bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Virtual Recollection: Artifact Engagement in Three-Dimensional Environments
Authors:   , Achten Ryan
Published: November 2021

Cultural institutions, specifically libraries, museums, and archives, have long been recognised for their collection and preservation of artifacts as a means of conserving cultural memory. With an emergence of digital modes of archiving, an emphasis has been placed on reproducing existing physical artifacts as digital representations and archival of born-digital media. Within the common practice of representing three-dimensional digital artifacts as two-dimensional counterparts, only a facet of the original artifact is represented; omitting valuable spatial and contextual information while precluding opportunities for new forms of artifactual engagement.  By adopting the gaming engine Unity3D, software for interfacing with archive collections was developed to explore how digital three-dimensional spatiality within cultural institution practice may enhance interaction between users and artifacts. Using a combination of configuration, probe, and abstract experimentalist devices, this research explored ways users may engage with digital artifacts in their native spatiality, and the opportunities or limitations these interactions may give rise to. By exploiting diegetic space intrinsic within interfaces, environmental narratives may become powerful tools when communicating and understanding artifactual information. This paper delineates aspects of narrative potential within artifacts and their surrounding environment possible through three-dimensional representation.
Reclaiming Social Space: Adapting Neighbourhoods to Support an Ageing Population
Authors:   , McClintock Lisa
Published: November 2021

The age structure of New Zealand’s population is expected to undergo a dramatic change in the next few decades. By 2050, it is thought that approximately one quarter of the population will be aged 65+.  Research indicates that the overwhelming preference of older adults is to age in their own homes and communities if possible. However, loneliness among community-dwelling older adults is widespread.   Architecture as a discipline has unique potential to critique existing neighbourhood design and generate creative solutions to provide a more socially fulfilling environment for residents to age in place. Architecture for ageing must combat loneliness and enable continued contact in later life.   This research explores the sensitive adaptation of inner suburban Wellington neighbourhoods with the aim of empowering inhabitants to age positively in the community.
An Archaeomagnetic Study of Hangi Stones in New Zealand
Authors:   , Kinger Rimpy
Published: November 2021

Burnt or fired archaeological artefacts often retain a record of the magnetic field in which they were last heated and cooled. Over the past four years we have collected oriented hangi stones from 10 archaeological sites spread across the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The stones vary in lithology from andesites, originating from the central North Island volcanoes, favoured by Maori for their durability and with remanent magnetization up to 30 A/m, to sandstones and schists from the main axial ranges, with magnetizations as weak as 10-4 A/m. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal fragments retrieved from amongst the stones indicates that the sites span from ca. 1400 AD to the present.  In all cases, we have independently oriented and retrieved several stones, and we have made several samples from each stone, either by drilling (standard cylindrical samples) or sawing (pseudo-cubes) in the laboratory. We have calculated site mean palaeomagnetic directions (Dec between 1.5o and 19.6o and Inc between -52.2o and -68.3o) from principal component analysis of thermal demagnetization and alternating field demagnetization data, discarding the data of stones that show evidence of disturbance after cooling. The directions are in good agreement with recently published palaeosecular variation records from lake sediments. We have carried out palaeointensity experiments using the Coe/Thellier method with pTRM and tail checks, and with selection criteria modified to the situation. Palaeointensities range from 50μT to 77μT. Rock magnetic experiments contribute to our understanding of the mineralogy, domain state and blocking temperature spectra.  We compare our data with predictions of the global field models ARCH3k and gufm1, and suggest that the addition of our new data will improve these models for the SW Pacific region for the most recent time period. Archaeomagnetic measurements are also used to date hangi sites by matching the palaeo-direction to an established archaeomagnetic dating model, NZPSV1k. Archaeomagnetic dating is used to resolve ambiguities in the calibration of radiocarbon dates, and shows up inconsistencies due to unreliable source material for radiocarbon dating. Archaeomagnetic dating and radiocarbon dating results are combined to give the best estimates of the best age of the hangi sites.
High Ground, Low Ground: Explorations in Topography and Neighbourliness in Coastal Dune Settlement
Authors:   , Wallis Stephanie
Published: November 2021

