Tracks and sessions

Track: Datasets and data collections

Data Archiving and Infrastructure

Session Convenor: Steven McEachern, Australian Data Archive

The conduct of large scale research projects increasingly involves complex institutional requirements, multiple partners and often long-term timelines. These demands increasingly require sophisticated data management tools and skills, both throughout the project itself and in the preservation of data for future (secondary) use. This session invites papers that contribute to the understanding of the issues associated with the management of research data, from project design through to publication and archiving for reuse. Topics that might come under this theme include:
- Ethics and the preservation of research data
- Managing research data through the research lifecycle
- Data dissemination requirements and data collection
- Data management for longitudinal projects
- Methods, techniques and tools for research data management

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Data linkage: Methodological issues

Session Convenor: Barry Milne, The University of Auckland

Linking between administrative and other data sources can provide ideal datasets for assessing and analysing social, economic and health trends. This session will explore the methodological issues associated with data linkage, including: * methods for data linkage * linkage accuracy * impact of incomplete linkage * methods to adjust for incomplete linkage * issues associated with specific types of linkage (e.g., to birth or death records) * longitudinal linkage * software/computing solutions for data linkage * management of disclosure risk This session will appeal to all those with an interest in data linkage, from those with year of experience to those who are contemplating undertaking data linkage for the first time.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Studying Complex and Changing Populations and Cohorts (Part 1)

Session Convenor: Ali Dastmalchian, University of Victoria, Canada

This session presents and focuses on the methodological challenges of studying complex and changing populations and cohorts.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Using official data sources for model building

Session Convenor: Roy Lay-Yee, The University of Auckland

We define official data sources as those data sets that have been produced by government agencies such as Statistics New Zealand or the Australian Bureau of Statistics, e.g. Censuses, surveys. They are typically routinely collected for administrative, monitoring or policy purposes but can be very useful for research. Official data sets are an under-utilised resource with many benefits: • Avoiding further costly and time-consuming collection • Adding value to already considerable public investment • Typically regionally or nationally representative • High quality, collected by reputable institutions • Typically large scale collection makes it unfeasible for individual researchers • Data cannot be collected retrospectively to study social change • Often they are the only data available • Broad in scope and useful for contextualising results of other studies. Examples of topics include: • How official data have been used • Using them to make local data more representative • How they have been combined with other sources • Harmonising variables across disparate data sets • Combining data from different time periods • How to analyse a combined data set • Deriving parameters from official data for simulation The session would be aimed at researchers who have either not recognised the utility of official data or who have wrestled with methodological issues in using them.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Track: Research methods, techniques, technology and tools

Applications in Social Networks Methodology

Session Convenor: Malcolm Alexander, Griffith University
Session Convenor: Kenneth Chung, The University of Sydney

There has been a surge in the popularity of social network studies in terms of theory, methodology and contexts in the past couple of decades. With applications across a diverse range of disciplines (such as health sciences, business & finance, communications, information systems, and project management), this session welcomes papers focusing on the application of social network theory and methodology in both established and emerging disciplines. The key objectives are to: 1. create awareness of how theory and methodology has been applied in various disciplines 2. derive lessons learnt from these disciplines and understand their contribution back to social network theories and methodology 3. learn of best practices and ethical considerations in the collection of social network data (e.g. qualitative versus quantitative, egocentric versus sociocentric methods for network data collection; techniques for eliciting network data from sensitive sources (e.g. criminal networks, sexual agency networks, etc.)) The audience for this session would be fairly broad and diverse. Audience with no knowledge of social networks analysis would be welcome, although intermediate and advanced researchers in social networks would also find it quite interesting.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Big Data - What can we learn and do? (Part 1)

Session Convenor: Ramon Wenzel, U. of Western Australia

Big Data – exceptionally large sets of often continuously generated heterogeneous observations that can be captured, aggregated, stored, and analyzed – is at an inflection point. This proposal makes the case for acknowledging the disruption and opportunities arising through ‘Big Data’ for advancing theory, research, and practice in the field of social, political, and managerial research. Outgrowing a techno-centric view, Big Data is not about the technology but the unprecedented connection of information that can be converted into something incredible meaningful. The topic proposed shall explore the emerging ‘Big Data’ phenomenon by 1) discovering new concepts, opportunities, use cases linked to Big Data; 2) discussing available resources, methods, tools to engage with Big Data; and 3) debating associated challenges and risks related to Big Data. It is therefore proposed to have multiple sessions comprised of scholarly and practitioner submissions that pan out over the conference duration. This topic indeed would attract a multi-disciplinary cohort from a range of contexts and different settings (e.g. sociologists, organizational researchers, data scientists).

