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    Wisdom of the crowds : developing a social media platform for socially responsible research : a thesis by publication. EMBARGOED to 6 September 2025.
    (Massey University, 2023) Yu, Ji
    The recent proliferation of social media and the underlying technical applications have provided important opportunities for researchers to obtain wisdom-of-the-crowds (WoC)-type data to address their research questions for the benefit of society. In particular, complex or wicked social problems, e.g., COVID-19-like issues, may need more attention from researchers. As the contemporary world is filled with uncertainty and highly unpredictable, such kinds of problems are increasingly emerging, which require appropriate attention from researchers as well as new ways to tackle them. However, most currently available social media applications have not been designed with researchers as their primary audience, and issues, such as ethical concerns and data acquisition restrictions, are also of concern with current applications. To better fulfil the needs of researchers, and address the challenges, this study designed and developed an experimental and research-oriented social media platform, Wisenet, for socially responsible research (SRR), which refers to studies that are conducted with consideration for the benefit of society at large. Wisenet is positioned as a specialized platform for researchers, enabling them to generate, collect, and analyze WoC-type data in a research-oriented environment. The mission of the platform is to provide valuable, accessible, ethically sourced data and analysis for researchers and to facilitate participants’ interest, interaction, and cognitive skills while maintaining the values of ethical principles and social responsibility. Wisenet reaches and engages target participants – people over 50 – to obtain their perspectives on current significant social problems. People over 50 have been selected as the target group because their relatively high level of accumulated life experience makes them more likely to be able to provide meaningful insights on current social issues. Further, offering such insights may require them to use, reflect on, and synthesize their wisdom, knowledge, and experience, and these can be a pathway to develop or maintain their cognitive capabilities. Therefore, participating in Wisenet can be beneficial for both people over 50 and researchers. A design science research methodology (DSRM) approach is employed, which includes six stages: problem identification and motivation, defining the objectives of a solution, design and development, demonstration, evaluation, and communication. Socio-technical theory and WoC provide the main theoretical underpinnings of this study, and along with SRR principles, guide both the purpose of the study and the design and development of the platform. Both qualitative and quantitative data can be generated and collected from the platform, and advanced data analytics methods (e.g., sentiment analysis and topic modelling) are employed to analyse data for WoC. The demonstration and evaluation phases provide evidence of the efficacy, effectiveness, usefulness and ease of use of this newly developed platform. For the contributions, this study mainly provides an artefactual contribution, i.e., Wisenet. It is a comprehensive information system artefact, integrating the technology, social, and information artefacts. Additionally, this study contributes to theoretical understanding by applying design principles (i.e., interaction, understanding, trust and ethics, and simplicity) in the design and development of the artefact. While some of these principles may be found discussed in design literature, this study takes a comprehensive approach by integrating them to guide the design and development of the platform, and they can be used to design similar artefacts in the future. For the research implications, Wisenet can be generalized as a class of artefact, which is a type of online platform focusing on generating WoC-type data for various purposes. Future research may develop a corresponding design theory to create this class of artefact. As for practical implications, this study mainly demonstrates a proof-of-concept, which shows the functional feasibility of Wisenet, and partially demonstrates the proof-of-value level implication, in which stakeholders (i.e., researchers) can use Wisenet to create value. In addition, Wisenet could also have important applications for both business and government; for example, in the development of policies and processes that affect people over 50. Wisenet also has practical implications for commercial social media providers. It emphasizes the idea that instead of concentrating solely on profits, providers may also consider promoting ethical, trustworthy, and socially responsible online environments for the benefit of society and their companies.
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    Action research, power and responsibility : the predicament and potential of New Zealand community groups : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2001) Cervin, Carmel Frances
    This thesis tells the story of the action research projects of three community groups: The West Auckland Women's Centre, Homebuilders Family/Whanau Support Scheme, and the Autistic Association of New Zealand Inc., Auckland Branch. The projects focused on addressing specific injustices identified by each community group. Through participating in three concurrent projects, significant insights into the process, context, and key themes of action research are presented. The methodology discussion integrates the literature review with practical examples drawn from these projects. This enables critical observations on action research to be identified and explored in a grounded substantive manner. Key themes include: ethical implications of an academic researcher working with community groups, particularly in terms of power dynamics; recognition and validation of the expertise shared within the groups; and the necessity of trusting in the evolving nature of the action research process. Comparisons between the groups are written sensitively, honouring each group and their processes. The West Auckland Women's Centre project consisted of qualitative research exploring retirement income and issues around unpaid work for women. The project was undertaken as part of the Women's Centre's role as an advocate on issues affecting women. Homebuilders began with a story-telling project that sought to address a lack of understanding about their work in their community. However their focus shifted to a new project on Rural Living Standards following concerns raised by Homebuilders workers regarding the difficulties faced by families they were working with. The project developed in to a comprehensive survey on family household living standards, using a participatory process with the involvement of a large number of interested people from the community. The results of this survey are being fed back into the community to raise awareness regarding the spread of living standards and income issues in the local community. The Autistic Association project consisted of a comprehensive survey of all Auckland branch members to identify needs and gaps in services for families with a family member with Autism or Aspergers. The survey was then used, and continues to be used, to lobby and educate funding providers and government agencies regarding the services needed. The National Autistic Association is, at the time of completing this thesis, running the survey nationally. Finally this thesis explored the predicament of community groups acting as advocates for families in a context where funding providers set all the rules for 'negotiation' and highlighted the potential of community group action research projects for power reversals and enhancing democracy.