Zealand Research Research Articles

Evaluating monitoring, evaluation and learning initiatives in the New Zealand and Australian agricultural research and innovation systems: The MEL2 framework

The potential for monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) to enhance innovation and impact in agricultural research and development is receiving increasing attention. New Zealand’s AgResearch Limited and Australia’s CSIRO Agriculture and Food are working with their scientists to support the organisations to achieve greater innovation and impact by embedding MEL into research programs and projects. However, both organisations have found it challenging to systematically demonstrate the value of their MEL initiatives. While there is an increasing number of case studies and anecdotes pointing towards the contribution of MEL to fostering innovation that delivers social, economic and environmental impacts, there is limited evidence, collated through systematic and rigorous methods, to substantiate this. This article presents an evaluation framework drawing on insights from complexity science (the Cynefin framework), evaluation practice and research (complexity-aware M&E and reflective practice) and innovation capacities (learning, reflection and adaptation). The framework is intended for research organisations working in agricultural innovation systems to be able to demonstrate the value of their MEL initiatives as well as carry out comparative analyses. It also supports organisational learning to better inform evaluative strategies and actions.

A mapping review of research on gambling harm in three regulatory environments

BackgroundHarmful gambling is a complex issue with diverse antecedents and resulting harms that have been studied from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Although previous bibliometric reviews of gambling studies have found a dominance of judgement and decision-making research, no bibliometric review has examined the concept of “harm” in the gambling literature, and little work has quantitatively assessed how gambling research priorities differ between countries.MethodsGuided by the Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling (CFHG), an internationally relevant framework of antecedents to harmful gambling, we conducted a bibliometric analysis focusing on research outputs from three countries with different gambling regulatory environments: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Using a Web of Science database search, 1424 articles published from 2008 to 2017 were retrieved that could be mapped to the eight CFHG factors. A subsample of articles (n = 171) containing the word “harm” in the title, abstract, or keywords was then drawn. Descriptive statistics were used to examine differences between countries and trends over time with regard to CFHG factor and harm focus.ResultsPsychological and biological factors dominate gambling research in Canada whereas resources and treatment have received more attention in New Zealand. A greater percentage of Australia and New Zealand publications address the gambling environment and exposure to gambling than in Canada. The subset of articles focused on harm showed a stronger harms focus among New Zealand and Australian researchers compared to Canadian-authored publications.ConclusionsThe findings provide preliminary bibliometric evidence that gambling research foci may be shaped by jurisdictional regulation of gambling. Countries with privately operated gambling focused on harm factors that are the operators’ responsibility, whereas jurisdictions with a public health model focused on treatment and harm reduction resources. In the absence of a legislated requirement for public health or harm minimisation focus, researchers in jurisdictions with government-operated gambling tend to focus research on factors that are the individual’s responsibility and less on the harms they experience. Given increased international attention to gambling-related harm, regulatory and research environments could promote and support more diverse research in this area.

The enduring and evolving influence of Ball and Brown (1968)

In this virtual special issue (VSI) we acknowledge the contribution of Ball and Brown (1968) [BB68] and select some key papers from the Australian Journal of Management (AJM), published since its inception in 1976, that demonstrate how Ball and Brown influenced, and in many cases inspired, the research agendas of Australian and New Zealand researchers. AJM is particularly proud to acknowledge the connection with Ray Ball and Philip Brown. Not only did these scholars strongly influence the research agenda of AJM authors but Ray and Philip were both instrumental in the establishment and development of the Journal.

Improving the physical health of people living with mental illness in Australia and New Zealand.

People diagnosed with mental illness have relatively poor physical health and die earlier than their counterparts in the general population. People living with mental illness in rural Australia have three times the risk of premature death than the total population. This article reviews recent international, Australian and New Zealand research, identifies the increased risk of early death of people living with mental health issues in rural settings and looks at the need for policy and practice responses. The 'Equally Well' national initiatives are described in Australia and New Zealand, which seek to systematically address this inequity as a matter of priority. Finally, it argues for co-design and consumer participation in policy development, program implementation and research. Improved understanding of the perspectives and priorities of people with experience of mental illness is vital if change is to be fully realised.