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

De-Mystifying Multi-Methodology in Complex Designs

Session Convenor: Pamela Theroux, QUT

Highlighting mixed or multi-method approaches to research design, this session proposes to present research studies that combine qualitative and quantitative methods emphasizing the "multi" rather than just the silo "methods". It begins with the assumption that, to gain the broadest understanding into social and health areas, inquiry gathers evidence from various sources using a multi-level perspective. The basic concept of integrating methods from separate data sources underpins the design, but also challenges the approach. Focusing on the critical importance of incorporating multi-disciplinary collaborators into the design, various studies will present research cases utilizing primary data from interviews, surveys, observations alongside secondary data from census, economic indicators, archival documents. These studies include various strategies such as, descriptive, evaluative, exploratory, correlational, modeling, set across cross-sectional, comparative, case, cohort and longitudinal designs. Illustrations include geo-spatial social indicators, economic cost-effectiveness, statistical and mathematical modeling of social phenomena, exploratory studies of policy impacts, comparative studies of interventions, surveys of participant satisfaction factors, and social networking studies of organisational strategies. Applications cover policy-to-practice impacts, interventions impacts, organizational systems change, behavioral processes, etc. Targeted audience participants include researchers from all methodological perspectives who are interested in coordinating research efforts through interdisciplinary collaboration.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

In-depth Qualitative Techniques

Session Convenor: Nicola McNeil, La Trobe University, Melbourne

This session will feature work that includes in-depth qualitative methods including narratives, life histories, story telling and drawing, as examples.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Interviews, interviewing and mode effects

Session Convenor: Peter Brandon, University at Albany

This session will include presentations the relate to various types of interviews and interviewing including submissions which consider mode effects.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Innovations in Automated Data Collection (Part 1)

Session Convenor: Beth-Ellen Pennell, University of Michigan

This session (or sessions) will focus on the rapid diffusion of affordable technologies in all aspects of data collection, including those being used in new and innovative ways in resource poor settings. The papers will focus on exemplars of innovative uses of these technologies. Papers may address methods and technologies that facilitate: survey design and implementation; data collection and monitoring; measuring data quality; reduction of costs; expansion of measures; or facilitate timely collection and dissemination of data. Papers that focus on new technologies or older technologies being used in new contexts are welcomed. For example, the collection and analysis of paradata (process data) is increasingly being used in very diverse data collection settings, even in contexts with very little data collection infrastructure. Other examples of the use of technologies in new contexts include audio computer assisted interviewing, digital photography, use of global positioning systems to add contextual data or as a quality control measure, satellite imaging to assist sample selection, collecting anthropomorphic data including biomarkers using digital devices, etc. Papers may also address technology-based uses of mixed mode, adaptive survey designs, mobile devices, or innovations in human-computer interface. Finally, forward looking papers that identify technological challenges and opportunities for future development in survey methods across the survey lifecycle are welcomed.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Measuring the impact of policy change: evidence-based approaches to reducing crime

Session Convenor: Karen Gelb, University of Western Sydney

This session is designed to examine ways in which to measure the impact of policy changes in the criminal justice arena. Criminal justice policies have been changing rapidly in a number of Australian jurisdictions, often driven by political rhetoric and expediency. In some cases, these policies have been implemented in the absence of robust evidence as to their effectiveness. But how can we as social science researchers contribute to the debate to encourage the development of evidence-based policy rather than policy-based evidence? This session will present papers on a number of methodological issues in the measurement of outcomes following criminal justice intervention. For example, one paper will examine ways of measuring reoffending following sentencing. Another will consider the use of simulation modelling for policy analysis, with a focus on the impact on detention centre populations following changes to remand policies. The papers in this session are aimed at researchers and policy-makers with an interest in criminal justice specifically, but also those from other fields who need to measure the impact of interventions and policies on subsequent behaviour more generally. It is thus of interest across a range of social science and other fields.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Social network analysis: Applied studies and substantive topics

Session Convenor: Robert Ackland, Australian National University
Session Convenor: Malcolm Alexander, Griffith University
Session Convenor: Kenneth Chung, The University of Sydney

This session invites reports of research or applied projects that utilise tools or concepts from social network analysis (SNA). Projects in areas such as organizational studies, education, tourism studies, criminology, 'dark networks', social movements, corporate and business networks, animal networks or any other field where SNA is being used are welcome.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Social Research Using Digital Trace Data

Session Convenor: Robert Ackland, Australian National University

Vast amounts of data are generated daily in online environments such as blogsites, microblogs (Twitter), social networking sites (e.g. Facebook) and virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life). However there are significant methodological challenges associated with using socially-generated "Big Data" in social science research. Participants are invited to submit proposals for papers focusing on quantitative social research methods using digital trace data (papers can be either on methods development or substantive topics). Papers using social network analysis or text analysis are particularly welcome.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Statistical modelling for social network analysis: The state of play.

