UC Research Repository
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The UC Research Repository collects, stores and makes available original research from postgraduate students, researchers and academics based at the University of Canterbury.
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Recent Submissions
The price of peace : a narrative study of two Aotearoa New Zealand civil society activists for nuclear disarmament.
(2024) Coll, Marcus James
This thesis investigates how the personal narratives of activists shape nuclear disarmament
efforts, arguing for the transformative potential of a narrative approach in International
Relations scholarship. Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, nuclear
weapons have posed an existential threat to the survival of our world. Civil society has
consistently challenged the notion that nuclear weapons provide security and has been
behind many international initiatives calling for global nuclear disarmament. While impactful,
little is known about the personal experiences and perspectives of the anti-nuclear activists
who make up this larger collective. Using a narrative approach, this study explores the
experiences of two individuals within a small grassroots non-governmental organisation, the
Disarmament and Security Centre (DSC), run from their home in Christchurch, New Zealand.
This husband-and-wife team formed a unique partnership; a music teacher turned peace
campaigner, and a retired British Royal Navy Commander who once operated nuclear
weapons. In advocating for nuclear disarmament, these two reached positions of significant
influence at home, abroad, and at the United Nations. This research delves into how the DSC’s
actions mirrored the intertwining of the personal and public lives of its founders within the
context of a small state, New Zealand, the only Western-allied nation to formally legislate
against nuclear weapons. The theoretical and methodological framework of this narrative
study required extensive fieldwork and immersion into the participants lives and backgrounds.
Investigation of civil society at this most granular level generated a deeper understanding of
the complexities and dynamics of the lives of activists in the peace and anti-nuclear
movement. Using narratives as a vehicle, a complex interplay of politics, gender, dissidence,
spirituality, and cross-cultural engagement is revealed. Exploration of how anti-nuclear
activists perceive themselves, and impact others, also demonstrated the challenges,
successes, and motivations of individuals within social movements. Through in-depth
storytelling, this thesis argues for a more holistic, nuanced view of how activists shape and
are shaped by the movements they lead, offering a transformative perspective on the role of
personal narratives in International Relations.
Monitoring Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) populations in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica.
(2024) Strang, Alexandra Jade
The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a seabird endemic to Antarctica and is a key sentinel species for the health of the Southern Ocean. Accurate and efficient population monitoring is required to understand how Adélie penguin populations respond to changes in their environment. Consequently, some Adélie penguin populations have been monitored extensively for decades via various methods including ground assessment, aerial assessment via occupied and unoccupied aircraft, and Very High-Resolution satellite imagery (VHR). I comprehensively reviewed the suitability of these techniques for population and colony size estimation for Adélie penguins and provide guidance for future technique use and development. However, as the Southern Ocean and Antarctica face unprecedented changes due to global anthropogenic environmental change, monitoring Adélie penguins at regional to continental scales, rather than just locally, has become paramount. Remote monitoring techniques for Adélie penguins are therefore required, and so I explored the use of VHR imagery for monitoring four Adélie penguin colonies in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica, a key ecosystem in the Southern Ocean. I aimed to refine this tool for better assessment of colony changes over time through assessing the characteristics of the guano stains of the four Adélie penguin colonies over the austral summers of 2009-2021. I assessed for spatial and temporal autocorrelation and investigated the influence of colony specific spatial parameters, increasing the utility of this tool as a monitoring technique for Adélie penguins. This technique could be used concurrently with existing techniques, minimising some of the constraints of monitoring in a remote and logistically challenging environment such as Antarctica. I further provide recommendations on the future use of this technique based on my findings. Continuously updating and improving upon these monitoring techniques is vital for indicators species, such as the Adélie penguin, to better understand and inform decisions on our conservation efforts for a key predator in the Southern Ocean.
Essays on the relationship between income inequality and mortality.
(2024) Wu, Weilun
This thesis systematically investigates the relationship between income inequality and mortality with a meta-science approach. Chapter 1 introduces the contested association between income inequality and mortality, respectively, through theoretical background and a critical review of the current literature. Chapter 2 replicates the study of Leigh and Jencks (2007). L&J find that the relationship between inequality and mortality is insignificant economically and statistically. In this chapter, I retrieve L&J’s missing data with the multiple imputation approach and re-analyze the authors’ specifications. I also extend L&J’s analysis with updated data to 2019. All my attempts indicate the replicability of L&J, providing robust evidence to support the insignificant inequality-mortality relationship.