Designing housing decision-support tools for resilient older people

ABSTRACTOur ageing populations make it critical that older people continue to live and participate in their communities. ‘Ageing in place’, rather than in residential care, is desired by older people themselves and promoted as policy in many countries. Its success, both as policy and practice, depends on housing. House performance, resilience, functionality and adaptability are all essential to maintaining independence. Three New Zealand research programmes have worked with older people to investigate issues around housing, ‘ageing in place’ and how older people and communities can become resilient to adverse natural events. Using participatory research techniques, those programmes have generated evidence-based decision-support tools to help older people maintain independence. These tools have been co-designed and widely tested with older people and others. Designed to help older people identify priorities and information requirements, assess diverse factors determining thermal performance and dwelling resilience as well as repairs and maintenance needs, the tools help improve decisions around: repairs and maintenance assessment and solutions; dwelling and location choices and housing options. Various organizations have adopted the tools. This work demonstrates how research outputs can be used to facilitate older people’s housing choices while also giving architects and designers guides for meeting older people’s housing needs.

Altmetrics: “big data” that map the influence of New Zealand research

PurposeAltmetrics can offer organizations a unique opportunity to understand the non-traditional scholarly and public influence of their institutions’ research. This paper aims to look at bibliometrics and altmetrics for New Zealand research published in 2016 to understand the country’s research’s reach in social media, mainstream media and public policy, as well as more traditional measures of research impact such as university rankings, citations and publications.Design/methodology/approachResearch insights platform Dimensions was searched for author affiliations and publication dates for papers published in 2016 by New Zealand researchers (n = 10,934). The study then used Dimensions to perform citation analysis and Altmetric Explorer to find altmetrics for these journal articles, and to generate visualizations to better interrogate the data set.FindingsOf the 10,934 papers published in 2016 by New Zealand (2016 NZ) researchers, 5,413 (49.5 per cent) were mentioned 86,915 times in one of the 16 sources that Altmetric tracks. Twitter, news outlets and Facebook were among the sources that showed the most engagement with New Zealand 2016 research. Citation analysis tools in Dimensions showed that New Zealand 2016 research had a higher than average Field Citation Ratio (1.51) and Relative Citation Ratio (1.29).Originality/valueThis study combines traditional bibliometric analysis with altmetrics to find new insights into the impact of recent New Zealand research. It suggests new means for organizations to demonstrate the value of the research they produce.

Bibliometric Analysis of New Zealand Research Performance: Measurement and Classification Issues

Bibliometric databases on publications and their citations offer the possibility to quantify the scale and impact of this key output of scientific research. But there are many decisions to be made about how to construct these bibliometric measures, and no global consensus on how best to do so. We consider several measures of research output across scientific disciplines in New Zealand and test their sensitivity to a number of methodological choices. Factors considered include which publications to include in the analysis, ways to count publications co-authored by both local and international authors, and procedures for normalising citations. We also explore the potential to assign publications to disciplines by semantic analysis and a way to construct confidence intervals for the measures. The findings provide insight into the extent to which these methodological considerations impact on bibliometric results, and their interpretation, and how uncertainty in the results can be quantified.

New Zealand Research Applications of, and Developments in, Low Damage Technology for Steel Structures

Over the past few years, the South Island of New Zealand has been subject to significant sequences of earthquake shaking. In particular, 2010-2011 events affected the city of Christchurch resulting in large scale demolition of buildings. Also, the recent and continuing 11/2016 events caused severe damage in the countryside, in small towns, and moderate damage further afield. This paper describes “low damage construction” methods being used in NZ, and especially in the Christchurch rebuild, to limit the possibility of building demolition in future large seismic events. The buildings used in the Christchurch rebuild are generally supported by structural steel framing. These steel buildings include BRB systems, EBF systems with replaceable active links, rocking systems, base isolation using friction pendulum systems and/or lead-rubber dissipaters, RBS beams, lead extrusion dissipaters, yielding flexural dissipaters, and friction connections. Concerns about a number of currently used systems are discussed.