Session Convenor: Malcolm Alexander, Griffith University

This session examines the achievements of ERGM and related developments, such as temporal relational event modelling, for the statistical modelling of network data . Papers may review the scope of these developments, their potential applications, and the scale of data they can deal with. Discussions of the significance of statistical modelling of networks for the development of social science or other scientific research endeavours are also welcome.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Strategies for integrating analyses in mixed methods research

Session Convenor: Pat Bazeley, Western Sydney University

Use of mixed methods has gained acceptance and popularity since the turn of the century, as a means of strengthening research design. Issues of philosophical foundations and design have been written about extensively; much less attention has been given to the practicalities of undertaking a mixed methods data analysis and the issues raised by integrating analyses and reports from a mixed methods project. This session, therefore, will invite papers reporting studies or works in progress that illustrate and expand our understanding of what mixed methods research is about, with a particular focus on issues in data management, strategies used for integrating the analyses of mixed data sources, and reporting from integrated studies. Presenters will be asked to outline, for a study in which they have been actively engaged, the issues they faced and the solutions they adopted in a way that allows for participation and contribution from the audience. This session will be relevant to researchers at all levels, but is likely to be especially so for PhD students and early career academics working across the spectrum of academic and professional disciplines.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Structural Equation Modelling in Social Sciences

Session Convenor: Arash Najmaei, Macquarie Graduate School of Management

The purpose this session is to provide an overview of the structural equation modelling in social sciences. The overall approach of the session is to move from basics of this advanced method to a more specific discussion of two dominant families of techniques used in SEM: variance and co-variance based SEM and illuminate future perspectives for an improved application of SEM in social sciences. Description: The session will focus on a holistic view of SEM, its evolution, progress, capabilities and limitations .Presenters will address topics related to the use of this method in various domains including psychology, business and economics, etc.. The session will then shift the focus to the recent advancements in this field and particularly the emergence and growth of PLS ( partial least squares methods) as a new algorithm for SEM . Presentations will focus on discussing why, how and when PLS can be used in social sciences and how it differs from the older yet currently dominant variance-based methods. Other topics to be discussed include software packages for SEM, sample size, power analysis and statistical requirements of SEM and examples of best practices in different social sciences as well as . Intended Audience: This session is extremely timely, given the importance of causal studies and path analysis in social science. We intend to offer a holistic perspective to all researchers who are using or intent to use SEM in their research projects.. The session will also be of interest to supervisors and examiners , assisting students in various projects involving complex path analysis in all areas of social sciences . Participants will benefit not only from the information provided by the speakers, and the many different perspectives on the various ways of using and reporting SEM , but also by the exchange of ideas between expert and novice users of SEM, those who prefer the variance and those who use co-variance methods , during the panel discussion and the potential recommendations about how to provide new directions for research.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Track: Research paradigms and designs

Assessing the Impact of the Social Sciences

Session Convenor: Peter Davis, COMPASS Research Centre, The University of Auckland

There is increasing discussion about the role of the social sciences, particularly given the preference shown in research funding by a number of governments for the traditional STEM subjects. A book has very recently been published on the contribution that the social sciences make in the UK. The fundamental question underlying this session is what the social sciences have to offer and what impact of their work can be discerned. This session would ask people to share their experiences in developing measures of impact, but it could also be of interest to people actually applying social science in a practical way (without necessarily measuring its impact), and also to those who want to talk at a more conceptual and policy level.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Evaluating for Public Policy

Session Convenor: Peter Davis, COMPASS Research Centre, The University of Auckland

In a number of jurisdictions public agencies have shown a preference for randomised designs in evaluating policy initiatives. In the United States this has been well established, but recently documents have been disseminated by central government encouraging this approach. While potentially a useful corrective to cross-sectional and descriptive research designs, too great an emphasis on randomised designs could limit the scope of evaluation that could be done. Therefore, this session will ask contributors to report on case studies of public policy evaluation that map the spectrum off effective designs from randomised and experimental on the hand, through quasi-experimental and similar designs (e.g. natural experiments, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity), to other methods that, while unable to match the power of these other approaches, still have redeeming feature for drawing conclusions rigorously about public policy options. This session will be of interest both to research practitioners and to commissioners and consumers of research. While some may present actual case studies, other presentations could be reviews of approaches from the literature, and still others assess the context.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Measurement and Other Errors (with a focus on TSE) (Part 1)