The desire to live close to the ocean often brings about settlement that sprawls along the beachfront, parallel to the coastline. This settlement structure is problematic as it diminishes the importance of community while exposing beachfront housing to coastal hazards. The coastal dune settlements of Waikanae and Paraparaumu, where this research has been undertaken, exhibits this problematic settlement structure.  Using these sites as a case study, the research seeks to re-examine the New Zealand coastal land settlement formation. It explores what could happen if the current coastal settlement pattern re-organised as a more social structure? The research is investigating an approach to settlement through re-examining the idea of neighbourhood by looking at its whole relation to the coastal dune topography, ecology, and wider landscape relations.  However, not only does this research look at the social potentials of coastal settlement but how disaster planning can become a device to achieve this outcome. Essentially, it aligns itself with the attitude that flooding and coastal hazards should not just be looked at as an engineering problem but an opportunity to alter the way in which we settle coastlines in a way that builds community.
Applying Formal Modelling to the Specification and Testing of SDN Network Functionality
Authors:   , Stevens Matthew
Published: November 2021

Software Defined Networks offers a new paradigm to manage networks, one that favors centralised control over the distributed control used in legacy networks. This brings network operators potential efficiencies in capital investment, operating costs and wider choice in network appliance providers. We explore in this research whether these efficiencies apply to all network functionality by applying formal modelling to create a mathematically rigourous model of a service, a firewall, and using that model to derive tests that are ultimately applied to two SDN firewalls and a legacy stateful firewall. In the process we discover the only publicly available examples of SDN firewalls are not equivalent to legacy stateful firewalls and in fact create a security flaw that may be exploited by an attacker.
Colonisation and Aboriginal Land Tenure: Taiwan during the Qing Period (1684-1895) and the Japanese Period (1895-1945)
Authors:   , Ye Ruiping
Published: November 2021

This thesis is concerned with the land rights of the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan. It explores how under the Qing (1684-1895) and Japanese (1895-1945) regimes, laws and policies regarding aboriginal land in Taiwan resulted in aboriginal land tenure changes and loss of land. The thesis also explores how the respective legal systems and legal cultures of the Qing and Japanese states influenced policy-making concerning aboriginal land.  The thesis examines the different effects of the Qing and Japanese administrations on aboriginal land tenure in Taiwan. It analyses Qing policies towards land settlement in Taiwan, the extent of the government’s recognition and protection of aboriginal land rights, the changes that the distinctive Qing property law regime, including the Chinese customary land practice, brought to aboriginal land tenure, and the aborigines’ interaction with the government and settlers regarding their land. To a lesser extent and as a comparison, the thesis then discusses the Japanese government’s attitudes towards the aborigines and aboriginal land tenure, and Japan’s reforms of land tenure in Taiwan.  The thesis puts the study of Taiwan aboriginal land policies into the wider framework of the administration of Taiwan by two governments whose legal systems were quite different: the Qing government, which in many respects was a traditional Chinese imperial regime, and Japan, which by the time it colonised Taiwan had reformed its law along European lines and which was considered to be a modern and European-style state. Ultimately, this thesis attempts to find out what role the Qing legal system played in shaping the policies and in the transformation of aboriginal land tenure, and how the Japanese legal system, largely westernised after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, influenced Japanese policies regarding aboriginal land in Taiwan. Thus a central concern of the thesis is the connection between law and colonial policy.  This thesis concludes that the Qing colonisation of Taiwan was different from the later Japanese colonisation of Taiwan and from Western styles of colonisation. Shaped by its legal culture, constitutional framework, administrative system and property law regime, the Qing government had very little or no intention and took little action to transform aboriginal land tenure. Rather the Qing legal tradition allowed for or enabled Chinese settlers to manipulate aboriginal land tenure and impose Chinese culture on the aborigines, an effect often unintended by the government. In contrast, Japan colonised Taiwan with a specific intention to exploit the resources of the island and thus the government played a strong role in changing aboriginal land tenure in Taiwan.
Crippling the Will of a People: Morphostatic Structures of Violence and the Crawl-Space of Agency in the Lives of Eritrean Refugees
Authors:   , Commerer Jared
Published: November 2021

