Masters Dissertations

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The Masters Dissertations collection contains digital copies of AUT University masters dissertations deposited with the Library since 2007 and made available open access. From 2007 onwards, all dissertations for masters degrees awarded are required to be deposited in Tuwhera Open Theses & Dissertations unless subject to an embargo.

Dissertations submitted prior to 2007 are usually recorded in the AUT Library catalogue where the full text, if available, may be accessed with an AUT password. Other people should request an Interlibrary Loan through their library.

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 1091
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    The Influence of Paid, Owned, and Earned Social Media Content on the Customer Experience
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Singh, Bhavina
    This study aims to understand how the customer experience is impacted in the context of so-cial media marketing. To do this, the three main types of social media content, paid, owned, and earned, are investigated in relation to the customer experience. This is researched in the context of Instagram to answer the research question, how does paid, owned, and brand-related content on Instagram impact the customer experience? This is a qualitative study which interviews ten participants who have made a purchase from Instagram within the last 6 months. The findings present three key themes: 1) perception of trust 2) product value 3) gender preferences. These themes are discussed in relation to the customer experience where paid and earned media impact the customer experience positively for female consumers and owned content impacts the customer experience positively for male consumers. It is also found that paid and earned media diminish the exclusivity associated with owning high-value products. The findings of this research imply that factors such as the value of the product and the gender of the target audience for the product should be considered when using paid, owned, and earned social media content to create positive customer experiences.
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    Women’s Career Expectations and Gender Barriers in the New Zealand Hotel Industry
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2024) Qian, Xinye
    This research explores hotel staff work conditions in the New Zealand context. Furthermore, it explores women’s career expectations and gender barriers in the New Zealand hotel industry. Previous studies have highlighted a significant issue: women and men hold different career expectations and experience distinct progressions within their hospitality careers. Particularly notable is the observation that women encounter more obstacles compared to men in advancing within the hotel industry. To have a better understanding of women’s hotel careers, this study has focused on exploring women’s career expectations and whether gender barriers affect their career expectations and career progressions. This research applied a quantitative method, and an online survey was used to collect data about demographic profiles, career conditions, career progressions career expectations and barriers. The survey was open to eligible hotel employees in New Zealand. There were three main findings from this study. Firstly, the results indicated that women and men were facing some common challenges in their hotel careers while women were more negatively affected by these issues. Secondly, sexual harassment, work-life conflicts, and mobility issues were the main gender barriers women faced. Lastly, this study had a novel finding that women’s career expectations tended to decline as their careers progressed due to the barriers, while men’s were increasingly positive. This dissertation concludes with theoretical and practical implications of the study, in the hope it will help create better and more reasonable career development for women in the New Zealand hotel industry.
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    The Relationship Between Sport Specialisation, Participation Volume, and Injury History in New Zealand Youth Basketball
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Fossum, Andreas
    The surge in youth basketball participation in New Zealand (NZ) prompts an investigation into the associations between participation volume, sport specialisation, and injury history among young New Zealand basketballers. With secondary school basketball witnessing a 45% increase in participation over the last two decades, concerns have been raised about players specialising and the potential for increased injuries. This dissertation aims to address three key research questions: (I) Is there an association between sports participation volume and injury history? (II) Is there an association between sports specialisation (in basketball) and injury history? (III) Does the ratio of organised sports participation to free-play relate to injury history in young New Zealand basketball players? This cross-sectional study surveyed three hundred and sixty-six (50% male, aged 10-19) New Zealand basketball players from the 2020 Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) junior nationals’ selection camp. Electronic tablets with SurveyMonkey were used to gather the data on sports specialisation, injury history, weekly sport participation volume, and free-play hours over the previous 12 months. A previously published questionnaire (McGowan et al., 2020) was adapted for basketball-specific purposes. One-way ANOVA, Pearson's Chi-squared test, and multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for sex, age, and participation hours, assessed associations between sport specialisation, sport participation volume recommendations, and injury outcomes. The threshold for statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Fifty-five per cent of players reported at least one injury, with lower-limb injuries constituting 70% of total injuries. Forty-six per cent were highly specialised, 40% moderately, and 14% low specialised. Weekly sport participation volume averaged 9.5 ± 4.67 hours, with no significant differences between specialisation groups. Over half of the participants exceeded the 2:1 organised sport-to-free-play ratio, and 88% played basketball for more than 8 months per year. After adjusting for age, gender, and weekly participation hours, neither medium nor highly specialised players showed increased odds of 'any injury' or 'lower limb injury' compared to the low specialisation group. Males had significantly higher odds of reporting any injury, while the medium specialisation group was less likely to report lower limb injuries than the low specialisation group. Exceeding participation volume recommendations showed no significant association with injury history. Our study of New Zealand youth basketball players found a higher prevalence of high specialisation (46%) compared to previous studies (McGowan et al., 2020). Exceeding participation volume recommendations showed no significant association with injury history, challenging established norms. Notably, basketball players who participated for more than 8 months per year did not exhibit increased odds of injury, contrary to previous literature. Recreational free-play did not show a protective effect, possibly reflecting changing activity patterns among young athletes. While our study provides valuable insights, limitations include potential recall bias, a lack of injury detail, and a lack of generalisability outside the New Zealand basketball population. Further research is necessary to further our understanding of youth sports specialisation and participation volume, considering regional and sport-specific factors.