Session Convenor: Darren Pennay, The Social Research Centre Pty Ltd

The session will focus on Total Survey Error as an overarching framework (covering both errors of representation and errors of measurement) to provide a holistic structure from the design and implementation of surveys through to the analysis and reporting of results. The main themes will related to exploring the TSE framework and minimisation of TSE. The types of errors explored will include errors of representation (coverage error, sampling error, nonresponse error and adjustment error).

Topics will cover the full survey cycle of research from design through to reporting. Examples of possible presentations are:

The Total Survey Error framework
Measuring Total Survey Error
Examples of optimal research design using a TSE perspective
The relationship between reducing nonresponse error and increasing measurement error
The challenges of implementing TSE methods

The session will be of interest to quantitative research practitioners, research commissioners and research users.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Methodological Issues in Cross National or Comparative Research

Session Convenor: Ann Evans, Australian National University, Canberra

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Positive organisational scholarship: A space for methodological creativity

Session Convenor: Ann Dadich, School of Business, Western Sydney University

Research on mismanaged organisations is relatively common1-3. Researchers typically examine poor practices and draw considerable attention to them for research and teaching purposes4. However, sustained focus on negative practices can silence the positive experiences of managers, practitioners, and clients. Additionally, it can diminish learning opportunities and innovation5. This session helps to redress this imbalance by focusing on positive organisational scholarship (POS). POS is, ‘the study of that which is positive, flourishing and life giving in organisations’6 – ‘POS does not represent a single theory… but puts an increased emphasis on ideas of “goodness” and positive human potential’7. POS does not ignore or denigrate non-positive phenomena, but it seeks to study success, because success and its associated phenomena are inherently attractive8 – furthermore, success can reveal resilience and capacity-building, which are as much a part of humanity as tragedy and failure9. Papers in this session will demonstrate various POS approaches, particularly those that reveal its potential to foster methodological creativity. This includes papers on unconventional or curious ways to capture, examine, and communicate positive organisational experiences to, and with others – be they participatory, reflexive, narrative, or visual, among others. This session is aimed at experienced academics and policymakers, as well as doctoral candidates.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Quality in qualitative research

Session Convenor: Karen Kellard, The Social Research Centre

The session topic relates to the suggested them of total survey error (TSE) and total survey quality, but with a parallel focus on quality in a qualitative context. The session will focus on different aspects that could be included in a Total Quality paradigm for qualitative research. Thus, it is anticipated that the main themes could relate to validity, reliability, robustness, credibility, transparency and the minimisation of error throughout the qualitative design provess. Topics will therefore cover the full cycle of qualitative research (design, sampling and recruitment, data collection, data processing/analysis and the reporting of findings.) Examples of possible presentations include:

The role of interviewers/researchers as data collectors, and their potential influence or impact on data quality
Respondent sampling and recruitment methods for qualitative research
Experimenting with different modes of qualitative engagement (face-to-face, telephone, online, individual/group settings and so forth), and the impact on respondent behaviour and data quality
Transparency and reliability in qualititative data analysis, and how this may be influenced by the analysis approach
Quality issues in online qualitative research -- opportunities and pitfalls.

Adopting this total quality theme approach across qualitative methodologies will be of interest to qualitative research practitioners, research commisioners and research users.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Social network research: Research designs and methods

Session Convenor: Malcolm Alexander, Griffith University

This session explores the range of approaches used and proposed for research on social networks and the connections of social network analysis with other areas of social research. Papers can deal with the principles and procedures of established methodologies and research designs associated with social network analysis (SNA) or examples of network analysis used outside of SNA. Papers can deal with aspects of fieldwork strategies, data collection, data analysis or issues of inference and generalization.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Studying Hard to Locate Populations

Session Convenor: Elsa Underhill, Deakin University

Sometimes we want to study very important populations but those that are hard to find or locate. A classic example here is the importance to society of studying the homeless and homelessness. There are a number of groups like this and we invite researchers that tackle the challenge of studying hard to locate populations to share their experiences and their research designs.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Studying Organisations: Surveys and Other Methods

