General Papers

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https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/6879

This Research Commons Collection contains research from General Staff at the University of Waikato.

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Puna
(Composition, 2024-09-26) Apiata, Ammon Hāwea
Bilingual poem for issue 11 of Mayhem Literary Journal.
Dealing with uncertainty in flood risk management and land use planning decisions: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand
(Journal Article, Elsevier BV, 2024) Afsari Bajestani, Sepideh; Serrao-Neumann, Silvia; Hanna, Christina; Fu, Xinyu
Flooding with increasing intensity and frequency is presenting significant challenges for risk management and land use planning in urban areas. This is further exacerbated by uncertainties regarding how flood patterns are changing because of climate change. However, how such uncertainties are considered to inform flood risk management and land use planning decisions can vary largely from place to place and remain unclear in the literature. This paper contributes to this by examining how uncertainty is dealt with in flood risk management and land use planning in Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on empirical data at the local level, findings indicate that Aotearoa New Zealand’s decision-makers face challenges in considering and communicating uncertainty due to the prevalence of outdated approaches and regulatory constraints, fragmented risk governance, and lack of appropriate understanding of different perceptions and assumptions regarding flood risk between different stakeholders. Based on findings, the paper discusses the critical role of a national-level adaptive flood risk governance in helping to ensure consistency and coherency across different jurisdictions and levels of government, regarding the incorporation of uncertainty into flood risk management and land use planning. This includes the provision of national directives for incorporating uncertainty in decision-making whilst leaving room for innovation and targeted variability at the local level.
Ideal personhood through the ages: Tracing the genealogy of the modern concepts of wellbeing
(Journal Article, Frontiers Media S.A., 2024) Joshanloo, Mohsen; Weijers, Daniel
This inquiry traces the recent history of modern conceptualizations of personhood and wellbeing. It explores a general transition from traditional frameworks emphasizing social embeddedness, external obligations, and cosmic meaning to modern views privileging self-determination, authenticity, and self-expression. The inquiry shows that contemporary conceptions of wellbeing have emerged in Western cultures through the gradual accumulation of influences, including the Enlightenment ethos, liberal ideals, romanticism, existentialism, countercultural movements, and modern psychology. The important role of ‘authenticity’ is examined as a central value in contemporary wellbeing discourse, aligning with the modern conception of personhood. It is argued that contemporary perspectives tend to position the ideal of authentic self-fulfillment as an overarching paradigm that integrates self-determination, self-discovery, willful self-authoring, and creative identity expression. It is also argued that the widespread public support of the authentic self-actualization model in the contemporary era is partly due to the success of humanistic and positive psychology. This model’s prevalence is particularly notable in regions where the modern concepts of personhood prevail, i.e., in Western cultures and, to a somewhat lesser extent, within affluent non-Western cultures. By shedding light on the Western origins of modern concepts of wellbeing, this inquiry challenges their assumed universality.
Enhancing the precision of the Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (SCS-SF) with Rasch methodology
(Journal Article, Springer, 2024) Adu, Peter; Popoola, Tosin; Bartholomew, Emerson; Iqbal, Naved; Roemer, Anja; Jurcik, Tomas; Collings, Sunny; Aspin, Clive; Medvedev, Oleg N; Simpson, Colin R
Objectives: Precise measurement of self-compassion is essential for informing well-being–related policies. Traditional assessment methods have led to inconsistencies in the factor structure of self-compassion scales. We used Rasch methodology to enhance measurement precision and assess the psychometric properties of the Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (SCS-SF), including its invariance across Ghana, Germany, India, and New Zealand. Method: We employed the Partial Credit Rasch model to analyse responses obtained from 1000 individuals randomly selected (i.e. 250 from each country) from a total convenience sample of 1822 recruited from the general populations of Germany, Ghana, India, and New Zealand. Results: The initial identification of local dependency among certain items led to a significant misfitting of the SCS-SF to the Rasch model (χ2 (108) = 260.26, p < 0.001). We addressed this issue by merging locally dependent items, using testlets. The solution with three testlets resulted in optimal fit of the SCS-SF to the Rasch model (χ2 (27) = 23.84, p = 0.64), showing evidence of unidimensionality, strong sample targeting (M = 0.20; SD = 0.72), and good reliability (Person Separation Index = 0.71), including invariance across sociodemographic factors. We then developed ordinal-to-interval conversion tables based on the Rasch model’s person estimates. The SCS-SF showed positive correlations with measures of compassion towards others, optimism, and positive affect, alongside negative associations with psychological distress and negative affect. Conclusions: The current study supports the reliability, as well as the structural, convergent, and external validity of the SCS-SF. By employing the ordinal-to-interval conversion tables published here, the precision of the measure is significantly enhanced, offering a robust tool for investigating self-compassion across different cultures.
