philosphy
Atomic (con)testing: public representations and reflections on British atomic testing in Australia
- Authors: Leonard, Zeb
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "explores the genealogy of the discourse on nuclear testing in Australia during the 1950s. In this analysis of publicly available sources, it seeks to understand why certain myths emerged in relation to the tests, and to examine the persistence of some myths and speculative accounts, while others have been totally rejected."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Attitudes and beliefs of rural health and welfare professionals about sexual assault / Margaret J. Radcliffe
- Authors: Radcliffe, Margaret
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "The study aims to document the attitudes and beliefs of a group of rural health and welfare professionals in the Central Highlands region of Victoria, to identify if theoretical frameworks of participants for the explanation of sexual assault reflect community attitudes based on traditional mythologies and misconceptions. The study also aims to highlight where specific training about sexual assault is required, based on needs of participants, and to recommend components for a future training program."
- Description: Master of Arts
Audit education in a socialist oriented market economy – the case of Vietnam
- Authors: Dang, Ky
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: The objective of the research project is to contribute to the understanding of the auditing profession in Vietnam. In particular, it provides information on the challenges facing auditors in an emerging economy where economic transformation is in progress and where auditing, as a profession, is under development. Auditors operate in an environment of conflicting priorities where they must maintain independence and objectivity in discharging their responsibilities to stakeholders and society. In Vietnam, the audit profession only came into existence in 1986 when the country embarked on its new economic model. Whilst studies have been conducted on the status of current accounting practice in Vietnam, studies regarding the audit profession have been limited. In this research project an examination of the issues affecting audit quality in Vietnam are investigated and suggestions for changes to address the deficiencies are made. In particular, the project focuses on the relevance and appropriateness of the education of auditors. A national survey of accountants, auditors and accounting academics in Vietnam was undertaken. The survey results indicate that in Vietnam there are deficiencies in audit practices over and above those commonly observed in other countries. These deficiencies are the result of the unique history of Vietnam, the current stage of economic development and the education system for auditors. From an auditing perspective, the slow adaptation of the education system to the new economic environment is having negative effects on accounting graduates and their employment prospects. Although inadequate training was identified as the single most important factor affecting audit quality, the ineffective enforcement regime was also a contributing factor. This research project indicates that there is a need for an overhaul of the current education system in Vietnam and for universities to develop an accounting and auditing curriculum that meets the needs of employers while complying with government’s education objectives and international standards of auditing and accounting.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Australian home care quality : a political tango
- Authors: Mee, Jenny
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: The performance of Australian home care and how it is enacted has been significantly impacted by the economic and political challenges since the announcement of the Aged Care Reforms in July 2012 and the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in July 2013. As a result, the home care business arena has changed, and the effects are being felt as the marketplace shifts, and businesses adapt to new policy directions. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the social context of Australian home care, and to collect information regarding how home care (under the various auspices of government funded and privately funded) service provision is enacted in terms of quality during this time of change. The qualitative research process for this study involved critical reflexive practice and face-to-face semi-structured interviews of 10 home care business leaders from the states of Queensland and Victoria. In listening to the voices of the participants, this research study sought to develop new discursive approaches in order to understand the practice of caring for the Australian community’s most vulnerable people – those who are frail, aged, and for those who have ill-health or a disability. The analytical framework adopted for this study used a post-structural discourse analysis, which was informed by the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault and other contemporary theorists. The philosophical framework of governmentality and discourse analysis helped to situate the voice of the participants at a time when new ideas and the ways of conducting the business of home care are emerging. In using this approach to analyse the data, it became apparent that the discursive practices that had been instituted by government in the home care sector had been constructed to remove progressive inclusionary policies that were contrary to the democratic principles of governing. The research study’s findings reveal the problematic changes that impact on business but more so for consumers as the rules are interpreted. By using the metaphor of ice dancing, the study problematized the leadership of government and the challenges participants faced in maintaining quality service provision in the home care arena. What emerged was the dance of a political tango. These leaders in the arena revealed the importance of knowing when to lead and when to push back. Like the different genres of tango, there are different ways of viewing the world of home care and performing in its different spaces, and there are other ways of viewing quality in caring service provisions. By participating in the research, the participants highlighted the need of being inclusive to hearing and seeing all performers in the arena of home care regardless of social or geographical positioning. This research concludes that hearing and acting on the voices from the wider home care arena continues to be necessary in order to inform future policy direction for quality performance improvements for Australia’s consumers of home care and to move away from home care traditions of governing and ruling. The research additionally advocates for more inclusive governing approaches through more even distribution of power in consultative processes, research, oversight in the marketplace and access to resources for all groups. This thesis is a contribution to creating a new political dance in the space of Australia’s home care politics.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Australian nursing students’ perceptions of being a nurse : a mixed methods study
- Authors: Allen, Louise
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Background Nursing students often enter nursing programs with idealistic, altruistic perceptions of what it means to be a nurse. Over time, however, many discover that these perceptions are naïve and unrealistic. Nursing is a demanding profession that requires knowledge, skill and emotional resilience in often demanding and challenging situations that can influence emotional intelligence. Therefore, an early and realistic understanding of professional requirements may reduce transition shock and attrition rates. Aim The aim of this thesis is to explore Bachelor of Nursing (BN) students’ perceptions of being a nurse in Australia. Methods This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. The 34-item Perceptions of a Registered Nurse (PRN) survey tool was developed using a Nominal Group Technique and validated with a sample of 797 participants across three universities and states. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was incorporated as applicable. In addition, online semi-structured interviews with 23 nursing students (n = 23) explored their perceptions of a nurse in detail, with a thematic analysis of outcomes. Results Demographic variables influenced perceptions. There were significant differences in item-by-item perceptions related to ‘primary language spoken at home’ (13/34 items; p < .04), ‘university of study’ (10/34 items; p
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy