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National Competitive Grants Program
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Summary of Social Science Collaboration Proposals
New South Wales
Charles Sturt University
LX0775703 Dr J Arciuli; Dr P Monaghan
Approved Project Title A cross-linguistic investigation
of lexical stress using corpus analyses, behavioural testing and computational
modelling
2007: $ 82,000
2008: $ 30,000
Primary RFCD 3803 COGNITIVE SCIENCE
Collaborating Countries
UK
Administering Organisation Charles Sturt University
Project Summary
Some languages exhibit variable patterns of emphasis or 'lexical stress'
across words ('ZEbra' v 'girAFFE'). This research will provide a more
precise understanding of the role of lexical stress in language processing.
This will assist educators/clinicians working with normally developing
children and those with developmental delays as well as educators/students
in second-language learning. It will also lead to improved automatic
speech recognition/synthesis - used in commercial applications such as
phone banking, edutainment/epistemic computer games and communication
devices (speech-to-text dictation systems for those with limited mobility
and text-to-speech systems for those unable to speak). Undertaken in
collaboration with a high-profile research lab in the UK this project
will maintain Australia's competitive edge in cognitive science.
University of Wollongong
LX0775772 Prof JE Wright; Dr V Harwood; Dr LC Burrows;
Dr E Rich; Prof J Evans
Approved Project Title The impact of attitudes and policies
relating to obesity and related health issues on school policy and practices
2007: $ 80,700
2008: $ 78,300
Primary RFCD 3301 EDUCATION STUDIES
Collaborating Countries
NZ
UK
Administering Organisation University of Wollongong
Project Summary
Governments have made and are continuing to make substantial investments
in policies, strategies and research to address the perceived risk of
obesity and related health issues. Schools in particular have been targeted
to address the issue. This research seeks to inform public policy and
school practices by examining how the new health imperatives are being
taken up by schools. It will examine how these imperatives are shaping
schools' priorities and teaching about health, and how this, in turn,
influences young people's attitudes and understandings of their own and
others' health, in particular in relation to physical activity and food.
Victoria
RMIT University
LX0775767 Prof GA Wood; Prof JC Bessant; Prof SJ Smith;
Dr BA Searle; Prof SE Curtis
Approved Project Title A comparison of housing wealth
and the welfare behaviour of Australians and Britons
2007: $ 83,300
2008: $ 87,300
Primary RFCD 3702 SOCIAL WORK
Collaborating Countries
UK
Administering Organisation RMIT University
Project Summary
This comparison of housing wealth as a cushion against adverse life course
events in Australia and the UK will improve understanding of how government
interventions impede or promote homeowner ability to unlock housing equity
to meet welfare needs and uncover types of events precipitating housing
equity withdrawal, and the ways this helps or hinders wellbeing in subsequent
years of a household's life course. Given the paucity of knowledge about
consequences of housing equity withdrawal, anticipated national benefits
of this research include greater appreciation of sensible and sustainable
use of housing equity withdrawal and sound management of the accompanying
debt. Outcomes will impact positively on the priority area, Ageing Well,
Ageing Productively.
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian National University
LX0775777 Dr AK Leigh; Dr F Cornaglia; Prof C Dustmann
Approved Project Title The impact of crime on the mental
wellbeing of communities
2007: $ 94,300
2008: $ 77,700
Primary RFCD 3402 APPLIED ECONOMICS
Collaborating Countries
UK
Administering Organisation The Australian National University
Project Summary
Considering not only the direct impact of crime on the victims but also
the indirect consequences of living in a community with a higher crime
rate may in fact lead to a more accurate analysis of the size of the
consequences of criminal activities on the society. Further, it may also
be the case that the negative externality of crime on non-victims is
much larger for some crimes than for others. If this were the case, it
could have implications for the way in which police resources are presently
distributed across different crimes. Better understanding the total societal
cost of crime to both victims - and non-victims - could therefore help
improve public policy.