Bones | Iwi
(Other, Hagley Writers' Institute, 2024-03-08) Apiata, Ammon Hāwea
Poetry written at Kāwhia featured in issue 6 of The Quick Brown Dog Journal published by Hagley Writers' Institute, Christchurch, NZ.
Giving effect to freedom of religion through the advancement of religion? A New Zealand charity law perspective
(Journal Article, Brill Academic Publishers, 2024-10-01) Chevalier-Watts, Juliet
Identifying and classifying broader scale of disaster impacts to better inform disaster management policies and practice
(Journal Article, Springer, 2024) Tennakoon, Kishani Priyangi; Serrao-Neumann, Silvia; Cretney, Raven
Disasters are often assessed by factors such as their magnitude, severity and impact on affected communities. Typically, disaster management policies are largely informed by learnings from large-scale disasters. Many studies, however, have shown that cumulative smaller scale disaster impacts have similar outcomes comparable to larger scale disasters. This indirectly contributes to a lack of consistency in and paucity of data related to both smaller-scale disasters and their associated cumulative impacts. This paper argues that greater attention needs to be paid to collecting disaster impact data on a range of disaster-scale events along with their cumulative impacts to better inform disaster management policies and practice. The paper aims to test the hypothesis that a better understanding of a wide range of disaster scale types and their impacts on communities, including small-scale disasters, enables the development of more just, consistent and equitable disaster management policies and practice. Analysing economic costs, evacuation and rainfall data from past flood events that affected Aotearoa-New Zealand over the last three decades, the paper found discrepancies and lack of coherence in disaster data collection and reporting, along with a predominant reliance on rainfall intensity data for disaster risk reduction and planning. The findings also confirmed the importance of identifying economic damages for a range of disaster scales, including those from small-scale disasters. This highlights the need for developing a spectrum to better classify and identify disaster impacts based on various spatial and temporal contexts. The paper concludes by affirming that such database would provide much needed evidence for developing a methodology that enables the identification of the level of disaster impacts; thereby guiding the implementation of more just, consistent and equitable disaster management policies and practice.