In conjunction with an exposition of the larger historical and political context of the nation of Eritrea, this thesis examines the life narratives of five refugees hailing from the Horn of Africa. In doing so, certain institutional, relational, and embodied forms of violence are identified as permeating Eritrea’s socio-political fabric and thus also the inter- and intra-personal lives of the participants. Where morphostatic structures are deemed as those that constrain an individual’s capacity to pursue their ultimate concerns, it is maintained that violence in the form of extreme nationalism, routinised fear, and varying subjective affects partially accounts for the fact that an estimated 5,000 people are fleeing this small, modernising African nation every month. Following this, I argue that, by examining the life-narratives of Eritrean refugees, violence can be understood as transpiring at the interstices of an ongoing – albeit skewed – dialectic between, on one hand, morphostatic structures of violence appearing in institutional, relational, and embodied forms, and, on the other, a degree of mimetic agency that, when harnessed, acts as a crawl-space through which individuals – if they are to realise their ultimate concerns – must absent themselves relative to such structures of violence.
The Impact of the Official Information Act 1982 on the Policy Development Process
Authors:   , Poot Edward H.
Published: November 2021

The Official Information Act was passed into statute in 1982. Among the purposes of the Act is the enhancement and respect for the law and the promotion of good government. The aim of this paper is to detennine, from a participation perspective, the impact of the Official Information Act 1982 on the core public sector policy process. The paper starts with a background to the Act before reviewing the expected and actual impact of the Act, as outlined in the literature. The policy making process in New Zealand' s core public sector is considered, highlighting opportunities for participation. Participation theory is discussed.  The research involves a survey across the core public sector to gain general views of the impact of the Act on the policy development process. The results are used as the basis for three in-depth case studies of core public sector agencies. The conclusions are that while the Act is an important instrument of accountability, the success of the Act in enabling more effective participation is not so clear. While information is more readily obtainable, technocratic officials and Ministers keen to control information impact on the ability of citizens to participate. It is concluded that for the Act to be of maximum benefit education of officials and a loosening on the control of information will be needed.
The Provision of Free and Frank Advice to Government
Authors:   , Voyce Evan Williams
Published: November 2021

This paper examines the extent to which New Zealand public servants feel able to offer free and frank advice to the Government through Ministers of the Crown. It seeks to define the nature of constitutional conventions; the importance of the free and frank convention to the preservation of an apolitical, independent public service and how and where this convention is captured in the "rules" governing the behaviour of both public servants and the Ministers they serve.
Brain Gain in Fiji? How do past emigrants’ experiences shape the education decisions and emigration plans of tertiary students in Fiji?
Authors:   , Mudaliar Lakshmin Aashnum
Published: November 2021

This thesis examines the case of Fijian youths’ increasing demand for higher education in order to explore the brain gain theorem. Its primary aim is to understand how past emigrants’ experiences shape the education decisions and emigration intentions of tertiary students in Fiji. This is achieved through semi-structured interviews with Fijian youths as well as an examination of policy and media reports. The research questions through which these aims are achieved are: Why do Fijian students enter higher education? Do Fijian students intend to migrate, and if so, why or why not? And what are the constraints and obstacles to Fijian students’ emigration intentions? The central conclusion of this thesis is that the brain gain effect is present in Fiji because half of the student-participants responded to the incentive effect, defined as the prospect of migration raising the expected returns to higher education, which is created by two distinct cultures of migration and three of the Fijian governments’ initiatives. The strength of their social ties determined whether they had perfect or imperfect information about the constraints and obstacles to their emigration intentions which in turn, determined the type of brain gain effect Fijian communities may be experiencing.  In this thesis, the relationship between emigration and human capital formation is understood through the notion of the brain gain effect, defined as prospect of migration leads to a higher average level of education per individual in origin countries. Existing empirical studies have employed quantitative methods to establish the correlation between past emigration rates and current enrolment rates. The significance and novelty of this thesis lies in its adoption of qualitative case study methods in which real people were asked what they are doing and why, thus bringing us closer to a causal understanding of the relationship between higher education and emigration. In addition, by including ethnic and skill-level variables in the research design, this thesis shows that those remaining behind after upskilling may be some of Fiji’s ‘best and brightest.’
Design foundations: Towards a model of style grammar in creative drawing
Authors:   , Sweo Jennie
Published: November 2021

