title: Testing the efficacy of motor analogies for landing safely from falls

authors: Oladi, Sana

subjects: Older adults

abstract: Fall-related injuries are a major concern in countries with an aging population. One approach for reducing the likelihood of fall injuries is to teach older adults how to land safely. However, different safe landing techniques are required for different types of fall and direction of fall. Additionally, after a fall is initiated there is insufficient time to choose and use an appropriate safe-landing technique—particularly for older adults, who frequently display age-related cognitive deficiencies. Literature suggests that motor analogies are easy to retrieve from memory, can rapidly deploy attention during movement, and may even speed up the motor learning process. This thesis explores whether motor analogies can be utilized as a rule-of-thumb to promote safer landing (i.e., reduced risk of injury). Two laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the effect of motor analogies on biomechanical factors associated with landing by young adults (Chapters 2 and 4). A series of three online experiments examined whether motor analogies invoke mental representations associated with characteristics of safe landing (Chapter 3). Finally, a clinically-registered randomised controlled protocol was designed to investigate motor analogies in older adults (Chapter 5) (due to Covid-19 restrictions, the trial has not yet been completed). The findings suggest that an appropriate motor analogy can invoke mental representations associated with safe landing, and that participants instructed to use a motor analogy land in ways that are likely to result in less severity of injury, regardless of the direction in which they fall. The research provides preliminary evidence for the potential of motor analogies to reduce fall-related injuries, paving the way for future clinical studies.

text: Testing the efficacy of motor analogies for landing safely from falls Fall-related injuries are a major concern in countries with an aging population. One approach for reducing the likelihood of fall injuries is to teach older adults how to land safely. However, different safe landing techniques are required for different types of fall and direction of fall. Additionally, after a fall is initiated there is insufficient time to choose and use an appropriate safe-landing technique—particularly for older adults, who frequently display age-related cognitive deficiencies. Literature suggests that motor analogies are easy to retrieve from memory, can rapidly deploy attention during movement, and may even speed up the motor learning process. This thesis explores whether motor analogies can be utilized as a rule-of-thumb to promote safer landing (i.e., reduced risk of injury). Two laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the effect of motor analogies on biomechanical factors associated with landing by young adults (Chapters 2 and 4). A series of three online experiments examined whether motor analogies invoke mental representations associated with characteristics of safe landing (Chapter 3). Finally, a clinically-registered randomised controlled protocol was designed to investigate motor analogies in older adults (Chapter 5) (due to Covid-19 restrictions, the trial has not yet been completed). The findings suggest that an appropriate motor analogy can invoke mental representations associated with safe landing, and that participants instructed to use a motor analogy land in ways that are likely to result in less severity of injury, regardless of the direction in which they fall. The research provides preliminary evidence for the potential of motor analogies to reduce fall-related injuries, paving the way for future clinical studies.

year: 2022

title: The Politics of Sport Funding: An Analysis of Discourses in New Zealand Golf

authors: Tongdethsri, Tidavadee

subjects: Sports Policy

abstract: In recent decades, the level of government intervention in sport has increased, involving greater resource allocations to community sport development, high performance sport and business capability initiatives.  Within this context, sports organisations have faced increasing expectations around financial accountability and the need to provide professional governance and management. Increasing government intervention in sport has, however, not been matched by a growth in research, particularly into the way government involvement both reflects and contributes to changing understandings of the nature of sport and related changes to sports organisation that affect people’s opportunities to participate. This thesis seeks to address this gap by carrying out a critical analysis of the politics of sports policy in New Zealand, with a specific focus on golf.

The research specifically aims to understand the nature of sport as understood by key stakeholders in sports policy; explore the discourses and underlying values that underpin investment into the golf sector; examine the wider implications of the discourses on sport funding decisions; and uncover the hidden politics of sport funding. It does so by adopting critical discourse analysis approach that recognises the discursive context within which sports policy and organisation are constructed. In this instance, the critical discourse analysis approach attempts to capture the underlying ways of seeing, explaining and understanding the sports policy context, and the way that these understandings influence the relationships between the government, voluntary and corporate institutions that are involved. The research explores the way dominant discourses shape the understanding of sport, and specifically golf, by these stakeholders and how these influence the priorities of sports organisations. The study reveals the way the discourses shaping the direction of national sports policy privilege a business approach, which position sport as a means to economic development, although alongside this are discourses that emphasise the value of sport as a means to social inclusion and health and wellbeing. 