Leading schools that make a difference to bullying behaviour

Abstract Student bullying behaviour is a long-standing concern in New Zealand schools. International studies consistently show high rates of student reports of this behaviour. Research suggests that bullying behaviour is a socioecological and systemic phenomenon that is best addressed via systems-based and multifaceted approaches implemented using collaborative processes. Less is known about the most effective components of these multifaceted approaches. This article analyses New Zealand Wellbeing@School survey data to suggest ways forward for schools. A multilevel model was used to associate two student and two teacher measures from the same schools. The findings indicate that a mix of school-wide actions were associated with lower levels of student aggressive and bullying behaviour. Five sub-groups of actions are discussed in the light of recent New Zealand and international research. The article concludes with a call to locate anti-bullying approaches within a multifaceted and holistic framework which has the overall aim of promoting wellbeing and healthy social relationships. A holistic approach enables schools to foster protective factors such as belonging, and address risk factors that influence bullying behaviour, as well as a range of desirable education and health outcomes for young people.

Traumatic brain injury of tangata ora (Māori ex-prisoners)

International and New Zealand research states that high numbers of prisoners are suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Within Aotearoa, research affirms that the total incidence of TBI is higher among Māori than any other ethnic group. Over 30,000 Māori men and women are being monitored by the Department of Corrections within any one year. Over 60% of those being monitored are Maori despite being only 17% of the New Zealand population. We undertook qualitative research with 23 Māori men who were released from prison. We found high rates of TBI, which were commonly untreated. This research highlights the urgent need for the Department of Corrections to screen and find ways to treat these men and to do so in culturally appropriate ways. It also points to the need for a much broader community and services awareness of the issue.

JUSTIFYING WATER SENSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: SCIENCE INFORMING POLICY AND PRACTICE

This New Zealand research focuses on providing evidence that a specified residential land use layout plus „at source‟ stormwater management results in higher aquatic ecosystem health. The evidence provides justification for changes in statutory plans, policies and practice rules that direct urban development. The surveyed sites are within river basins clustered by similar residential land use density. Each cluster includes one river basin with conventional urban form and drainage. Other comparative basins in the cluster typify a „water sensitive‟ urban form and infrastructure. An index of biotic integrity (indicating river health) is determined for each waterway at annual intervals over years. Current plan requirements, policies and practice guidelines for urban development are critiqued in relation to survey results. The cumulative influence of defined residential river basin characteristics (drivers) are related to the holistic biotic indices. Combined drivers determine the cumulative aquatic health outcome. Research methods typically don‟t target the effects of a single driver. Policy, plan and practice requirements need to guide urban design and construction to incorporate the elements of urban form that are together necessary for aquatic health. This will ensure an order of magnitude improvement in the functionality and recreational appeal of streams, wetlands, lakes and recipient harbours. Keywords: Water sensitive urban design; biotic integrity; urban planning

Young bisexual women’s experiences in secondary schools: “Not everyone’s straight so why are they only teaching that?”

A literature search reveals minimal New Zealand and international research during the past 20 years with a specific focus on young bisexual women at school. This study addresses this paucity through acknowledgement of young bisexual women aged between 16 and 24 years and their experiences of being bisexual at secondary school in New Zealand. The study focuses on ways in which young bisexual women experience and negotiate teacher and student attitudes and practices in health classes that include sexuality education. A specific practice frames evidence from these experiences, this being societal misrecognition of the nature of bisexuality, or bisexual misrecognition. Bisexual theory and feminist qualitative methodology provide the study with a foundation for data gathering through focus groups, reflective journals and individual interviews with participants. Thematic analysis was applied to participants’ responses, exposing their experiences at school of bi-misogyny and the ways in which their bisexuality is misrecognised and erased. Based on young bisexual women’s narratives of their experiences in health education and sexuality education in New Zealand secondary schools, the study adds to the body of knowledge about this silenced minority.