A style grammar is a principled rule set that governs the organization of very complex ideas. It allows for the examination of underlying structures which are often times obscured. Style grammars have been developed for many fields such as writing, fashion and architecture but to date there is no style grammar for creative drawing. The research identifies the necessary visual features and core traits associated with each feature towards developing such a model for creative drawings. Then operational measures are defined using the computer to extract and measure the core traits of those features towards developing a model of style grammar in drawing. These visual features include line, tone, and depth. Core traits include line length, line width, line expressiveness, local tone, global tone, texture, pattern, outline, shape, and position.  A multidimensional scaling (MDS) using input from 27 subjects, 10 art experts and 17 novices, supported the overall list of visual features and added the dimension of smudge to the list. A second MDS sort discusses issues with images and large art categorical sorts from the standpoint of both human perception and machine measures that were obtained using feature extraction. It was concluded from the results of the second MDS that large art categories were too broad to be useful in evaluating measures to develop the model.  Further analysis was run using only drawings from three artists, two impressionists to compare similarity and one expressionist for dissimilarity to determine if the machine measures of the core traits of the visual features were able to differentiate smaller groupings of consistent drawing styles. Using the computer allowed for systematic and objective procedures to be used to obtain measures. The multinomial logistic regression showed high significance for all the traits except marginal significance for line length and no significance for depth. Binomial logistic regressions run on each pair of artists showed high significance for all the traits except depth.  The combined positive results of the first MDS card sort and the binomial and multinomial regression analysis provide proof of concept and offer strong support towards the development of a model of style grammar for creative drawings. Implications for teaching drawing using the identified visual features and core traits are offered. The outcomes and analysis provided in this research currently support a general practice rule in design reuse and intelligent borrowing that suggests first smudge, then depth, then tone, and then line quality are the most significant elements to use for style comparison. Discussions for future research including improved measures and other types of perception testing are provided towards further development of the model.
Young People’s Experience of Post-Separation Fathering Where the Father has been Violent to the Mother
Authors:   , Nelson Pamela
Published: November 2021

My intention in undertaking this research was to examine young people’s experiences of living with their father following parental separation where their father has been violent to their mother. To date there is little knowledge of children’s post-separation experiences of fathering or of the parenting abilities of partner abusive men.  This study takes a feminist approach and is informed by scholarship on family issues, childhood studies and the sociology of the child. The study was guided by hermeneutic phenomenology and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Twenty young people aged 18 to 26 took part in the study and face to face interviews were carried out over a one year period.  The findings revealed that some fathers were overly punitive in their parenting style with a number of fathers continuing to be physically and/or emotionally abusive to their children. Authoritarian or permissive parenting practices were also identified and a number of fathers were shown to be neglectful, making little effort to bond with their children or provide quality care. In cases where fathers were unable to accept the break-up and move on this was also shown to have an adverse effect on their ability to parent effectively including an inability to co-operate with children’s mothers.  In contrast, the majority of mothers were shown to be central to children’s lives undertaking most of the caring responsibilities. Mothers also recognised children’s changing needs as they grew older, encouraged autonomy, and contributed to children’s social development and maturity by trusting their judgement. However, this was not necessarily a protective factor against difficulties that participants have experienced as young adults.  A time-share or full-time arrangement was revealed as being the most problematic for children although weekend contact could also pose a risk where pre-separation violence towards children had been severe.  The study concluded that a safe outcome for children will require a shift away from a father’s right to contact, emphasising instead children’s right to a life free from abuse.
The effect of political risk on emerging and developed markets
Authors:   , Suleman Muhammad Tahir
Published: November 2021

This thesis consists of three substantive chapters (3, 4, 5) on the impact of political risk on equity and exchange rate returns and their volatilities.  Chapter 3 proposes a framework for predicting market returns and volatility using changes in the country’s political risk. We identify the appropriate lag to to calculate changes over, and how the changes should be included in mean and volatility equations. The level of aggregation of political risk variable is also examined. Analysing 47 emerging and 21 developed markets, we find predictive power primarily for volatility of emerging markets, and recommended use of three political risk components which suitably capture important dimensions of political environment.  In the Chapter 4 we empirically examines the impact of political risk on returns and volatility of individual firms and industry portfolios from New Zealand and Pakistan. The data used in the study consist of 184 firms from New Zealand and 202 firms from Pakistan along with country-level political risk data from the ICRG. As in the , we find in Chapter 3 that the impact of political risk is more on volatility than the returns of firms in both markets. As we expect, the impact of political risk is more on Pakistani firms compared to those in New Zealand. Overall, results from the industry portfolios are according to the hypothesis that political risk impact is different across industries (volatility increase for some industries and decrease for few).  Chapter 5 examine the relationship between political risk variables on the nominal exchange rate return and its volatility. We again investigate developed versus developed markets, and also consider three different exchange rate regimes i.e. floating, managed floating and fixed. This is important to examine the link between political risk and exchange rate because there are two sources of political risk one on either side of the exchange rate. In our analysis, we use the political risk spread between the country of interest and the USA. Overall results reveal that emerging markets are more exposed to political risk compared to developed. Further, the impact of political risk variables is more on the floating exchange rate compared to managed floating and fixed exchange rate as might be expected, since intervention in the market will generally reduce to eliminate the influence of alternative factors. We also find strong evidence that volatility increases more during a period of high political risk and poor economic conditions for emerging markets.
Investigating Nordic Noir
Authors:   , Alexi Sofia
Published: November 2021