Chapter 3 reviews 1,000 published meta-studies from 10 different academic disciplines to understand the meta-analysis (MA) methodology and evaluate the established MA procedures. In this chapter, I highlight the challenges of multilevel meta-data and dependent standard errors associated with commonly used effect types in MA. For the following MAs, I advocate for using robust clustered standard error, a Three-Level meta-analytic model, and appropriate effect types to improve MA accuracy. I also advocate for standard MA procedures such as reporting I-squared values for effect heterogeneity, using meta-regression for identifying heterogeneity sources and addressing publication bias.
Chapter 4 applies the above methodologies to an MA examining the income inequality-mortality relationship. This MA includes 84 studies and 1,008 Partial Correlation Coefficients (PCCs). Utilizing the Three-Level model with clustered robust standard error, my initial unadjusted results suggest a moderate, significant impact of inequality on mortality. However, after adjusting for publication bias, the impact appears small and statistically insignificant.
Furthermore, Chapter 4 replaces PCCs with Fisher’s z, addressing the bias introduced by the dependency of PCC standard errors on effect sizes. This re-analysis confirms the previous findings with PCC, reinforcing the conclusion of an insignificant relationship between income inequality and mortality.
Chapter 5 synthesizes the findings from each chapter and draws a conclusion. With consistent evidence, this thesis does not find that income inequality has a significant influence on mortality.
What implicit expectations accompany casual employment in New Zealand?
(2024) Woods, Lance Knyvett
This study explores implicit expectations held by parties to the casual employment contract in a New Zealand context. Casual work arrangements have been on the rise in New Zealand over the last 30 years. Given the increased use of casual contracts over this relatively recent period, it begs the question as to what each party expects from the arrangement. Casual contracts do not explicitly address questions of work regularity, employment duration, or future prospects. It can therefore be inferred that any expectations of these nature are held implicitly. Extant literature on psychological contract theory lays a groundwork to understand these expectations, however there is sparse coverage of how expectations materialise for casual employment parties. To address this gap in the literature, a qualitative study was undertaken to interview employees and employers engaged in casual employment. Participants were drawn from a variety of industries where casual employment is common. Thematic analysis of interview data found two distinct categories of findings. The first category describes the content of implicit expectations as they pertain to unique qualities of casual employment. The expectation categories were composed of reasonable notification, work environment, future, and continuity expectations. The second category of findings explored factors which influence expectation content. From those findings, this thesis argues an implied bargaining model. The implied bargaining model builds on extant literature by identifying expectations unique to casual employment, suggesting a casual employee typology, and exploring trade-offs present in the formation of psychological contracts. Further, practical learning from this study can contribute to stronger employer/employee relationships and help provide a framework for better fit between both parties.
Parental burnout : what is the role of socio-economic status and perceived social support.
(2024) Pascoe, Shania
Parental burnout is a daunting reality for parents worldwide. It involves overwhelming exhaustion, emotional distancing, loss of fulfilment, and decreased self-efficacy. Social support is a major protective factor that reduces the likelihood of parental burnout. However, social support is not always available to parents. There is conflicting evidence outlining which parents are the most at risk of burnout. Some researchers suggest that parents from low socioeconomic communities are the most at risk of burnout, while others believe that parents from low and high socioeconomic communities have the highest risk of burnout. The proposed research aimed to examine the levels of perceived social support of parents in diverse socioeconomic contexts, subsequently informing how parents with different socioeconomic statuses experienced parental burnout. Additionally, an exploration of specific sources of social support was conducted, due to the limited understanding of which sources of support are most beneficial to parents with burnout. The study used data from 116 parents (Mothers = 92.2%; M = 35.09 years; SD = 5.66 years) gathered using one-on-one structured interviews by the THRIVE project. The parents were of children aged 2-5 years old, from five kindergartens, ranging from decile 2 to decile 10 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Higher social support was predictive of lower parental burnout. Parental burnout, socioeconomic status, and social support (availability, satisfaction, and No. of nominations) were not significantly associated. Parental burnout was experienced by parents from all socioeconomic statuses. Parental burnout was lowest when parents endorsed both friends and spouses as sources of social support, yet not family. Specifically, friends were essential for protecting parents from low socioeconomic communities from burnout, which may benefit future research on intervention and prevention methods for parental burnout.