A generalisability theory approach to quantifying changes in psychopathology among ultra-high-risk individuals for psychosis
(Journal Article, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024) Doborjeh, Zohreh; N. Medvedev, Oleg; Doborjeh, Maryam; Singh, Balkaran; Sumich, Alexander; Budhraja, Sugam; Goh, Wilson Wen Bin; Lee, Jimmy; Williams, Margaret; M-K Lai, Edmund; Kasabov, Nikola
Distinguishing stable and fluctuating psychopathological features in young individuals at Ultra High Risk (UHR) for psychosis is challenging, but critical for building robust, accurate, early clinical detection and prevention capabilities. Over a 24-month period, 159 UHR individuals were assessed using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS). Generalisability Theory was used to validate the PANSS with this population and to investigate stable and fluctuating features, by estimating the reliability and generalisability of three factor (Positive, Negative, and General) and five factor (Positive, Negative, Cognitive, Depression, and Hostility) symptom models. Acceptable reliability and generalisability of scores across occasions and sample population were demonstrated by the total PANSS scale (Gr = 0.85). Fluctuating symptoms (delusions, hallucinatory behaviour, lack of spontaneity, flow in conversation, emotional withdrawal, and somatic concern) showed high variability over time, with 50–68% of the variance explained by individual transient states. In contrast, more stable symptoms included excitement, poor rapport, anxiety, guilt feeling, uncooperativeness, and poor impulse control. The 3-factor model of PANSS and its subscales showed robust reliability and generalisability of their assessment scores across the UHR population and evaluation periods (G = 0.77–0.93), offering a suitable means to assess psychosis risk. Certain subscales within the 5-factor PANSS model showed comparatively lower reliability and generalisability (G = 0.33–0.66). The identified and investigated fluctuating symptoms in UHR individuals are more amendable by means of intervention, which could have significant implications for preventing and addressing psychosis. Prioritising the treatment of fluctuating symptoms could enhance intervention efficacy, offering a sharper focus in clinical trials. At the same time, using more reliable total scale and 3 subscales can contribute to more accurate assessment of enduring psychosis patterns in clinical and experimental settings.
Key fuel poverty indicators and variables: A systematic literature review
(Journal Article, International Association for Energy Economics, 2024) Brabo-Catala, Luiza; Collins, Eva Marie; Barton, Barry
Fuel poverty is a condition associated with the inability to afford sufficient energy services in a home, especially heating. There is no single standardised process for defining or measuring fuel poverty. Each different method used in research or policy presents biases, resulting in different numbers of affected households with implications for interventions. This systematic literature review aims to summarise the patterns and trends in the indicators and variables of fuel poverty found in relevant publications, as well as the prevalence of associated issues. This study analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the key indicators and variables, showing their biases and opportunities for improvement. The eighty-four publications analysed were selected according to the most relevant results found on Google Scholar searching for definitions and indicators of fuel poverty/energy poverty/energy hardship. The prevalence of relevant themes was identified using NVivo. Understanding the background and the strengths and weaknesses of common indicators and variables of fuel poverty can help develop efficient and effective policies and interventions.
Kingdom Animalia, phylum Rotifera: wheel animals
(Chapter in Book, NIWA, 2023) Duggan, Ian C.; Shiel, Russell J
Little is known of Aotearoa New Zealand’s marine rotifer fauna, with only 17 taxa recorded thus far, three of which are new records since 2000, from Waituna Lagoon, Southland: Notholca cf. marina/labis Focke, 1961, Notholca salina Focke, 1961, and Synchaeta vorax Rousselet, 1902 (Duggan & White 2010) (Table 12.1; Fig. 12.1). A total of 480 rotifer taxa were recorded from New Zealand and its outlying islands by Shiel et al. (2009), but the majority of these were freshwater taxa (Shiel et al. 2009: tables on p. 138 and checklist on p. 153). Most of the 17 marine taxa recorded are widespread planktonic species, with only one endemic taxon recognised: Notholca pacifica (Russell, 1962). Benthic species, which are diverse and abundant elsewhere, are under-represented. Rotifer sampling from New Zealand marine environments has been spatially and temporally restricted, and mesh sizes used in marine zooplankton studies have been too coarse to collect most species. A checklist of extant New Zealand marine Rotifera is provided.
Setting the priorities for LGBT+ research and intervention effort in Malaysia through community voices: A brief report
(Journal Article, SAGE, 2024-08-09) Tan, Kyle K. H.