Scandinavian crime films and television series have become popular in recent years. This thesis explores some of the key texts in ‘Nordic noir’ through a discussion of detectives, the environment, and visual style. The emphasis in the project is on textual analysis. The first chapter examines the figures of Wallander and Lund in Wallander and Forbrydelsen respectively. I argue that the conflicts Nordic detectives often have between work and the domestic sphere are an indication of how gender stereotypes are challenged in the Scandinavian crime genre. The second chapter considers the role of the natural and built environments in Nordic noir. Features such as forests and water play a crucial role in Forbrydelsen because of the ways in which they create uncertainty, anticipation, and suspense. The urban spaces of Bron/Broen develop a sense of anonymity that recalls the function of the city in classic film noir. Rather than developing links between Sweden and Denmark, the series suggests that the Øresund bridge that spans the two countries is ultimately a disconnecting, centrifugal force that functions as what Marc Augé would call a ‘non-place’. The final chapter considers the role of colour and light in the films Insomnia and Jar City. My analysis demonstrates that Nordic noir encompasses more than naturalism and realism. Like classic and neo-noir, it includes a range of expressive aesthetic strategies that serve both narrative and thematic functions.
Prisoners’ Rights and Media Wrongs: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Media Representation of Private Prisons in New Zealand
Authors:   , Boyle Otis
Published: November 2021

In 2009, the Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons) Amendment Bill was passed, implementing the New Zealand (NZ) Government’s policy of prison privatisation. Subsequently, ‘Mt Eden’, a public prison previously managed by the state, was contracted to British conglomerate Serco and a second private prison, ‘Wiri’, was built under contract to the same company. However, in July 2015, a cell-phone video capturing Mt Eden prisoners engaged in fights, in full view of prison officers and CCTV, was uploaded to YouTube. It captured the attention of the media, politicians and the public. An unprecedented stream of media revelations about prisoner mistreatment, corruption and various human rights violations followed, prompting the Department of Corrections to seize control of the prison. In the wake of this ‘crisis’, this thesis explores the changing nature of legitimacy for private prisons in NZ. Where previously, legitimacy of the penal system was largely staked on security and maintaining sufficiently austere prison conditions, the revelations of serious rights violations at Mt Eden prison highlights one of the ‘moments’ in which the legitimacy of the prison system was fractured for being too severe.   To examine the changing nature of legitimacy, the study investigates the treatment of private prisons by three media sources - the New Zealand Herald, Stuff and Radio New Zealand. It uses framing, critical discourse and source analysis, with the aim of exploring how dominant penological discourses operate to protect and sustain the prison system in the face of a human rights scandal. The thesis separates analysis into two critical periods: after the introduction of private prisons in 2009; and after the release of the YouTube videos. A managerial frame is consistently found across the news outlets alongside a source bias towards mainstream politics and corporate interests. Before the human rights scandals, the focus on how to deliver punishment, rather than the state’s obligations to those it incarcerates or wider social goals, established the legitimacy of private prisons under the banal everyday discourses of managerialism. While humanitarian framing increased substantially after the human rights scandals, these were subsumed under the frames of managerialism, security and less eligibility. These frames acted to depict the prison crisis as an unfortunate individual aberration of security that could be managed through a government response. In short, the legitimacy of the prison remained intact and was, ultimately, strengthened.
Effects of Corporate Governance Guidelines on Investors: An Experimental Examination of Bangladeshi Investors’ Decisions
Authors:   , Tariquzzaman ATM
Published: November 2021