The study recommends further research that include a comparative analysis of the findings in NZG with other nations that have both established sports policies and golf governing systems (e.g. the United States or the United Kingdom) with a greater focus at the grassroots level.

text: The Politics of Sport Funding: An Analysis of Discourses in New Zealand Golf In recent decades, the level of government intervention in sport has increased, involving greater resource allocations to community sport development, high performance sport and business capability initiatives.  Within this context, sports organisations have faced increasing expectations around financial accountability and the need to provide professional governance and management. Increasing government intervention in sport has, however, not been matched by a growth in research, particularly into the way government involvement both reflects and contributes to changing understandings of the nature of sport and related changes to sports organisation that affect people’s opportunities to participate. This thesis seeks to address this gap by carrying out a critical analysis of the politics of sports policy in New Zealand, with a specific focus on golf.

The research specifically aims to understand the nature of sport as understood by key stakeholders in sports policy; explore the discourses and underlying values that underpin investment into the golf sector; examine the wider implications of the discourses on sport funding decisions; and uncover the hidden politics of sport funding. It does so by adopting critical discourse analysis approach that recognises the discursive context within which sports policy and organisation are constructed. In this instance, the critical discourse analysis approach attempts to capture the underlying ways of seeing, explaining and understanding the sports policy context, and the way that these understandings influence the relationships between the government, voluntary and corporate institutions that are involved. The research explores the way dominant discourses shape the understanding of sport, and specifically golf, by these stakeholders and how these influence the priorities of sports organisations. The study reveals the way the discourses shaping the direction of national sports policy privilege a business approach, which position sport as a means to economic development, although alongside this are discourses that emphasise the value of sport as a means to social inclusion and health and wellbeing. 

The study recommends further research that include a comparative analysis of the findings in NZG with other nations that have both established sports policies and golf governing systems (e.g. the United States or the United Kingdom) with a greater focus at the grassroots level.

year: 2015

title: Tangihanga: The ultimate form of Māori cultural expression - overview of a research programme

authors: Nikora, Linda Waimarie

subjects: Māori

abstract: Death, observed through the process of tangihanga (time set aside to grieve and mourn, rites for the dead) or tangi (to grieve and mourn), is the ultimate form of Māori cultural expression. It is also the topic least studied by Māori or understood by outsiders, even after televised funeral rites of Māori leaders and intrusive media engagements with more humble family crises. It has prevailed as a cultural priority since earliest European contact, despite missionary and colonial impact and interference, and macabre Victorian fascination. Change is speculative rather than confirmed. Tangi and death rituals have yet to be rigorously examined in the Māori oral canon, or in the archival and historic record that may be discarded or reinforced by current practice. As researchers we are committed to studying tangi, conscious of the belief that such work carries the inherent risk of karanga aituā (inviting misfortune or even death itself) by drawing attention to it. Contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand is constantly touched by aspects of tangi practice through popular media and personal exposure.

This volatile subject nevertheless demands careful and comprehensive scrutiny in order to extend and enrich the knowledge base, reveal the logic that guides ritual, inform the wider New Zealand community and, more importantly, support the cultural, social, ritual, economic and decision making processes of bereaved whānau (family, including extended family), people affiliated with marae (communal meeting complex) and iwi (tribe, tribal). This paper provides an overview of a research programme that began in July 2009, based at The University of Waikato. The programme is funded by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the Marsden Fund of New Zealand and the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

text: Tangihanga: The ultimate form of Māori cultural expression - overview of a research programme Death, observed through the process of tangihanga (time set aside to grieve and mourn, rites for the dead) or tangi (to grieve and mourn), is the ultimate form of Māori cultural expression. It is also the topic least studied by Māori or understood by outsiders, even after televised funeral rites of Māori leaders and intrusive media engagements with more humble family crises. It has prevailed as a cultural priority since earliest European contact, despite missionary and colonial impact and interference, and macabre Victorian fascination. Change is speculative rather than confirmed. Tangi and death rituals have yet to be rigorously examined in the Māori oral canon, or in the archival and historic record that may be discarded or reinforced by current practice. As researchers we are committed to studying tangi, conscious of the belief that such work carries the inherent risk of karanga aituā (inviting misfortune or even death itself) by drawing attention to it. Contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand is constantly touched by aspects of tangi practice through popular media and personal exposure.

This volatile subject nevertheless demands careful and comprehensive scrutiny in order to extend and enrich the knowledge base, reveal the logic that guides ritual, inform the wider New Zealand community and, more importantly, support the cultural, social, ritual, economic and decision making processes of bereaved whānau (family, including extended family), people affiliated with marae (communal meeting complex) and iwi (tribe, tribal). This paper provides an overview of a research programme that began in July 2009, based at The University of Waikato. The programme is funded by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the Marsden Fund of New Zealand and the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

year: 2010