Pātaka Rangahau

Massey Research Online

Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to the research repository at Massey University – Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa.

Find and share full text theses, dissertations, exegeses, and original open access scholarly works by our researchers and postgraduate students.

Deposit your thesis

Communities in MRO

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Recent Submissions

Development of a functional plant protein blend : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Food Technology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 9th October 2027
(Massey University, 2025) Kannan, Aarthy
Advanced plant-based protein systems are being developed in response to the growing demand for sustainable, nutritionally adequate substitutes for animal-derived proteins. To achieve a balanced essential amino acid profile while preserving desired functional qualities, this study investigated the composition of a multi-source plant protein blend. Certain plant proteins were mixed in ratios intended to enhance one another's nutritional and technical qualities. Solubility, structural characterization, and rheological analysis were used to evaluate the functional performance, and the nutritional quality was compared to global reference patterns. The findings showed that although the solubility and structural stability of individual plant proteins varied, specific processing methods increased dispersibility, changed secondary structures, and improved flow characteristics in concentrated suspensions. These results show that plant-based protein systems with enhanced nutritional value can be produced through careful blending and processing.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Business Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
(SAGE Publications Inc, 2021-01-22) Mahmud A; Ding D; Hasan MM
The global health, economic, and social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are growing day by day. Over the past few months, first China, and now the whole world has been grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in businesses, employees, customers, communities, and each other. The people worldwide are strongly committed to working together and supporting each other in every way possible during this critical period filled with fear and uncertainty. Grounded on stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature, the study attempts to explore business responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to support its vital stakeholders such as employees, customers, communities, and society as a whole through CSR initiatives. The study based on the contemporary phenomenon considered multi-items as data sources such as press releases, newsletters, and letters to shareholders, which were retrieved from the top 25 (the sample) corporations of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens-2019 (the population) in the United States’ respective websites on the internet. The outcomes of this research report that sampled companies show respect to their employees and focus on stewardship relations between corporations and customers and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will have a significant theoretical application and practical implication on business duty to society and future research on CSR as a strong arm to deal with a critical disaster like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shifting roles of renewable and fossil energy in the ENTSO-E countries: Evidence from a novel war-induced energy intensity index
(Elsevier B.V., 2026-03) Wang G; Do HX; Liu C; Sbai E; Silva E
The Russia-Ukraine war, escalating in February 2022, severely disrupted European energy markets. This conflict significantly increases energy security concerns and drives costs to unprecedented levels. This study investigates the evolving roles of renewable and fossil energy in mitigating this insecurity. We introduce a novel War-Induced Energy Intensity (WEI) index, constructed from over 507,574 news reports and tweets using large language models (LLMs). Our employed LLMs enable us to apply a scoring framework that precisely captures the intensity of fossil energy induced by the war. Validation tests across 24 European countries confirm that our WEI outperforms existing geopolitical risk indices in explaining wholesale electricity market dynamics. A structural break test identifies a significant market shift in early 2022, coinciding with the conflict's outbreak. This provides a statistical basis for our pre- and post-conflict analysis, which reveals a reversal of roles. Before 2022, fossil fuels played a stabilizing role in electricity markets. After the conflict began, their supply disruptions exacerbated market risks. In contrast, renewable energy sources – particularly wind, solar, and hydropower – emerged as key stabilizers, significantly reducing market instability. These findings underscore the growing importance of renewables in ensuring energy security during geopolitical crises.
Well, there’s this TikTok: : adolescent mental health literacy and social media use in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2024) McGehan, Siobhain Catherine
This thesis investigated whether mental health literacy (MHL) scores vary by rainbow status or wellbeing scores; how Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ ) young people access and interact with MH messages and whether these behaviours vary by rainbow status or wellbeing scores; and whether access to and interaction with online mental health messaging predicts MHL. Adolescents (N = 306) aged 16-19 years old, living in AoNZ completed an online survey covering their demographics including sexual and gender identity, two measures of wellbeing, two measures of mental health literacy, and their social media use particularly related to mental health content. Descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis and regressions were used to analyse the data. Overall, the study provided promising results for MHL in AoNZ with a high level of recognition of anxiety and MHLS scores comparable with previous overseas studies. Rainbow participants had significantly higher MHLS scores, but there was no significant relationship between wellbeing status and MHLS scores. The young people in the sample are online every day, and 88.6% reported previously looking up mental health information (MHI) online. Furthermore, almost all participants reported having seen MHI while scrolling their social media feed, with Instagram and TikTok the most common applications for MHI, both while scrolling and actively looking. Rainbow participants access online MHI more than their non-rainbow peers, but there were no significant group differences in items related to interacting with MHI on social media. There were significant group differences in both accessing and interacting with MHI online and on social media by wellbeing status, with those with lower wellbeing more frequently accessing and interacting with online MHI. Finally, the data suggests that those with higher access or interaction with online MHI have higher MHL than those with lower access or interaction with MHI online. This thesis provides important insights into the behaviour of AoNZ young people engaging with mental health content online and on social media, particularly for Rainbow young people. This is the first study connecting the way teens use social media and online mental health information to mental health literacy, providing an important avenue to consider how teens are developing their mental health literacy.
Pedagogies of plurality : education, cultural resilience, and well-being in indigenous Chiapas : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of International Development, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University
(Massey University, 2025) Brockliss, Joseph TJ
Indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico, have faced centuries of exclusion through colonialism, state assimilation policies, and global economic inequalities. Education has often served as a tool of this exclusion, undermining Indigenous languages, knowledge systems, and communal ways of life. In 1994, the Zapatista movement declared autonomy and began establishing its own schools as part of a broader struggle for dignity, self-determination, and justice for the Indigenous communities of Chiapas. This inspired other Indigenous communities in Chiapas to establish their own schools with a similar focus on autonomy and cultural preservation. These autonomous schools reject the logic of Western development, re-centring education within Indigenous knowledge, communal decision-making, and traditional cultural practices. This thesis explores how the Indigenous autonomous education movement of Chiapas contributes to social well-being when understood through the lens of buen vivir, a framework that recognises the interdependence of social, cultural, ecological, and spiritual life. Drawing on desk-based research and semi-structured interviews with individuals associated with the Zapatista movement and connected Indigenous communities, this study examines how education in Chiapas fosters five key areas: language, identity, and cultural resilience; environmental awareness, agriculture, and food sovereignty; social and physical infrastructure; educational sovereignty and intellectual liberation; and collective ethics. The findings reveal that well-being does not arise from isolated schooling initiatives but from embedding education into the social fabric of the community and resisting external models that compartmentalise daily life. While challenges remain, such as funding shortages, cultural tensions, and ongoing pressures from State aggression, organised crime, and globalisation, the Zapatistas and other Indigenous communities of Chiapas exemplify how Indigenous-led education can generate resilience, cultural strength, and collective dignity. This study demonstrates that education, when reimagined from below, can become a practice of resistance and renewal, contributing to a broader vision of post-development grounded in Indigenous autonomy and hope.