Articles - TREAD Social Sciences

Nurse Prescribing in Rural Southern New Zealand

This is a qualitative research project which investigates the perceptions of rural nurses and rural nurse practitioners on their need for prescribing rights and their understanding of their role in terms of the title “nurse practitioner”. Data will be obtained from participants via semistructured interviews on the topic of prescribing rights and also on the current extent of informal arrangements with local GPs which, in effect, already constitute such rights.

An institutional ethnography of New Zealand's commitment to patient-centred care

The New Zealand (NZ) government has prescribed a goal for health care at all levels to be patient-centred. Patient-centred care is recognised as an ‘approach to the planning, delivery, and evaluation of health care that is grounded in mutually beneficial partnerships among healthcare providers, patients, and families’ (Institute for Patient- and Family-Centred Care). It is a commitment to returning the power to the patient, not the health care system. Presently it is unknown the extent to which the existing health care systems in NZ supports or suppresses the ability to provide care which is patient-centred.

Descendants of Conscientious Objectors Sharing Their Stories

Archibald Baxter is the best known conscientious objector and his story is well documented in his biography We will not Cease. However, many other men in the First and Second World War took a pacifist stance and them and their families were persecuted for it.

HIV Positive Gay Men and the Negotiation of HIV Disclosure within the Canadian Legal Context

As a vaccine for HIV/AIDS lies perpetually beyond the grasp of science, condom use remains one of the most effective safeguards against potential infection. Research reveals, however, that gay men are expressing apathy towards condom use and are partaking in increased sexual risk behaviours.

Rights, Risks and Smoking [Updated]

The purpose of this study is to explore the ethical implications of tobacco ‘denormalisation’ as a population-based risk management strategy, through an examination of how this strategy informs patient-provider interactions involving smokers in primary health care settings.

Molecular screening technologies and the transformation of cancer survivorship [Updated]

The primary objective of this project is to explore the rise of molecular technologies in cancer screening and monitoring and their impacts on the experience of cancer survivorship.

Culturally Situating Cancer Experiences: a Pilot Study of Cancer Support Groups [Updated]

The purpose of this project is to obtain a better understanding of cancer support groups in terms of: a) what they reveal about the cultural and social factors that mediate people’s experiences of cancer and b) what they reveal about the dynamics and functions of support groups themselves.

Status of urban poor women in Nepal

The aim of this project is to ascertain the conditions under which women training and working in a supported environment in Nepal came to the capital, Kathmandu, and how they are attempting to overcome their poverty and marginalisation. 

Health Precautions of English-Speaking Travellers to Nepal: Travel Health Advice and Information Received from GPs and/or other Health Providers

The aim of this project is to ascertain the amount and types of health travel advice travellers to Nepal receive in their home country from their General Practitioner or other health provider before departure for Nepal. To date, there has been very little data collection concerning this area of health concern. 

‘Bumps in the Road of Life’: People with a Disability and Access to Recreational Travel in Central Queensland

The aim of this project is to examine how people with a disability, from Central Queensland, access and use travel as a form of recreation. The project will investigate aspects of travel use as a recreational pursuit in and around Central Queensland. 

Social Impacts on the Central Queensland Coastal Community of the Health and Social Needs of Grey Nomads Visiting or Retiring to the Area

The purpose of the study is to examine the Grey Nomads group and their health and social status as they travel around Australia.

Exploring what university teachers think about ‘education for sustainability’, ‘environmental literacy’ and their possible roles within these domains

A significant exploration is underway within the University of Otago to better understand the ecological worldviews/sustainability literacy/environmental literacy of Otago’s students.

People Who Self Injure

It has become clear from the greater media coverage on self-injury that it is a burgeoning phenomenon in society. I am interested in what kinds of people do this self-injury, why they do it, and how it affects them.

Occupational Lives of Resort Workers

I am interested in conducting research on resort culture and the leisure industry, this time focusing more on occupational dimensions of working in resort organizations.