The main purpose of the study is to examine whether investors assign importance to corporate governance in making investment decisions. The study involves a 2x2x2 between-participant experiment on real investors that examines the effects of corporate governance structure, financial condition and insider trading on individual investor decisions. The findings of this study extend the literature on corporate board practices and investor perceptions by providing evidence from this emerging economy that strong corporate governance has a positive impact on investor decisions. The study also confirms the findings of prior literature that financial condition of a company positively influences investor decisions. Hence, the results provide insights into the effects of strengthening corporate governance guidelines and of variation in financial condition on investor decisions. The study provides evidence that the common occurrence of illegal insider trading in the emerging market of Bangladesh does not appear to impact on investor decision making, unlike in developed countries.  The results of this study also contribute to understanding of how the quality of corporate governance impacts on decision making. It appears that governance directly impacts the perceived reliability of financial reports and trust in the board and management and that these factors fully mediate the impact on investor decision making.  The theoretical model and instrument developed for this study will be useful for further studies to explore the impact of other corporate governance factors on investor decisions. Furthermore, the theoretical model and instrument will also be useful for further studies in other developed and developing countries, particularly where insider trading is regarded by investors as being a concern and to investigate the impact of other corporate governance factors on investors and financial analysts.
Surviving Hillsborough
Authors:   , Day Sally
Published: November 2021

This thesis explores trajectories of survival in the long-term aftermath of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Despite the vast amount of literature on Hillsborough, there is little knowledge regarding the subjective experiences of survival in the political climate of denial, collusion and cover-up. Therefore, this thesis identifies how ‘survivors’ have understood and experienced their ‘survival’ from a major disaster and the subsequent injustices, and in this context considers what is required to ‘survive’. Together with informal conversations with key informants, the researcher conducted nine qualitative semi-structured interviews with individuals who experienced the disaster in various capacities, in order to critically examine the factors that have assisted or inhibited individual attempts at survival. The findings determined that there are various pathways to survival however all are impacted by the wider official and collective response to ‘survivors’. The findings demonstrate that the official expectation is that ‘survivors’ can and will navigate their own personal survival but the lived experience of survival determines that, in reality, ‘survivors’ need a continuous multi-faceted institutional and social response. Contextual factors unique to continuing a life after ‘Hillsborough’ are discussed. The concluding argument interprets that ‘survival’ is a continual process, and responses towards ‘survivors’ can either support quality of life or cause re-victimisation.
Innovative and nontraditional revenue generation in New Zealand museums
Authors:   , Abernethy Anna
Published: November 2021

Improving income in museums around the world is vitally important and New Zealand museums are no exception. There is little literature in Museum Studies offering practical strategies for fundraising, with much research focusing on the morality of revenue sources rather than best practice. Research in other disciplines on museum revenue has been problematic as the theories it has attempted to apply are not always applicable. There has also been little research on the local dynamics of revenue generation, and there is therefore an urgent need for practice based research on this topic, such as data for comparative analysis of revenue sources.    Responding to gaps in the current literature this thesis analysed innovative and nontraditional revenue generation in three Wellington museums. Innovative and nontraditional revenue encompasses programs, partnering, fundraising, museum-operated businesses, venue hire, museum and third-party websites, phone applications for smartphones, crowdsourcing and e-commerce. Pragmatism provides the research paradigm for this empirical study into current professional practice. The paradigm was enhanced by several concepts including Hansen and Birkinshaw’s, Innovation Value Chain. To examine the local museum situation, data was gathered from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; the New Zealand Cricket Museum; and Pātaka Art + Museum. Semi-structured interviews with key staff and revenue records were analysed following qualitative and quantitative methods.   There were several key findings which highlighted the direct and indirect benefits of innovative and nontraditional revenue. External partnerships, museum staff and volunteers were highlighted as crucial for revenue viability. Ethics and perceptions of revenue also affected revenue generation. Overall the research enhances our knowledge of museum economics in the New Zealand context. I argue that commercial operations need to be integrated into museum practice and that the benefits of this approach should be demonstrated to all staff. Finally, several recommendations are made which I believe will enhance the future practice of revenue generation in New Zealand museums.
Infrastructure asset diagnostics: Enabling smarter asset management decisions within the electricity distribution industry
Authors:   , Bryson Richard Vernon
Published: November 2021

