Generalizing Multi-level Decision Support Handling Multi-objectives, Multi-followers and Uncertainty for Critical Resource Planning. The proposed multi-level optimisation techniques and fuzzy multi-objective multi-follower multi-level decision support system can be used widely in government and industries of Australia to reduce decision blindness, improve decision effectiveness, and therefore has the potential to increase the competitiveness of organizations. Many organizations in Australia are ....Generalizing Multi-level Decision Support Handling Multi-objectives, Multi-followers and Uncertainty for Critical Resource Planning. The proposed multi-level optimisation techniques and fuzzy multi-objective multi-follower multi-level decision support system can be used widely in government and industries of Australia to reduce decision blindness, improve decision effectiveness, and therefore has the potential to increase the competitiveness of organizations. Many organizations in Australia are decentralized and have a hierarchical structure. The proposed techniques are extremely effective for such kinds of organizations in critical planning, management and policy making, including tourism resource planning, water resource management, financial planning, healthcare planning, land-use planning, production planning, transportation planning, and power market planning.Read moreRead less
Group Decision Support Systems for Fuzzy Multi-objective Decision Problems. Most real-world decisions in organisations are made by groups addressing multi-objectives. Further, the decision objectives are frequently characterized by fuzzy parameters and decision makers often utilise fuzzy judgments in attempting to reach optimal solutions. The project is the first to address all these issues: fuzzy objectives, fuzzy judgements, multi-objectives and groups in decision-making. The project will deve ....Group Decision Support Systems for Fuzzy Multi-objective Decision Problems. Most real-world decisions in organisations are made by groups addressing multi-objectives. Further, the decision objectives are frequently characterized by fuzzy parameters and decision makers often utilise fuzzy judgments in attempting to reach optimal solutions. The project is the first to address all these issues: fuzzy objectives, fuzzy judgements, multi-objectives and groups in decision-making. The project will develop a set of interactive decision-making methods to be used by groups solving fuzzy multi-objective decision problems with the allowance of fuzzy judgements, then develop a group decision support system to implement the methods. These outcomes can be immediately used by suitable Australian organisations.Read moreRead less
Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerabili ....Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerability, dependency and the like. This project aims to better understand and address the tensions between the protection of children and their participation in research, and to explore how ethics committees, parents, other gatekeepers and children themselves manage and navigate these tensions.Read moreRead less
Multi-dimensional Temporal Abstraction to Support Neonatal Clinical Research. Each year, the death of a baby causes grief for thousands of Australian parents, contributes to depression and considerable anxiety in the population. In this work we propose procedures that will significantly reduce this unhappy scenario. The availability of a complex trend and pattern analysis will give Neonatologists access to predictive clinical analysis that has not previously been available locally or internation ....Multi-dimensional Temporal Abstraction to Support Neonatal Clinical Research. Each year, the death of a baby causes grief for thousands of Australian parents, contributes to depression and considerable anxiety in the population. In this work we propose procedures that will significantly reduce this unhappy scenario. The availability of a complex trend and pattern analysis will give Neonatologists access to predictive clinical analysis that has not previously been available locally or internationally. Thus, significant benefits in terms of lower mortality rates and lower long-term disability rates among babies requiring special care is possible. This research will provide the basis for future projects that will support regional hospitals.Read moreRead less
Measuring children's responsiveness to food advertising. This will be the first study, in Australia or elsewhere, that concurrently examines food promotions across a range of child-targeted media, in real-time, and investigates the way that these commercial messages are attended to, interpreted, and responded to by young people. This project will assist us in developing appropriate regulatory and social marketing responses to non-television advertising to children, will have valuable flow-on eff ....Measuring children's responsiveness to food advertising. This will be the first study, in Australia or elsewhere, that concurrently examines food promotions across a range of child-targeted media, in real-time, and investigates the way that these commercial messages are attended to, interpreted, and responded to by young people. This project will assist us in developing appropriate regulatory and social marketing responses to non-television advertising to children, will have valuable flow-on effects for measuring the effects of advertising of other types of products, and via other media, and will place Australia at the forefront of research in this area.Read moreRead less
Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and envi ....Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and environmental economics, and proposes new methodologies to extract preferences that more closely reflect true behaviour in real markets.Read moreRead less
Social practices of oral health in Australian preschool children. The aim of the study is to explore "social practices" of oral health in Australian (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) preschool children. We use this emerging theory to move away from focusing on individuals and individual behaviour (and blame) to identify and map social practices: actions, materials and meanings families attribute to
child’s oral health. Expected project outcomes include identifying practices promoting or underminin ....Social practices of oral health in Australian preschool children. The aim of the study is to explore "social practices" of oral health in Australian (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) preschool children. We use this emerging theory to move away from focusing on individuals and individual behaviour (and blame) to identify and map social practices: actions, materials and meanings families attribute to
child’s oral health. Expected project outcomes include identifying practices promoting or undermining children’s oral health that can inform upstream and downstream policy directions and practices to improve health outcomes. This offers a new approach to "wicked" problems such as oral health where extensive
effort has not reduced morbidity and cost despite rhetoric that oral health is preventable.Read moreRead less
'Liquid Gold': establishing the place of donated human milk in the tissue economy. Donated human milk can offer profound benefits to the health and survival of hospitalised pre-term infants yet Australia is slow to adopt its use. This research explores the policies and practices of donated human milk use in Australia, and will contribute to the development of donated breast milk policy, and progress current tissue donation theory.
Understanding the interactions between emissions trading and wholesale electricity markets. Australia faces some critical decisions with regard to its commitment to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. There are a variety of emissions-related trading schemes that operate at a State level, and there are now proposals to introduce a National scheme. This research will help in the design of an emissions trading scheme through the use of sophisticated models of the behaviour of individual generat ....Understanding the interactions between emissions trading and wholesale electricity markets. Australia faces some critical decisions with regard to its commitment to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. There are a variety of emissions-related trading schemes that operate at a State level, and there are now proposals to introduce a National scheme. This research will help in the design of an emissions trading scheme through the use of sophisticated models of the behaviour of individual generation companies operating in a complex market situation. Also this project will build the skill base of Australia in an area of increasing importance where a multi-disciplinary focus is critical.Read moreRead less
Competitive supplier bidding in supply chains. This project will use mathematical modelling to contribute to better management practice in dealing with procurement. With the increasing use of auctions and sophisticated bidding procedures it is essential to improve our understanding of this important area.