The structure of ethics review: expert ethics committees and the challenge of voluntary research euthanasia

In 2002, I wrote an editorial in this Journal arguing that it was time to review the structure and function of ethics committees in the USA, Australia and the UK.1...

The Role of Auditing in Corporate Governance in Australia and New Zealand: A Research Synthesis

AbstractCorporate governance is of growing importance in Australia, New Zealand and all over the world. Corporate governance interacts with auditing and it is useful to understand how corporate governance and auditing affect companies. A related issue is whether better governance is a substitute for auditing or a complement. Previous studies of that issue have had mixed results. This review article provides a synthesis of Australian and New Zealand research about corporate governance and auditing that assesses what has been found and examines issues that can be explored using multiple studies. We conclude that despite extensive research, there is still considerable uncertainty about how corporate governance mechanisms are related to auditing and how auditing is associated with corporate governance. We conclude that recommendations for better governance (beyond a minimum level) are not yet supported by evidence. The results are intended to be helpful in providing advice about policy in Australia and New Zealand, and in determining directions for new research.

Precision Driven Health: A New Zealand Research Partnership

Future healthcare will be driven by individuals expecting personalized treatment based on their own biological, social and environmental profiles. We have launched an ambitious project with an integrated partnership model across government, commercial, health care providers and researchers in New Zealand. The aim of the Precision Driven Health Research Partnership is to create the capability to optimize the health of each individual and their whanau (family) by combining and learning from all available data. Currently there are insights in electronic health records that are unused, as well as valuable information in untapped data sources, such as data from smart devices and environmental data. When these sources are combined with future sources such as genome sequencing, the data involved in health delivery will grow exponentially. The partners are currently Orion Health, Waitemata District Health Board and the Universities. Orion Health is a company that builds software to improve clinical workflow, decision-making and patient care for the more than 102 million patients in their systems. The Waitemata District Health Board delivers health care to a community of more than 580,000 people. The Universities have expertise ranging from data analytics to medicine. New Zealand is an ideal place to carry out this research, since we have a small but diverse population, and consistent health offerings across the country. We established a National Health Index more than 20 years ago, allowing clinical information to be transferred between agencies and linked for monitoring, research and reporting. More recently, systems to allow fast, secure sharing of medical information between individuals and agencies have been introduced. The research partnership addresses four key themes to enable precision health to become a reality: - Broaden the scope of precise, patient-centred healthcare by making (new data sources available). - Utilise a variety of big data sources for (predictive modelling) in a healthcare setting. - Utilise disparate data sources, analyses, and technologies to enable more (precise and timely healthcare). - Leverage technology to (empower patients) to self-manage their health. Challenges : The siloed and emerging nature of data make for a significant challenge. Health data comes in different types (text, structured, audio, image) of different forms (large, streaming) and of variable availability and reliability. A small but growing segment of the population is collecting genome information and in future this may add microbiome, metabolome, epigenetic, proteome and transciptome data. For a full record of a person, data from sensor devices and environmental factors must also be linked with their other data. Other challenges we face include evolving personal views on data privacy, a change in perspective from clinical-driven to consumer-driven services, analytical techniques that have not been designed to combine all of these features, and the challenge of how the information can best be presented. Conclusion : The Precision Driven Health Partnership provides the opportunity to develop new science, and innovate in a small and fairly homogeneous environment. While the results will be transferable, the culture and make up of the population may provide unique insights not commonly found elsewhere.

Implications of school reform for educational leaders: Possibilities for global learning networks

This paper summarises recent school reforms implemented in Alberta, Canada, and presents the responses of key constituents. Then, the article links the findings in Alberta that technological and global influences are transforming schools to associated research conducted by Canadian and N e w Zealand researchers. The authors close by raising related questions about teacher education and graduate university programmes, the significance of information and communication technology, the link between educators' conservative assumptions about schooling and legislated educational reforms, and, finally, the possibility that the limited capacity of public schools to change may lead to their irrelevance.

