Welcome to Massey Research Online


Massey Research Online is an open access digital archive of the research and scholarship of Massey University and is jointly managed by the University Library and Information Technology Services.

Massey Research Online contains research theses and research outputs including published work by Massey University students and academic staff as well as peer-reviewed material not published elsewhere. In the case of previously published research outputs all requirements of copyright owners are observed.

Items in Massey Research Online are fully indexed and searchable on Google Scholar and NZ Research.

To submit research outputs to Massey Research Online, check out the Depositing content to MRO page. For all other queries, email the Library.

 

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“An app can’t tell me how I feel!” : how do perimenopausal women understand themselves and their bodies using digital health apps? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Psychology (Health Psychology) at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023) Warwood, Diane Margaret
PeriM is predominantly understood as a biological process defined by hormonal changes that begin the transition to menopause. It starts when there are “persistent differences in cycle length of seven or more days between consecutive cycles and continues until 12 months after the last menstrual period”. There is very little research on the lived experiences of periM. Digital health apps that are periM or menopause specific are relatively new and there are not many of them, they have had little to no research on them either. How the use of these apps could inform how perimenopausal women understood themselves and their bodies was the research question for this project. A Posthuman feminist theoretical perspective and a Postfeminsit healthism lens were used to look at the assemblage of woman-periM- society-technology. The research included Zoom platform meetings over 12 weeks with 7 women in the periM transitional stage. Cooperative inquiry was the methodology used as a means to collaboratively explore the entanglements of the assemblage. All participants in the meetings were co-researchers. Using Reflexive thematic analysis allowed an iterative analysis of the data gathered and identified three major themes which were: a) Lack of knowledge; b) Postfeminist & Neoliberal Healthism; and c) Self-knowledge through numbers (quantified self). The findings in this research project indicated that women’s experiences of periM were largely influenced a lack of knowledge of periM and being taken by surprise when it began and not having any support from the medical practitioners they approached. The Postfeminist and Neoliberal healthism discourse was identified as tying them into a good citizen narrative of maintaining health and improving oneself through a transformation narrative (or ‘ageless ageing’). The same discourse was applied to the entanglement of using digital health apps to gain self knowledge through numbers. Overall there was some knowledge gained by using the digital health apps but that was fleeting as they felt the apps were too demanding of their time and ‘life’ got in the way. The most awareness of themselves and their bodies they get is through relational connections with family, friends, work colleagues and with each other during the meetings.
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Carbon footprint of open-cut pipelines (NZ context) : Massey University, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023) Manalo, Kevin
Society is currently facing a climate crisis; our human activities, notably the burning of fossil fuels, emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The constant addition of GHG emissions is resulting in climate change. Nearly all countries agreed in the Paris Agreement 2015 to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Science-based projections depict a concerning future. Should there be a failure to adequately mitigate our emissions, the impacts on humans and other species could be catastrophic. The Construction Industry is a vital sector that significantly contributes to a nation’s economic and social development. It builds and maintains infrastructure and serves as a significant source of employment. Buildings and construction account for 39% of global emissions, with 36% attributed to global energy use. While most research focuses on emissions from construction buildings, a literature review shows a lack of information regarding global infrastructure emissions. Recent research by Thacker et al. (2021) addresses this gap; when they combine infrastructure, building and construction, the total global emission amounts to a significantly higher value of 79%. Focusing on the stormwater, water, and wastewater sectors (three waters), the emissions amount to 5% of all emissions. Although water/wastewater emissions are only 5% of the costs, adaptation costs in the water sector are estimated to account for 54% of all costs. In Aotearoa, New Zealand, government and local authorities are making progress in capturing and reducing their carbon emissions. For instance, Auckland Council has set their goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, and Watercare aims to reduce its construction emissions by 40% by 2025; this is only two years away. Should local authorities impose the need to start reporting on carbon emissions on the construction industry, especially those in asset infrastructure delivery, research from the existing literature shows that the construction industry is not ready, not equipped, sees little need to do things differently, or does not know how to quantify carbon emission. The gaps in the research show that contractors should begin their carbon journey, and there are multiple carbon frameworks or standards without explicit critique on what works best. Understanding and knowing these standards takes time, and without a clear lead, information on critical inputs and variables required to represent the construction works accurately becomes muddy. As the standards were written to cater to different industries, the steps given are generic and do not go into detail about specific construction activities. Existing literature cautions that if the method and level of detail are unclear, final carbon footprint values can change. Further, emission sources need to be measured and quantified. However, units of measurement for these activities and productivity durations are typically not published as knowledge of these productivities is a trade secret and a competitive advantage to construction activity. To add to the complexity, the carbon science or emission factors that correspond to the emission activities are not readily available, and more research is needed to find local emission factor sources. In response to these challenges, the research aims to create and develop a simplified methodology and a template for contractors to create their carbon inventory on installing three waters open-cut pipeline excavation. A new Carbon Framework Methodology was developed based on the literature findings and data collection to fulfil the aim. A case study scenario was created where a 100ø PVC pipe is installed, and a 1.3m deep open-cut trench is excavated using standards based on Auckland Council stormwater and Watercare water and wastewater standards. An Excel-based carbon tool was created, and the steps in the carbon framework were followed. The final calculated carbon footprint values were verified using published Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). The carbon tool was presented to 18 participants from 1 tier one and multiple tier 2 contractors who have been installing water, wastewater and stormwater pipelines, with some contractors having over 20+ years in the industry. The research found that creating a carbon inventory is complex, multi-disciplined, requires construction methodology knowledge, and cannot avoid the need to learn carbon principles and carbon science (emission factors). The findings are significant as they discuss the implications of Carbon Accounting for Contractors, from knowing operation boundaries (Scope 1, 2 and 3) to the cost of upskilling, embedding, and implementing carbon management in construction projects. Minor findings were also discussed on the implications of Carbon Accounting for Designers and the heavy responsibility for Clients in ensuring that the capture of carbon emissions flows downstream to its value chain.
