title: The space and place of grief in geography: The "Avalanche Lady"

authors: Hutcheson, Gail Yvonne

subjects: socio-cultural geography

abstract: This thesis makes an original contribution to the socio-cultural and emotional geographies literature by focusing on Robyn Gordon's (the  Avalanche Lady's ) experiences of grief.  I argue that space, place, and emotions are mutually constituted.  Thus, geographers are aptly positioned to examine the complexities and contradictions of spatialised emotions. Ideas about space and place do not exist in a vacuum.  Also, the two terms, space and place offer geographers more when conceptualised as a complementary pair rather than individually (see Agnew 2005). 
 
By drawing on a wide range of contemporary geographical and social science literature, I explore how notions of space and place can be stretched to include  the beyond , and how they can be conceptualised as fluid, contingent, and unfinished.  In order to convey these  new  configurations of space and place from within an experience of grief, I employed three key methods. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with Robyn.  Further, she created a digital story using photographs, her choice of music and narrative, and kept a research diary. This empirically unique approach enabled me to produce a rich and contextualised account of what grief felt like, and continues to feel like for my respondent.

Although grief is often touted as an individual experience, I contend that it radiates out into the wider social milieu through emotional, virtual, national, and international communities.  Thus, connections between people and places are made and remade.  I found that space, place, and grief interrelate on many levels including, private-public, personal-social, and specific-ethereal places. Robyn's home, her local community, and Japan were integral to the way in which she contextualised her grief.  However, these conceptually  traditional  places pale in comparison to Robyn's spiritual (re)connections with James. This unexpected information required me to expand the analysis of place to include spirits in this research. Finally, representations of grief in public and media spaces were found to be paradoxical.  Still, the digital story and this research as a process and as a representational space were considered by Robyn to be therapeutic. Overall, Robyn's grief is evolving, changing, complex, and contradictory, and something she lives with every day.

text: The space and place of grief in geography: The "Avalanche Lady" This thesis makes an original contribution to the socio-cultural and emotional geographies literature by focusing on Robyn Gordon's (the  Avalanche Lady's ) experiences of grief.  I argue that space, place, and emotions are mutually constituted.  Thus, geographers are aptly positioned to examine the complexities and contradictions of spatialised emotions. Ideas about space and place do not exist in a vacuum.  Also, the two terms, space and place offer geographers more when conceptualised as a complementary pair rather than individually (see Agnew 2005). 
 
By drawing on a wide range of contemporary geographical and social science literature, I explore how notions of space and place can be stretched to include  the beyond , and how they can be conceptualised as fluid, contingent, and unfinished.  In order to convey these  new  configurations of space and place from within an experience of grief, I employed three key methods. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with Robyn.  Further, she created a digital story using photographs, her choice of music and narrative, and kept a research diary. This empirically unique approach enabled me to produce a rich and contextualised account of what grief felt like, and continues to feel like for my respondent.

Although grief is often touted as an individual experience, I contend that it radiates out into the wider social milieu through emotional, virtual, national, and international communities.  Thus, connections between people and places are made and remade.  I found that space, place, and grief interrelate on many levels including, private-public, personal-social, and specific-ethereal places. Robyn's home, her local community, and Japan were integral to the way in which she contextualised her grief.  However, these conceptually  traditional  places pale in comparison to Robyn's spiritual (re)connections with James. This unexpected information required me to expand the analysis of place to include spirits in this research. Finally, representations of grief in public and media spaces were found to be paradoxical.  Still, the digital story and this research as a process and as a representational space were considered by Robyn to be therapeutic. Overall, Robyn's grief is evolving, changing, complex, and contradictory, and something she lives with every day.

year: 2009

title: Scalable browsing for large collections: a case study

authors: Paynter, Gordon W.

subjects: computer science

abstract: Phrase browsing techniques use phrases extracted automatically from a large information collection as a basis for browsing and accessing it. This paper describes a case study that uses an automatically constructed phrase hierarchy to facilitate browsing of an ordinary large Web site. Phrases are extracted from the full text using a novel combination of rudimentary syntactic processing and sequential grammar induction techniques. The interface is simple, robust and easy to use. To convey a feeling for the quality of the phrases that are generated automatically, a thesaurus used by the organization responsible for the Web site is studied and its degree of overlap with the phrases in the hierarchy is analyzed. Our ultimate goal is to amalgamate hierarchical phrase browsing and hierarchical thesaurus browsing: the latter provides an authoritative domain vocabulary and the former augments coverage in areas the thesaurus does not reach.

text: Scalable browsing for large collections: a case study Phrase browsing techniques use phrases extracted automatically from a large information collection as a basis for browsing and accessing it. This paper describes a case study that uses an automatically constructed phrase hierarchy to facilitate browsing of an ordinary large Web site. Phrases are extracted from the full text using a novel combination of rudimentary syntactic processing and sequential grammar induction techniques. The interface is simple, robust and easy to use. To convey a feeling for the quality of the phrases that are generated automatically, a thesaurus used by the organization responsible for the Web site is studied and its degree of overlap with the phrases in the hierarchy is analyzed. Our ultimate goal is to amalgamate hierarchical phrase browsing and hierarchical thesaurus browsing: the latter provides an authoritative domain vocabulary and the former augments coverage in areas the thesaurus does not reach.

year: 2000

title: Creating an environment to inform, build, and sustain a Māori health research workforce

authors: Barrett, Nikki Maree

subjects: Kaupapa Māori

abstract: Ensuring the growth and development of the Māori health research workforce is key to achieving health equity for Māori and enabling positive change for all New Zealanders. The purpose of this study was to identify enablers and barriers to research for Māori staff in a large health organisation, and to understand how research is developed and undertaken. A Kaupapa Māori mixed-methods study was undertaken, using an electronic survey comprised of quantitative data and open-ended responses delivered to all Māori staff at the Waikato District Health Board. Following the survey were 10 one on one interviews. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics and open-ended responses summarised. A descriptive thematic analysis was undertaken of the interview data. Each of the interview responses was coded and five themes emerged. Frontline Māori staff affirmed their desire to conduct, design, and undertake health research. Challenges to staff included a lack of information on research opportunities, unclear processes for initiating research, and lack of support and resource. The evidence from participants provides insights into Māori health research priorities, considerations for those wanting to undertake research, and solutions for informing, building, and sustaining the Māori health research workforce.

text: Creating an environment to inform, build, and sustain a Māori health research workforce Ensuring the growth and development of the Māori health research workforce is key to achieving health equity for Māori and enabling positive change for all New Zealanders. The purpose of this study was to identify enablers and barriers to research for Māori staff in a large health organisation, and to understand how research is developed and undertaken. A Kaupapa Māori mixed-methods study was undertaken, using an electronic survey comprised of quantitative data and open-ended responses delivered to all Māori staff at the Waikato District Health Board. Following the survey were 10 one on one interviews. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics and open-ended responses summarised. A descriptive thematic analysis was undertaken of the interview data. Each of the interview responses was coded and five themes emerged. Frontline Māori staff affirmed their desire to conduct, design, and undertake health research. Challenges to staff included a lack of information on research opportunities, unclear processes for initiating research, and lack of support and resource. The evidence from participants provides insights into Māori health research priorities, considerations for those wanting to undertake research, and solutions for informing, building, and sustaining the Māori health research workforce.

year: 2023