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    Psychotherapy for Children with Encopresis: A Hermeneutic Literature Review.
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Sriram, Smrithi
    Encopresis or faecal incontinence is a common medical condition among many children and can be a result of medical and/or psychological causes. As a trainee child and adolescent psychotherapist, I want to gain a deeper understanding of the emotional needs of encopretic children and their psychological internal world. The goal of this study is to explore various therapeutic approaches that can help support their emotional needs and answer the following research question: How can psychotherapy benefit children with encopresis? Hermeneutics epistemology involves understanding the meaning of lived experiences for individuals and exploring how these experiences influence their engagement with the world through interpretation. In utilising hermeneutic phenomenology as my methodology and conducting a hermeneutic literature review, I hope to understand the subjective experiences of encopretic children and the reasoning behind the various psychotherapeutic approaches used to support them. The data for this study comes from existing literature on psychotherapy with encopretic children, including my reflections based on my understanding and interpretation of the literature. In reviewing the literature, three key themes emerged, denial, control and disruptions in attachment, as some of the common underlying distresses for encopretic children. The psychotherapist’s ability to build and work within the therapeutic relationship, remain attuned and move at the child’s pace, allow space for them to express themselves and work through underlying distresses, and work closely with parents to help them mentalise their child’s needs were some of the key findings across the themes. Analysing the literature offered insight on the reasoning and effectiveness of these therapeutic approaches. The findings can contribute to future research on effective psychotherapeutic interventions, as well as support and inform child psychotherapy students, child psychotherapists and other mental health professionals working with encopretic children.
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    Mission: Burrito. A Thematic Literature Review to Assess Universal Characteristics of ‘Authenticity’ in Gastronomy
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Ma, Dianne Jennifer
    The term ‘authentic’ is widely used in describing and comparing cultural cuisine, and in an increasingly globalised world with increasingly knowledgeable customers, there is a desire to pursue food that is authentic. Yet, as populations cross borders and share food, grasping what makes food authentic is progressively more difficult Nevertheless ‘authenticity’ remains a commonly used term for evaluating food, with its exact definition open to interpretation by the individual. This research asks, “What characterises ‘authentic cuisine’ when the term is used within the hospitality industry in the United States?” It investigates the confusion surrounding authenticity, the modern diner’s preoccupation with authenticity, and ways in which authenticity is assessed. Authenticity is a social construct, with its evaluation dependent upon cultural context, thus creating further confusion. Regardless, there are modern individuals who quest for authenticity as an escape from their industrialised, everyday lives. Exploring first the modern anthropologist and then the modern tourist, the research finds parallels to the modern diner. Therefore, ambiguous and oftentimes conflicting notions of authenticity notwithstanding, there is still a desire for the modern diner to experience authentic food. A study of literature pertaining to authenticity reveals eight characteristics: storytelling, simplicity, terroir, historical tradition, ethnic connection, personal connection, nostalgia, and aficionado identity. The research identifies the integral roles of emergent authenticity, commoditisation, and staged authenticity in assessing these characteristics, as some explicitly connect to authenticity, others merely imply authenticity, and still others are reliant upon social context. Initially, the eight characteristics appear to separately but equally contribute to authenticity; however, further investigation reveals that they are interwoven, and can amplify or diminish one another. Whereas terroir, historical tradition, and ethnic connection focus on the product, personal connection focuses on the producer. A personal connection may be tied to any of these characteristics; however, it is not obligatory for such a connection to exist for authenticity to be present. The emphasis is on the creator's intention in incorporating their artistic heritage rather than the heritage itself. The personal connection can be strengthened with nostalgia for food memories of the past, however real or imagined. These can imbue food with an aficionado identity for the consumer, who can experience an authentic connection with an object, thus authenticating the object and themself. The Mission burrito is chosen as a case study subject because of its unique positioning in the American foodscape. The research finds early iterations of the Mission burrito congruent with characteristics of authentic Mexican cuisine. As the Mission burrito strays from its birthplace, the Mission District of San Francisco, California, USA, it evolves beyond the cycle of emergent authenticity. Commoditisation takes a strong hold on the Mission burrito, and it no longer exhibits characteristics of authenticity. The approach used in this study is a potential way to assess authenticity in other foods with immigrant origins within the American hospitality industry. There is also a possibility of broadening the application of this framework in other areas of gastronomy and anthropology as a whole.
Dissertations are protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The dissertation may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:
  • Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.
  • Authors control the copyright of their dissertation. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the dissertation, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.
  • You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the dissertation.