This thesis examines the opportunities for better asset management within the electricity distribution industry. The project partner, a supplier of distribution products, observed their customers are often purchasing incorrect equipment for maintenance operations. This observation led the project partner to believe a lack of accurate asset knowledge exists within these electricity distribution businesses (EDBs). Coupled with the information that much of the installed asset base of these EDBs is approaching end of life, it was proposed to investigate the suspected lack of asset condition and type knowledge with the intention of developing the Infrastructure Asset Diagnostic Tool (IADT). A literature review was conducted to determine the current state of asset diagnostics within the electricity distribution industry.   The principles of lean start-up business development have been used to isolate the most needed technology within the New Zealand marketplace through interviews with industry personnel. These interviews helped identify a possible Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the IADT, and also indicated that providing the IADT as a professional service would be the most appropriate model for the MVP variant.   Condition and type knowledge of wooden poles, conductors and line hardware was found to be the most lacking. It was recommended to focus product development on the assessment of these assets. The project partner has contracted two smart tool suppliers for the analysis of poles and conductor clearances. These products were then integrated to enable accurate assessments of wooden poles. An additional product identified as an aside during the interviews, was for a simple pole designing application which could be used in the field. An existing product from one of the smart tool suppliers contracted can fulfil this requirement.   Possible benefits from IADT use were calculated for a sample EDB. These calculations indicated accurate condition assessment of wooden poles could lead to a saving of up to $5.4 million per year. This saving would equate to a possible reduction in time for securing pole integrity on this network from 30.8 years to just 5.9 years through more effective use of available funding. This reduction would lead to enhanced network reliability and improved public safety in a much shorter time frame than present, therefore this study recommends implementing the MVP form of the IADT at an initial EDB.
Fostering incidental vocabulary uptake from audio-visual materials: The role of text comprehension
Authors:   , Nguyễn Chí Đức
Published: November 2021

This research project explores various factors that may influence the rate of incidental foreign/second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition from audio-visual materials, with a special focus on procedures that enhance learners’ comprehension of these input materials. Informed by relevant theories and research findings in the fields of L2 listening comprehension and incidental vocabulary acquisition, I investigate the effects of having learners (a) view a TED Talks video twice rather than once, (b) sum up the content of the video before watching it a second time, (c) watch TED Talks videos on the same subject in order to increase familiarity with that subject, and (d) exchange summaries of TED Talks videos with peers so as to assist each other’s subsequent processing of those videos. As these interventions are all deemed to facilitate L2 listening comprehension, they are also expected to create favourable conditions for incidental vocabulary uptake to occur.  The effects on incidental vocabulary acquisition of the above interventions were gauged in a series of classroom experiments with Vietnamese EFL learners. Although vocabulary uptake was generally far from spectacular, all of the tested procedures were found to result in statistically significant vocabulary gains. The insertion of the output tasks (i.e., the summary activities) was particularly useful. First, they helped to enhance the learners’ text comprehension. Second, they created opportunities for the learners to use newly met words and thus consolidate their knowledge of these lexical items. A thread through the experimental data is the strong association between the learners’ vocabulary uptake and their comprehension of the input content.  The findings from this research project are consistent with several established notions, models and theories in the fields, including Ausubel’s Advance Organizer (1978), Hulstijn and Laufer’s Involvement Load Hypothesis (2001), Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (1985), Nation’s Vocabulary Generation (2013), Swain’s Output Hypothesis (2005), and Wittrock’s Model of Generative Teaching of Comprehension (1991). However, there are also findings that go beyond the core tenets of these, and that can further our understanding of how learners process new lexical items in meaning-focused input and output tasks.  Regarding pedagogical implications, this research project confirms that fostering L2 listening comprehension creates favourable conditions for incidental vocabulary acquisition to happen, and that the aforementioned classroom procedures are facilitative in this regard, albeit to different degrees.
Internationally Qualified Nurses’ Perceptions of Patient Safety: New Zealand Case Studies
Authors:   , Kane Annie
Published: November 2021

Twenty five percent of the current New Zealand nursing workforce comprises internationally qualified nurses (IQNs). For a significant proportion of IQNs, English is an additional language and the social, cultural and historical context of the health systems from their country of origin differs significantly to that of New Zealand. International studies have found that despite many of these IQNs having extensive nursing experience prior to entering a new country, the challenges involved with transition can have implications for patient safety. This study aimed to investigate IQNs’ perceptions of the competencies that pertain to patient safety. The study was informed by an interpretive-constructivist approach that acknowledges these perceptions are constructed within a social, cultural, and historical context. A qualitative multiple case study design was used with the Communities of Practice (CoP) theory as the conceptual framework. The primary data source was semi-structured interviews with four IQNs while they attended a Competency Assessment Programme (CAP) to obtain New Zealand nursing registration. The IQNs’ email reflections and programme documents were used as additional data. Thematic analysis of the individual cases followed by cross-case analysis revealed similar perceptions concerning patient safety across the four cases. Exposure to Nursing Council of New Zealand’s (NCNZ) competencies for safe nursing practice during the CAP course did not notably change the participants’ initial perceptions. The most significant finding of this study was that the social, cultural, and historical context of the health system and nursing role mediates how maintaining patient safety will be perceived and enacted in practice. The findings also highlighted the importance of engaging with participant perspectives in order to identify specific areas required for learning and transfer of information. These findings had important implications for further development of educational and healthcare agency support for IQN transition.
Perceptions, Attitudes and Behaviour around Climate Change Risks on Livelihood Activities: A Case Study of a Community in Takeo Province, Cambodia
Authors:   , Chean Ratanakvisal
Published: November 2021