Internationally, there is a growing acceptance of gender and sexuality diversity and acknowledgment of LGBT + identities as health determinants. However, caution is warranted when applying research and intervention priorities from Global North countries to regions where LGBT + identities remain criminalized. In 2024, Malaysia maintains legal stances persecuting LGBT + individuals and shows no intent to address this human rights issue. This study offers an overview of pivotal issues identified by LGBT + communities in Malaysia that urgently require attention and resolution. Data were employed from a large-scale community-based survey: the KAMI Survey that recruited LGBT + participants in Malaysia in late 2023 and descriptive analyses were conducted on the responses of 637 participants (mean age = 27.75). Results revealed key issues deemed ‘very important’ to address by participants comprised HIV/AIDS, training for healthcare providers, police mistreatment, and discrimination, with more than 80% reporting each of these. When prompted to select a single issue for urgent resolution, three-fifths (61.0%) prioritized ‘criminalizing laws affecting LGBT + individuals’. Echoing prolonged advocacy by local LGBT + community organizations, the author emphasizes the need for collective allyship across stakeholders to develop evidence-based practices and policies to address the concerns articulated in this paper.
Extracting information from time series data from rechargable batteries
(Conference Contribution, 2023-09-15) Wilson, Marcus T.; Cree, Michael J.; Scott, Jonathan B.; Dunn, Chris; Farrow, Vance
In practical applications such as electric vehicles, mobile phones, etc, rechargable batteries are continually charged and discharged, resulting in time-varying voltages and currents. The relationship between voltage and current depends on the properties of the battery and analysis of the time-series can yield useful information about battery performance. However, analysis is complicated because the charge-discharge cycles are not periodic or regular. For example, in an electric vehicle the battery might undergo intensive periods of discharge and charge, corresponding to acceleration and regenerative braking respectively, while the vehicle is in use, followed by long periods of inactivity. There is structure on the timescales of seconds through to days. We have recorded voltage, current and temperature of several batteries in a laboratory as they have been continually cycled over many months using both regular and irregular cycles, the latter mimicking cycles experienced in practical applications. We have used established methods of time-series analysis such as the Hilbert Transform to investigate the relationships between voltage and current, and have shown that results agree with more sophisticated but less practical methods of battery characterisation such as electrical impedance spectroscopy. The relationships imply that several different processes occur, depending on time-scale.
Ka ora | Ka mate
(Other, RAMP Gallery, WINTEC, 2024-02-29) Apiata, Ammon Hāwea; Ropata-Tangahoe, Hariata
Ekphrasis in response to the artwork 'Matariki' by Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Āti Awa). Written for the One Hundred Years exhibition held at RAMP Gallery, in celebration of the establishment of the first iteration of the technical college a century earlier in 1924. Alumni of the art program were invited to contribute works to the show and local writers were asked to respond to the art, with their works being published in the exhibition catalogue.
E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | Return to your place of nourishment
(Exhibition, University of Waikato, 2024) Apiata, Ammon Hāwea; Tawhiao, Hollie; Ratana, Aimee; Timutimu, Maraea; Roberts, Aisha
E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | Return to your Place of Nourishment brings together works by four wāhine Māori artists which explore narratives of pakanga|conflict through toi|art. This exhibition aims to create a dialogic space in which the artworks reflect and challenge the current troubled economic and political landscape. In this show, the four artists weave together their unique practices and stories to present a cohesive yet diverse examination of conflicts, with a particular focus on the artists’ own whānau and hapū narratives. Ultimately, this collection of works interrogates political strategies that have exploited division and discord through carefully curated histories. This collection is also a reclamation of those narratives and histories by descendants who live in the aftermath of their ancestors’ mamae | pain.
Three Pacific writers from Aotearoa discuss Indigenous languages and visual poetry
(Chapter in Book, Poem Atlas, 2024-08-24) Salsano, Marama; Taito, Mere; Apiata, Ammon Hāwea
This article draws on several months of conversations, creative workshopping, and writing sessions between Māori writers Ammon Hāwea Apiata and Marama Salsano, and Rotuman writer Mere Taito. Here, we contemplate the presence of Māori and Rotuman languages in our visual poetry. For too long, critical work about English language writing by Indigenous writers from the Pacific has been Eurocentric. Papua New Guinean writer-scholar Steven Winduo suggests the need to unwrite this “imagined Oceania,” while Māori author Keri Hulme writes disparagingly of the lower-cased ‘gods of literature’, and in her ReadNZ lecture, Sāmoan-Māori fantasy writer Lani Wendt Young describes traditional publishing as the “white castle of literature.” While white castled gods of literature have historically ignored the everyday vibrancy of Pacific voices, Indigenous writers from the Pacific continue to unapologetically write, read, experiment, critique, and play with words. Into this complexity, we acknowledge that for many Indigenous writers from the Pacific, English language Eurocentric thought and texts dominate our lives; many of us are second language learners of our languages.
