Search results

Sorry Master Turner would not stay at the Academy; credit that money to the account of Francis B. Trepagnier.

Photocopy. ; Translation of Strategematum libri octo ; Mode of access: Internet.

The evaluation field's understanding of Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies must improve in ways that do not serve to privilege Western ways of knowing or governmental priorities for accountability. The literature has not identified ways to bridge these in practical ways, or to move the field to balance community and government needs. This article describes some prevailing epistemological and methodological issues related to evaluation and then identifies practical challenges bridging Western and Indigenous approaches, using the example of the Indigenous Youth Futures Partnership project (IYFP), a seven-year SSHRC-sponsored grant. It is suggested that there are approaches that work well in these contexts but that agency is vitally important to establish reciprocity.

In July 1989, dugongs were counted from the air at an overall sampling intensity of 7.9% over
14 239 km2 in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Counts were corrected for perception bias (the proportion
of dugongs visible in the transect that are missed by observers), and standardised for availability bias
(the proportion of animals invisible because of water turbidity) with survey-specific correction factors.
The resultant minimum population estimate was 10146 � 1665 (s.e.) dugongs at an overall density of
0.71 � 0.12 (s.e.) dugongs km-2, the highest density ever recorded on a large-scale dugong survey.
The proportion of calves (19%) was higher than for most other dugong surveys conducted in Shark
Bay and elsewhere, suggesting an exceptionally high calving rate in 1988. Dugong density was highest
(>5 km-2) in relatively deep water (12-16 m) in the eastern half of Shark Bay opposite the tip of
Peron Peninsula and in the western Bay opposite the northern half of Dirk Hartog Island. Fewer than
4% of dugongs sighted in Shark Bay during the survey were in waters colder than 18�C. Results of
aerial surveys over 906 km2 in the Faure Sill region of the eastern Bay in November 1990 and January
1991 suggest that between a third and a half of the dugongs in Shark Bay are located in this region
during the summer. In contrast, only one dugong was sighted there during the winter survey. The
survey confirms that Shark Bay is an internationally significant dugong habitat.

Trust in risk information about food related‐hazards may be an important determinant of public reactions to risk information. One of the central questions addressed by the risk communication literature is why some individuals and organizations are trusted as sources of risk information and others are not. Industry and government often lack public trust, whereas other sources (for example, consumer organizations, the quality media, medical doctors) are highly trusted. Problematically, previous surveys and questionnaire studies have utilized questions generated by the investigators themselves to assess public perceptions of trust in different sources. Furthermore, no account of the hazard domain was made. In the first study reported here, semistructured interviewing was used to elicit underpinning constructs determining trust and distrust in different sources providing food‐related risk information (n= 35). In the second study, the repertory grid method was used to elicit the terminology that respondents use to distinguish between different potential food‐related information sources (n= 35), the data being submitted to generalised Procrustes analysis. The results of the two studies were combined and validated in survey research (n= 888) where factor analysis indicated that knowledge in itself does not lead to trust, but that trusted sources are seen to be characterised by multiple positive attributes. Contrary to previous research, complete freedom does not lead to trust—rather sources which possess moderate accountability are seen to be the most trusted.

One of the legacies of the Westland and Ponting affairs has been a renewed interest in the doctrine of ministerial responsibility. In analysing this concept in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, the symposium argues the need for a thorough reappraisal of the doctrine in theory and practice; examines pressures stemming from the erosion of civil service neutrality; criticizes certain views of the constitution; calls for a reassertion of the doctrine. (PAS)

Strip-transect aerial surveys of Shark Bay, Ningaloo Reef and Exmouth Gulf
were conducted during the winters of 1989 and 1994. These surveys were
designed primarily to estimate the abundance and distribution of dugongs,
although they also allowed sea turtles and dolphins, and, to a lesser extent,
whales, manta rays and whale sharks to be surveyed. Shark Bay contains a large
population of dugongs that is of international significance. Estimates of
approximately 10000 dugongs resulted from both surveys. The density of dugongs
is the highest recorded in Australia and the Middle East, where these surveys
have been conducted. Exmouth Gulf and Ningaloo Reef are also important dugong
habitats, each supporting in the order of 1000 dugongs. The estimated number
of turtles in Shark Bay is comparable to the number in Exmouth Gulf plus
Ningaloo Reef (7000–9000). The density of turtles in Ningaloo Reef and,
to a lesser extent, Exmouth Gulf is exceptionally high compared with most
other areas that have been surveyed by the same technique. Shark Bay supports
a substantial population of bottlenose dolphins (2000–3000 minimum
estimate). Exmouth Gulf and Ningaloo Reef were not significant habitats for
dolphins during the winter surveys. Substantial numbers of whales (primarily
humpbacks) and manta rays occur in northern and western Shark Bay in winter.
Ningaloo Reef is an important area for whale sharks and manta rays in autumn
and winter.
The Shark Bay Marine Park excludes much of the winter habitats of the large
vertebrate fauna of Shark Bay. In 1989 and 1994, more than half of all the
dugongs were seen outside the Marine Park (57·4 and
50·7%, respectively). Approximately one-third to one-half of
turtles and dolphins were seen outside the Marine Park (in 1989 and 1994
respectively: turtles, 43 and 27%; dolphins, 47 and 32%). Almost
all the whales and most of the manta rays were seen outside the Marine Park.
Expansion of the Shark Bay Marine Park, to bring it into alignment with the
marine section of the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, would facilitate the
appropriate management of these populations. This would also simplify the
State– Commonwealth collaboration necessary to meet the obligations of
World Heritage listing. The coastal waters of Western Australia north of the
surveyed area (over 6000 km of coastline) are relatively poorly known and
surveys of their marine megafauna are required for wise planning and
management.