This thesis investigates the Takeo community’s perception of climate change risks and their response strategies. It examines risks occurring in the regions and their impacts on the community. The thesis also explores how the perception of risks frames the community’s adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as how those perceptions influence climate change policies. This research draws on a range of risk perception theories. Employing a qualitative approach, this study uses semi-structured interviews, document analysis and participant observation as its research methods. Interviews were conducted individually with agricultural practitioners, mothers, community leaders, a local government officer and a government official from the Ministry of Environment.   The thesis found that the Takeo’s community has a good perception of the issue and its impacts on their community. Droughts are the major concern for the majority of respondents, because these have become more severe and have the most direct impact on farmers’ lives, livelihoods and food security. The study reflects the view maintained by past and current theory, that individual perceptions of risks vary, and the perception of risk is influenced by media and peers. This study adds that farmers’ direct experience of climate change affects their consideration of such risks as an issue of great personal concern.   Perception of climate change influences the community’s responses. Farmers employ a wide range of adaptation strategies such as increasing water storage and improving agricultural techniques. However, adaptation approaches are not enough to provide a long-term solution to the fast changing climate, because the community has limited knowledge of adaptation strategies, resources, and limited support from the government. The community, thus, needs to improve its water management by building more dams and sufficient irrigation that can store enough water for consumption and agriculture in the prolonged dry season. The government should provide more support and services to poor rural communities that rely on agriculture.
Exploring the complexity of 'can', 'could' and 'be able to' through corpus analysis and classroom- and coursebook-based investigation
Authors:   , Whitty Lauren
Published: November 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the central modal auxiliaries CAN and COULD, and the quasi-modal BE ABLE TO, together with their negative forms, and from this investigation, make a contribution to English language learning pedagogy. This study uses analysis of the spoken and written components of the British National Corpus (≈ 100 million words) to gain a better understanding how these modal auxiliaries are used by native and native-like speakers of English. It also draws on a classroom data set (68,265 words), containing a spoken and written component, to investigate how they are being used by students and an instructor. Furthermore, these modal auxiliaries are examined in an English language learner coursebook, New Headway series (441,760 words).  This study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods for analysis. In the first phase of this investigation, previous literature along with an examination of each modal auxiliary form in a sample BNC data set were used iteratively to establish meaning categories for CAN, COULD and BE ABLE TO. In the second phase, overall frequencies were obtained from each data source. And finally, based on the categories of meanings found, in the third phase, meaning frequencies for all three data sources were determined. Taking these overall frequencies and meaning frequencies into consideration, comparisons were made between the classroom and the BNC, and New Headway and the BNC.  As a result of the investigations above, this study found ‘possibility’ to be the predominant meaning for CAN, COULD and BE ABLE TO with a subset of meaning categories. The subset of categories identified is larger than previously identified in literature. Context played a central role in interpreting these meanings of modal auxiliaries and this study suggests that it would be beneficial for anyone writing about modal auxiliaries to fully account for context when modal meanings are being examined, especially in pedagogical materials. As a result, included in this study are instances with expanded criteria.  Focusing on the classroom, this study shows not all meaning categories are present in the classroom data set and also suggests that students may benefit from explicit instruction around the role and communicative effects of these modal auxiliaries in various social contexts. Moving to the New Headway series, this study demonstrates that the meaning frequencies for some categories (e.g. ability) were higher in frequency than the British National Corpus due to the inclusion of contrived example conversations. Taking these and other findings in the study into consideration, this thesis raises awareness of the complexities of understanding and conveying these modal auxiliaries and concludes with recommendations for instructors in English language classrooms.