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An explorative case study of the adaptation process used by an East Coast hill country sheep and beef farmer in New Zealand to cope with climate change : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Agribusiness at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023) Hollands, Sonia Brooke
North Island East Coast hill country sheep and beef farmers in New Zealand are expected to face increased climate variability due to climate change. Over time the frequency, severity and intensity of adverse weather events such as ex-tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall events and drought will exacerbate resulting in increased uncertainty for farmers. As such, due to the changing climate in a farmer’s operating environment the development of a farmer’s adaptive capacity and their ability to manage and adapt to the impacts of climate change becomes important for sustaining a viable and resilient farming system. However, little is known about how a farmer with high adaptive capacity identifies change in their operating environment and the process they use to adapt their farming system to cope with such impacts. As such, to determine the main attributes associated with a high level of adaptive capacity and provide an understanding of a farmers adaptation process in relation to climate change, an extensive literature review was undertaken. This review helped to develop a conceptual framework that was used to guide this study. The main attributes associated with a high level of adaptive capacity that were identified are an internal locus of control, sense-making capability, capacity to learn to live with change and uncertainty, strategic thinking and planning capability, and high self-efficacy. A single explorative case study of an East Coast hill country sheep and beef farmer exhibiting a high level of adaptive capacity was used to investigate the adaptation process. The process used by the case farmer can be usefully separated into three main stages: 1) a sense-making stage where he; a) scans the operating environment for cues that indicate a change, b) identifies a change in the operating environment in relation to climate change, and c) assesses the nature and the impact of the change on the farm system, and 2) a SWOT analysis and strategy formulation stage where he; a) assesses the opportunities and threats that flow from the identified impacts of the change, b) undertakes an internal analysis and capability assessment to determine if the current suite of strategies can cope with the threats and opportunities, and d) on the basis of the previous step, if required, he formulates a new strategy (or strategies) to adapt to the impacts of the change, and 3) the implementation and control stage where he; a) implements the new strategy and b) monitors and evaluates the implementation of the new strategy. The farmer’s sense-making efforts and analysis of the farm system highlights the importance of gaining a complete understanding of the situation of change and its impact before acting upon it through a decision-making process. Based on such the SWOT analysis, it highlighted that the farmer’s buffer capacity to manage and cope with such impacts of climate change may be adequate in relation to the level of change identified in the operating environment. As such the case farmer identified that his current suite of strategies and associated tactics have the capability of coping with the threats and opportunities identified in relation to climate change on the East Coast. Such study also highlights that the formulation of new strategies is not always necessary and therefore prompts the continuation of making sense of change in his operating environment until he identifies that his suite of strategies are not capable of coping with an increased level of change.
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Developing an instrumented scrum machine to measure strength and stability performance : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023) Jones, Euan Patrick
Over the last two decades, there has been plenty of research involving an instrumented scrum machine to understand the forces and biomechanics during the scrum. A lot of the research was aimed at understanding and reducing the risk of injury, which led to significant changes to the scrum and its rules. There was a clear gap in understanding the relationship between the forces in the vertical and horizontal planes of motion during a scrum sustained push. There was also a gap in the research on measuring a player’s ability to control force in the vertical plane of motion to indicate stability. A new, prototype, a single-man scrum machine was developed to examine these gaps in the research and provide new measurements of strength and stability performance. Two experiments were carried out on the new scrum machine to provide enough data from four participants. From the resulting data, the conclusion was made that there is a strong positive linear relationship between the vertical and horizontal forces produced in the scrum. There was also enough evidence to conclude that the new scrum machine could measure a player’s ability to control the vertical force as they pushed. While also completing the aims of this research, the work completed in this project has opened new opportunities for further development around this topic.
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“Our voice needs to be heard” : the impact of contract changes on clients of child and family services : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Policy at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023) Gardiner, Blake
Caregivers of children balance unique complexities, dealing with their own personal commitments while often engaging with multiple agencies providing services to them and the children in their care. Child and family services that support caregivers and children are funded and contracted by the State through a process known as procurement where the State awards funding contracts to different community agencies. These funding contracts are susceptible to changes which can have profound impacts on caregivers’ lives. Contract changes occur when the State, holding decision-making power over the contract, makes contract alterations or funds another community agency for the contracted service. This qualitative-exploratory study aimed to explore how caregiver clients of State-funded community child and family services are impacted when contracts change resulting in a change of service for the client. This research found that clients’ needs were not accurately addressed or met within current procurement practice; communication and support for clients was lost during times of contract change; and there was a lack of available opportunity for clients to engage in a meaningful way with contract decision-making. These experiences resulted from mechanisms of neoliberalism, agency accountability to the State, and the current procurement approach which significantly impacted clients’ experiences. The findings highlighted that clients significantly impacted by contract changes are fully aware of this impact but felt their voices were ignored, keeping any contract decision-making out of their control. Further research exploring clients’ exclusion from decision-making and feedback provision would provide deeper insight into the systemic elements that inhibit clients sharing their voice when they have concerns about the support they receive. Finally, further research with a larger sample size would be of great benefit as this would provide a fuller picture of how contract changes impact on clients’ experiences of services.