Session Convenor: Nicola McNeil, La Trobe University, Melbourne

This session will bring together those that undertake organisational research. Studying organisations brings a number of methodological challeges including access to organisations, the notion of 'organisational consent', 'organisational voice', levels of analysis issues and many more. We invite those that study organisations to share the ways that they have overcome the challenges including innovative designs for studying organisations and organisational issues.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Theoretical, Conceptual and Other Issues

Session Convenor: Peter Brandon, University at Albany

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Track: Research methods, techniques, technology and tools

Dual-Mode Design Considerations for Web Surveys: A presentation and question and answer session

Experts predict that mobile Internet usage will overtake desktop Internet use worldwide by 2015 (mobi-Thinking 2014). With the rapid increse in use of mobile devices for Internet, web surveys completed using smartphones and tablets have followed suit, with current estimates ranging from 7% - 30% of web surveys taken on a mobile device (Maritz 2013). Rather than being at the fore front in the conduct of mixed-mode web surveys, survey methodologists are playing catch-up as they learn to master these new survey development tools. This talk will: (1) provide an overview into the emerging empirical evidence of the implications of ignoring mode differences in the design of web survey on accuracy; (2) discuss the strengths and weaknesses of common strategies researchers employ for dealing with mobile responses; and (3) offerr design tips for dual-mode (desktop and mobile) optimization of web surveys.

This session will enable wide ranging discussion of issues in web surveys.

Curtiss Cobb is a sociologist/survey scientist on the Growth Research Team at Facebook where he studies cross-cultural barriers to Internet adoption and evolving attidunal trends related to people's online 'presence.' Curtiss has consulted on web and mixed-mode polling studies in the U.S. and abroad for the Associated Press, Pew Research Center, U.S. Center for Disease Control, U.S. state department and many private organizations. He has a PhD in Sociology from Stanford University and an MA in Quantitative Method for Social Sciences from Columbia University. He is a current research fellow at Harvard Law School's Porgram on the Legal Profession. Prior to joining Facebook, Curtiss was the Director of the Survey Methods Group at GfK North American and a researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau's Center for Survey Measurement.

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Track: Datasets and data collections

Studying Complex and Changing Populations and Cohorts (Part 2)

Session Convenor: Ann Evans, Australian National University, Canberra

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Informing Policy Research using the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset

Session Convenor: Jo Edwards, Australian Bureau of Statistics

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Peer-reviewed abstracts

Track: Research methods, techniques, technology and tools

Big Data - What can we learn and do? (Part 2)

Session Convenor: Ramon Wenzel, U. of Western Australia

Open Submissions

Peer-reviewed abstracts

Innovations in Automated Data Collection (Part 2)

Session Convenor: Beth-Ellen Pennell, University of Michigan

These sessions will focus on the rapid diffusion of affordable technologies in all aspects of data collection, including those being used in new and innovative ways in resource poor settings. The papers will focus on exemplars of innovative uses of these technologies. Papers may address methods and technologies that facilitate: survey design and implementation; data collection and monitoring; measuring data quality; reduction of costs; expansion of measures; or facilitate timely collection and dissemination of data. Papers that focus on new technologies or older technologies being used in new contexts are welcomed. For example, the collection and analysis of paradata (process data) is increasingly being used in very diverse data collection settings, even in contexts with very little data collection infrastructure. Other examples of the use of technologies in new contexts include audio computer assisted interviewing, digital photography, use of global positioning systems to add contextual data or as a quality control measure, satellite imaging to assist sample selection, collecting anthropomorphic data including biomarkers using digital devices, etc. Papers may also address technology-based uses of mixed mode, adaptive survey designs, mobile devices, or innovations in human-computer interface. Finally, forward looking papers that identify technological challenges and opportunities for future development in survey methods across the survey lifecycle are welcomed.

Open Submissions

Peer-reviewed abstracts

Track: Research paradigms and designs

Measurement and Other Errors (with a focus on TSE) (Part 2)

Session Convenor: Darren Pennay, The Social Research Centre Pty Ltd

Topics will cover the full survey cycle of research from design through to reporting. Examples of possible presentations are:

The Total Survey Error framework
Measuring Total Survey Error
Examples of optimal research design using a TSE perspective
The relationship between reducing nonresponse error and increasing measurement error
The challenges of implementing TSE methods

The session will be of interest to quantitative research practitioners, research commissioners and research users.

Open Submissions

Peer-reviewed abstracts

Track: Research methods, techniques, technology and tools

Q and A Session: Dual-Mode Design Considerations for Web Surveys

Session Convenor: Peter Brandon, University at Albany

Open Submissions

Peer-reviewed abstracts

ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference

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