Flora + Fauna
(Other, Poem Atlas, 2024-08-24) Apiata, Ammon Hāwea
Visual poetry featured in 'To feel the earth as one's skin: An anthology of Indigenous visual poetry' published by Poem Atlas, London, UK. This poem depicts a koru or an unfurling native fern formed from the words ngāi tipu, referring to plant life (flora), and a tuna or native eel formed from the words ngāi kīrehe, referring to animal life (fauna). Hand-stenciled lettering. Black ink on paper.
Beyond paternalism and racism in Pacific labour migration
(Internet Publication, The University of Waikato, 2024-06-30) Roy, Rituparna; Collins, Francis L.; Tu’inukuafe, Evalesi
The robots are coming for your students' feedback
(Chapter in Book, Cardiff University Press, 2024) Hodge, Emma-Leigh; Hasan, Rahat; Poihipi, Eden Kathleen; Barker, Rebecca
The Data Analytics team at The University of Waikato gathers student feedback (as rich qualitative data) but manual analysis of these comments poses a time challenge for reporting. To address this, we explored the possibility of condensing qualitative information by leveraging natural language processing (NLP) technology, specifcally Google’s NLP sentiment analysis. We employed a robust coding framework to test the validity of NLP-coded student feedback, analysing 1000 comments from the University’s 2021 course evaluations. Results show a statistical correlation between our sentiment analysis and NLP, ofering promising evidence for NLP’s efcacy in providing accurate, high-level insights into student feedback sentiment.
Mobile technologies in schools: The student voice
(Journal Article, University of Waikato, 2017) Hodge, Emma-Leigh; Robertson, Neville; Sargisson, Rebecca J.
Intermediate and high school students spend a large amount of time using mobile devices (Lauricella, Cingel, Blackwell, Wartella, & Conway, 2014), and such devices are increasingly being integrated into our school system. We conducted a series of student-led focus groups, with this early adolescent cohort, in order to better understand their experiences of the recent technological shift. Four main ideas emerged from a thematic analysis of three focus group discussions: restrictions, student-led technology use, bypassing the restrictions, and connectivity as a need. Direct quotes from students and our analysis of these themes suggest that young people should be included, to a much greater extent, in discussions about the evolution of teaching practices in today’s digital age. Clear benefits and risks linked to greater use of mobile technologies were evident in our discussions, the implications of which are discussed along with limitations of the current study and proposed future research.
Impact and significance of human factors in digital information security
(Journal Article, innove, 2023) Jaidka, Sapna; Ahmed, M; Reddy Kambam, H; Liu, Y; Petrova, K
In this paper, we present a study on the impact and significance of human factors in digital information security. The study focuses on digital data breaches and seeks to find out how human factors within the context of data breaches in cyberspace impact information security. Data breach in cyberspace is a major privacy and security concern that affects the integrity of information security, and thus the underlying reasons for such data breaches demand investigation. An incident of data breach may occur due to several reasons. The root cause for a data breach may yield either from technological or human factors, or both. While technological factors are mostly predictable, human factors may not be. Besides, human factors are dynamic and cannot be fully quantified. This opens the opportunity for an attacker to compromise systems by exploiting human factors. The presented study seeks to find the extent to which human factors are contributors for data breaches. Analyses on 101 real life incidents of data breaches are carried out, and the reasons behind those breaches are explored to understand the implications of human factors in these breaches.

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