Life review work

ABSTRACTThis article discusses structured life review activity with psychotherapy students at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Overseas research is cited indicating that structured life review group activity may prevent or ameliorate depression in older people, which is under-diagnosed in Aotearoa New Zealand. The article suggests undertaking New Zealand research to support seeking funding to initiate life review group work with older people in the community.

The decisions of ageing

As people age, decisions are made about how we live and how we hope to die. This article encourages wise decision making and is based on the lived experience of the author. New Zealand research supports the notion that patterns of ageing may begin much earlier than is usually recognized. Personal sharing following the death of the author’s husband concludes this article.

An examination of suicide research and funding in New Zealand 2006-16: implications for new research and policies.

Objective Suicide is a significant public health problem in New Zealand, with the youth suicide rate being one of the highest among developed countries. Increased suicide rates in recent years suggest that the evidence base and research priorities for New Zealand suicide prevention need to be reassessed. To inform policy development, the aim of the present study was to evaluate all peer-reviewed New Zealand published suicide research and major grant allocations from 2006 to 2016. Methods The methodology duplicated a recent Australian review of suicide prevention research and funding. Publications and grant funding allocations were assessed independently. Key research databases were searched in April 2016 for all suicide-related publications. Identified papers were then classified by research type, population focus and type of self-injurious behaviour. Citation indices were obtained for each publication. Annual reports, newsletters and summary data from four major New Zealand funding bodies (the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Marsden Fund, Lottery Health Research and the Ministry of Health) were reviewed for funding allocations. Identified grants were coded for type of project, type of self-injurious behaviour and target population. Descriptive analyses were performed. Results In all, 104 published articles and 27 grants met review criteria. Total funding was NZ$12677261.62. Most published articles were epidemiological in nature and the most common type of grant was for an intervention. Conclusions In the past decade, a substantial number of articles has been published and significant funding was invested in New Zealand's suicide research. The present review suggests that future research investments should focus on effective translation of research findings into suicide prevention programs. Several pragmatic recommendations are proposed to help improve the evidence base and reduce New Zealand's suicide rates. What is known about the topic? Suicide prevention continues to be a national public health priority for New Zealand. Although much is known about the prevalence of suicidal behaviours in New Zealand, less is known about how well suicide research has addressed prevention priorities and specific target populations. Australian research found that research funding and publications were dominated by epidemiological studies rather than evaluation or intervention studies. It is yet to be determined whether these research and funding trends also apply for New Zealand. What does this paper add? This study examined all peer-reviewed and published suicide research and all major suicide prevention projects that have been funded in New Zealand between 2006 and 2016. The purpose of the review was to summarise the evidence base, evaluate funding and determine the ability of the evidence base to inform policy development. The findings demonstrate that the New Zealand research trends are similar to those found in Australia, with most studies being epidemiological and few representative of interventions. What are the implications for practitioners? This review highlights that there were few intervention and evaluation studies. Partnerships between practitioners and/or community organisations implementing interventions and researchers to systematically evaluate existing interventions and develop new evidence-based interventions would help improve the evidence base for New Zealand suicide prevention.

The impact of school-based assessment for qualifications on teachers’ conceptions of assessment

The Teachers Conceptions of Assessment Inventory was used to investigate New Zealand teachers’ beliefs about assessment. The participating sample comprised teachers who work almost exclusively at the senior level of high school and are responsible for school-based assessment programmes that contribute at least 50% of students’ final grades towards qualifications. Factor analyses showed that these teachers had conceptions of assessment that were more similar to those of teachers in countries with qualifications systems based on high-stakes examinations than to a more general sample of participants in previous New Zealand research. In particular, there was a strong positive correlation between the formative views of assessment and the view that assessment promotes student accountability. The study revealed ecological influences on teachers’ conceptions of assessment, as well as tensions that arise between formative and summative views of assessment, when teachers are responsible for assessment contributing to national qualifications.