Tag: Australia

Social Policy
A multi-racial group of children stand in a field on a sunny day, dressed in scouting uniforms, and peering through glasses, binoculars, a magnifying glass, and monocular

Ethnography of Customer Service

Social Science Insights

Social science methods can be used to improve customer service. I discuss ethnography, an approach to capture social experiences in their everyday setting, such as through photography and other tools. I then describe participant observation, a method for studying people, organisations, and environments while participating in the same activity as the participants. Using an example from public health, I demonstrate how businesses and policymakers might put these methods into practice.

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Social Policy
Six diverse people from behind wearing long coats, each dressed in one monoblock colour of the pride flag

Services for LGBQIA+ Youth

Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

October is LGBTQ History Month. Today we have a bonus post in honour of National Coming Out Day. Social science studies can help organisations implement meaningful change to improve services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) youth.

  • “Implement a social and emotional well-being approach... frequently adopted in Aboriginal research and health practice.”
  • Collage showing young people wearing the pride and trans flags on their clothing and painted on their faces, while standing at a march. Key points from research by Dingle and Anderson, as well as this quote: “...[S]chool-based sexuality education in Australia is profoundly non-inclusive, heteronormative, and cisnormative, failing to represent or meet the needs of LGBTQIA+ students.”
  • Collage of polaroids and photos of queer Aboriginal people marching at Mardi Gras in Sydney, as well as hugging and laughing. Aboriginal artwork depicts a meeting place with people represented by dots, circles, and u-shapes, as well as joining song lines, depicted by concentric circles and wavery lines. Recommendations from Liddelow-Hunt and colleagues, as well as this quote: “Implement a social and emotional well-being approach... frequently adopted in Aboriginal research and health practice.”
  • Collage showing a polaroid and another cutout photo of diverse queer people, and a drawing of the globe. Recs from the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network, plus this quote: “Implementing an action plan to ensure organisations hold themselves accountable to LGBTQIA+ refugee and asylum seeker inclusion policies, recruitment strategies and service delivery.”
  • Polaroid of a young white boy in a wheelchair with people playing in a park in the background, plus a cutout of a young white boy wearing the pride flag, and a graphic of a house. Recs from Lim and colleagues, plus this quote: “Experiences of homelessness appear to be particularly pervasive among youth who are: (i) trans and gender-diverse, (ii) disabled and (iii) who reside outside of urban centres.”
  • Polaroid of a Black woman's hands holding small pins with pride flags and slogans, as well as a cutout of six queer people from behind wearing long coats, each dressed in one colour of the pride flag. Another cutout shows two women of colour hugging, and holding a sign saying FREE [watermelon drawing] AND HUGS. Text says: Learn more: SocialScienceInsights.com. At the bottom is a list of references
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Social Science in Action

Law of the Journey

Social Science Insights

Taking a look back at Ai Weiwei’s exhibition at the Biennale of Sydney, 2018. The work is called, ‘Law of the Journey, 2017.’ It tackles Ai Weiwei’s ongoing critique of European nations denying basic human rights to refugees.

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Social Policy

Encouraging Referrals

Social Science Insights

This post provides tips for improving public health communications. I show examples from studies that encouraged doctors to comply with health guidelines. I discuss a case study of a health organisation that sought to increase patient referrals to a free treatment program.

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Social Policy
Two men stand on cracked land, one of them kneels touching the ground, the other stands looking to the distance

Emergency Disaster Support

Social Science Insights

How can you encourage your customers to take up free support services? We look at how to get employers and workers to complete a survey sent via SMS, and sign-up for emergency disaster relief.

Man wearing a hat stands in a middle of a barren field in New South Wales
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Social Policy

Using Social Science to Address Injustice

Social Science Insights

Social science was used in a state inquiry into social injustice. This includes a review of information services, analysis of policy and program outcomes, and identifying the social and economic impact of racial inequity.

  • Infographic showing people talking in quadrants, a man holding a giant magnifying glass, people holding puzzle pieces making a heart, and a man frowning at graphs. Title reads: Using social science to address injustice
  • Infographic showing a man standing beside a giant folder showing houses, writing, and starred reviews, as well as a person moving items around a giant calendar. Title: My team used social science in a State inquiry into social justice
  • Infographic of a man in a uniform and cap holding a giant magnifying glass with a question mark in the centre, surrounded by giant letters, charts, mail, and photos, as well as a man with a frustrated expression, sitting on his knees on top of a giant laptop, as the screen and surrounding files show error warnings. Title: How we used social science theorey and method
  • Infographic of a white woman holding a giant magnifying glass in front of a giant signed document. Title: review of state archives
  • Infographic showing a woman presenting to an audience while standing in front of a line graph. Title: evaluation of programs
  • Infographic showing a smiling man, with his hands behind his back, standing in front of three giant documents, the one in the centre with a ribbon over the top, as well as a woman pointing to a giant laptop. Title: Thematic analysis
  • Infographic showing a person with a speech bubble that has a bar chart inside, as they point to a giant clipboard holding a document. Title: evidence framework
  • Infographic of people holding pieces of a pie chart. Each piece shows buildings, a megaphone, a truck, and icons of people. Title: Methodology to measure inequality
  • Infographic of five people arranged in a semi circle around a giant speech bubble. Title: admive on anti-racism
  • Infographic showing people along a line graph, one with a speech bubble, one holding giant light bulb over their head, and another pointing to a presentation of a box. Text: Learn more about how social sciennce supports policy and justice: SocialScienceInsights.com
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News and Events, Social Policy

Race, Welfare, and COVID-19

Social Science Insights

The new book chapter, ‘Critical Race Studies and Intersectionality Responses to COVID-19,’ presents a case study of how the welfare state exercises multiple domains of power to maintain racial inequality, even during the public health crisis of COVID-19. Read the abstract and an excerpt below.

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Social Policy

Enhancing Recruitment of Women

Social Science Insights

Learn about how applied social science was used in a state project to increase the number of girls and women in trades.

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Social Policy

Supporting Vulnerable Students

Social Science Insights

Timely, targeted, and informative messages can motivate young workers to continue pursuing their qualifications. Employers can adopt these social science tips to better support students at work.

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Social Policy

Boosting Cyber Security

Social Science Insights

Social science enhances how people respond to cyber security threats, by helping individuals overcome the biases exploited in cyber attacks. A novel approach to cyber security training increases staff self-efficacy when responding to malicious messages.

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