Supporting Social Research

New from the Australian Bureau of Statistics

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:38:25 +1100

ABS data is an important resource for many social researchers. Current data and publications are made freely available and updated daily. Here are just a few important statistical publications and initiatives that have been released in the past few months. These releases will be useful for many students and researchers.

New report on Welfare Expenditure in Australia

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:23:49 +1100

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released a new report on welfare spending by governments in Australia; it documents spending increases over the past 8 years and shows families and the aged as the major beneficiaries. The report titled Welfare Expenditure in Australia 2005-06 provides estimates of welfare expenditure in Australia for the period 1998-99 to 2005-06 and is available online from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's website. On a related topic is a recent research report by Peter Saunders from The Social Policy Research Centre at the University of NSW. The report is called Towards New Indicators of Disadvantage, Deprivation and Social Exclusion in Australia and is available from the centre's website. To check Fisher Library's catalogue holdings in this research area search under the subject heading 'Public Welfare Australia'.

Database Trial - TVNews

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:41:07 +1100

Did you miss Foreign Correspondent last Tuesday? Need to follow television coverage of the 2007 Election! Do you or your students need access to Australian television news, current affairs and selected documentaries for teaching and research? You can access this content via a new database, TVNews. This database is on trial until 31 December 2007.

Chasing the vote! Researching elections and electoral information.

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:40:20 +1100

Earlier this month the Australian Parliamentary Library released the research paper Electoral division rankings: Census 2006. This paper is one of many sources that will be of interest to anyone researching the current election and electoral information. The paper "provides an analysis by Commonwealth electoral division of socio-demographic data from the first release of the 2006 Census of Population and Housing." The rankings provide an interesting electoral snapshot on a range of variables. Which electorate has the most children aged under 5 years, persons born overseas, the highest median weekly family income, lone person households or households with an internet connection? Rankings are available for the following categories: population, religion, ethnicity, families, income, education and dwellings.

Reference work of the month: SIPRI Yearbook

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:38:08 +1100

Welcome to this new section of the Supporting Social Research Blog! Every month we will highlight a reference work that we feel contributes both to social research and to learning and teaching in the University. If we feel really enthusiastic about a book or electronic publication we may extend to "reference works" of the month! Our first reference work has answered a number of questions in the past few weeks and will probably answer many more.

SIPRI Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmaments and International Security
This Yearbook is published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute The yearbook analyses developments in security and conflicts, military spending and armaments, non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. The Library maintains an ongoing subscription to this Yearbook. The latest available yearbook is for 2007, this edition covers developments in 2006. Each chapter of the Yearbook is authored, statistical sources are clearly indicated and any problems with data identified.

Primary Sources in Counseling Psychology - Database Trial

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:37:36 +1100

The University of Sydney Library is running a trial of 'Primary Sources in Counseling and Psychology', it is available from our Databases on Trial page.
It contains transcripts of psychotherapy sessions, first-person accounts of dealing with mental illness and also includes reference handbooks and textbook case studies.

The trial runs until November 25th, 2007. Please complete a database evaluation form to provide us with feeedback.

Media Directory - Database Trial

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:59:20 +1100

The University of Sydney Library is running a trial of a new Australian Media Directory, it is available from our Databases on Trial page.
It contains contact details for individual newspapers, radio & tv stations, programs, magazines, supplements & lift outs as well as newsletters, media agencies, politicians, political parties & government departments.

The trial runs until November 18 2007. Please complete a database evaluation formto provide us with feeedback.

ACSPRI Summer School 2008

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:08:39 +1100

The following information is provided by the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Incorporated (ACSPRI).
The ACSPRI Summer Program 2008 is now open for registration.
http://www.acspri.org.au/summerprogram2008
Week-long short courses will be held concurrently over two weeks at the Summer Program 2008 which will run at the Australian National University over the following dates:

Monday 14 January To Friday 18 January 2008 AND Monday 21 January To Friday 25 January 2008

Government intervention in Aboriginal Communities

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:43:11 +1100

There have many requests for information relating to the Government interventions in the Northern Territory. Key reports including Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle "Little children are sacred" are available online and via the Library catalogue.

There are many information resources that provide useful research and background information relevent to government actions in relation to Aboriginal communities. The Australian Parliamentary Library publishes a Bills digest. Documents relating to the recent measures can be quickly located and downloaded. The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Township Leasing) Bill 2007 , the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander) Consequential, Transitional and Other Measures Bill 2006 and the Corporations Amendment (Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Corporations) Bill 2006 are all available from this site. The Parliamentary Library also publishes Research briefs on many political and social issues. The Domestic violence e- brief provides links to earlier reports on conditions in Aboriginal communities.

Australia Fair?

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:02:39 +1100

Interested in International comparisons between Australia and other countries? Australia Fair: International Comparisons 2007 released by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) on the 30th of August uses current data to compare a range of social indicators with the situation in other OECD countries.

New journal Global Social Policy

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:50:59 +1100

Global Social Policy: : An Interdisciplinary Journal of Public Policy and Social Development is now available electronically via the Library’s catalogue.

Global Social Policy aims to advance the understanding of the relationship between globalization processes and social policy. This journal analyses the contributions of a range of national and international actors, both governmental and non-governmental, to global social policy and social development discourse and practice.

Policy Press Journal Trial

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:17:19 +1100

Two Policy Press Journals Benefits and Evidence and Policy are available on trial until the 27th of August. Evidence & Policy is is an international peer-reviewed journal "dedicated to comprehensive and critical treatment of the relationship between research evidence and the concerns of policy makers, practitioners and researchers". Benefits: The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice' is a peer-reviewed publication focusing on research relating to on poverty and social exclusion. Access the journals via the Library Databases and Electronic Resources trials page.

International Political Science Abstracts Database Trial

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:35:44 +1100

International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA), published by the International Political Science Association, includes current indexing and abstracts for many of the world's leading journals in political science. This database contains records from almost 900 journals published from 1989 to the present. Approximately 8,000 new records are added to the database each year. This database trial ends on the 17th of September 2007.

Census 2006! Frst release data available on the 27th June

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:56:37 +1100

The first release of data from the 2006 census will be available for free on the ABS website at 9.30 am on Wednesday 27th June.

ABS has launched several new products including, Quickstats, MapStats and Census tables.

Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data is widely used in social research. So take a look at the new data and products on the ABS website!

How are young Australians faring in work and study?

Wed, 30 May 2007 10:39:00 +1100

"Since 1995, full-time jobs for older Australians have risen by more than one million but declinded by 14,000 for teenagers and 52,000 for young adults."

These new figures are revealed in the eigth annual review conducted by the Dusseldorp Skills Forum into Australian youth and their participation in learning and work. The report entitled How Young People are Faring 2006 is available on the Dusseldorp Skills Forum Website. The report was written by Mike Long from Monash University-ACER Centre for the Economics of Education and Training.