"Bailey" Watch 20XX: Contesting the Midnight Swim

Do I own my experience because I lived it? What happens when I write a story only to find other people are embroiled in my adventure? 

Promising practices in the engagement of people living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS in rural Canada [Updated]

The research is a community-based research (CBR) study intended to (1) contribute to the understanding of how the “Greater Involvement of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS” (GIPA) principle is operationalized in rural regions, and (2) to provide direction to AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs), policymakers and people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) or at-risk for HIV about how the ideals of GIPA could be fully realized within ASOs in rural regions of Canada, specifically in the rural regions of the Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia [NS], New Brunswick [NB], and Prince Edward Island [PEI]).

“The Poker House Ethnography”

This research project aims to investigate the social organization of an illicit poker game. Poker has become extremely popular among college students over the last couple of years and there has been a lot of media attention to the growing interest. 

Young adults’ consent to heterosexual casual sex

The dissertation research project focuses on sexual consent to heterosexual casual sex among seasonal workers in Banff and Jasper Alberta. The study is a qualitative study using a modified grounded theory approach and textual analysis.

Negotiating heterosexual sex and sexual consent: Interpretations of sexual images and communications with sexual partners

The major goal of this project is to explore how adults negotiate their sexual experiences and how they understand and construct consent to sex within their heterosexual relationships.

A Difficult Story To Tell: A Difficult Story To Hear

This research study will describe, explore and analyze my own personal and professional experiences and perceptions as a mother, clinical nurse specialist, and advocate for children with developmental disabilities. 

Pasifika students: Education, class, culture and ethnicity in New Zealand

In order to explore Pasifika students’ understandings and knowledges about schooling, identity, class and ethnicity, I aim to spend 2-3 days a week in one South Auckland school during terms one and two of 2007. During this time I will conduct conversations with students and teachers, experience school life and spend time in classrooms. 

Images & Voices: An Arts-Based Qualitative Study Using Photovoice to Understand the Needs & Aspirations of Sex Workers in Portland, Oregon

The ways in which sex workers have been studied and represented historically, socio-politically and academically do not take into account their voices and participation in the process. Arts-based research provides the potential for collaboratively developing unique knowledge and insight about the experiences of sex workers and the meanings assigned to those experiences. 

Sexual discrepancies in dating relationships

The major aim of this project is to explore and test the validity of what the authors describe as the “miscommunication hypothesis” or the idea that men and women often misunderstand one another during sexual relations leading to experiences described as sexual assault or coercion. This project builds on a pilot study conducted in Canada in 1993 and includes a Canadian and New Zealand component. 

Lives and careers of Caribbean teachers in the UK

This research focuses on the lives and careers of Caribbean teachers who have migrated to the UK through recruitment schemes by the UK government to fill the breach in areas of shortage within UK schools. 

Identifying Knowledge and Skills of Experienced Higher Education Teachers

This study aims to focus upon the practice of teaching, with a view to identifying the sets of knowledge and skills that are essential for teachers to know and be able to apply in higher education contexts. The goal of this study is to articulate the concepts and processes that make up the knowledge and skills base teachers draw upon and utilize as they teach in higher education settings.

Undergraduates Bachelor of Information Environments Students' Conceptions of Technology

The project’s aim is to investigate the conceptions of technology held by a group of undergraduate information technology students and how those conceptions change and develop across the period of one semester. 

Doctoral examiners' perceptions and experiences of problematic examining situations

Research and writing looking at the doctoral examination process has tended to focus on the perceptions and experiences of students, the practicalities of the viva situation, or on the ways in which examiners read doctoral theses and come to decisions about what recommendation (e.g. Pass, Minor Amendments, Resubmission, Fail etc) to make. 

Understanding Transitional Housing Programs for survivors of interpersonal violence: a qualitative study

The problem of violence against women in the United States has gained increasing attention in the past 25 years, and more recently has become the focus of considerable research. Unfortunately, the growth of the shelter movement has not been matched with systematic scientific inquiry about how shelters function or their impact.