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The role of organizational and individual variables in aircraft maintenance performance

Aviation maintenance has been identified by the FAA as an area where better efficiency is needed to cope with ever increasing workloads. However, aviation maintenance has also been identified as one of the major causes of accidents. Consequently, if further efficiencies are to be achieved, they cannot come at the cost of reduced safety margins. The present study employed a safety climate approach to assist in the development of a model that can help to explain morale, psychological health, turnover intentions, and error in the aviation maintenance environment. An instrument called the Maintenance Environment Survey was developed and administered to 240 personnel responsible for maintenance of a large military helicopter fleet. Data collected through the survey were used to develop a structural model that predicted 45 per cent of the variance in psychological health, 67 per cent of the variance in morale, 27 per cent of the variance in turnover intentions, and 44 per cent of the variance in self-reported maintenance errors. The model shows the pathways through which organizational level and individual level variables can influence work outcomes and leads to suggestions for interventions that can help to improve maintenance efficiency

Maintenance environment survey (MES) (1st version)

This document contains the first version of a safety climate survey developed for use in aviation maintenance. The survey formed the basis of an article published in the Journal of Applied Aviation Studies. The published article contains the validation data (reliabilities, correlations, etc) and is cited in this technical document, along with the article's ePrints address where it can be downloaded free of charge. The survey is also free

Research on the Progressive Achievement Tests and academic achievement in secondary schools

Psychometric testing can be used for many purposes. In the present case, ACER's Progressive Achievement Test battery was used to assess vocabulary, comprehension, and numeracy skill levels of students commencing study at a regional high school. The tests were used as a screening tool to identify students who might benefit from additional instruction and also to select high achieving students for participation in extension work, maths competitions, and the like. Test results were later correlated with performance in various school subjects over the five years of high school. Results indicated that the tests predicted up to 50% of the variance in school performance five years after the actual testing date. These data point to the continuing significance of students having a good vocabulary, being able to comprehend written text, and having good numeracy skills

The war on error: psychology and aviation maintenance

[Conclusion]: [Looks at research that is best captured by the term 'Human Factors' - a branch of psychology that draws upon many other fields of psychology for its theoretical and methodological foundations. As stated in a popular introductory text to this field (Wickens, Lee, Liu, & Becker, 2004), the goals of human factors are to: reduce error, increase safety, increase productivity, and increase comfort. This particular research concentrates primarily on the area of maintenance error in the aviation industry.] The safety literature tends to be dominated by discussions of error taxonomies and descriptive models of accident causation, such as the Reason model. I see these contributions as valuable but I also believe that they must be supported by empirical research. Structural equation modelling is a technique that can be used to test assumptions embedded in popular descriptions of accident causation. Through these various studies, we have developed, tested, and cross-validated models that explain how errors can occur in safety-conscious industries. We have also shown how they are linked with violations. In ongoing research, we are seeking to extend the model to include incident reporting, another key psychological variable in the quest to achieve safer and more productive working environments. [In conclusion], one of the lessons we have learned is that human error cannot be eliminated but it can be reduced if we take the trouble to look beyond its immediate causes and study the complex set of circumstances that lies behind any accident or incident

Response bias in computerized tests

[Abstract]: Choosing a response format is a problem when designing computerised tests. Programmers often solve this problem by highlighting a response option and allowing the user to select this option or choose another by using the cursor keys. It is possible that such well-meaning attempts to make computers more userfriendly may heighten response style tendencies. The two experiments to be reported in this study were designed to test the effect of cursor positioning in personality and ability tests. In the first experiment, sixty two Participants were randomly assigned to two groups and asked to complete computerised versions of Forms A and B of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. The position of the highlight was manipulated to produce a two-by-two factorial design with repeated measures on one factor. Results showed that there was evidence of a cursor effect but that it was confined to one of the conditions in the design. Experiment two employed the same sort of manipulation in a computerised version of the ACER Word Knowledge Test with another sample of 36 participants. Here, no evidence was found for any effect of cursor positioning. Overall, it was concluded that the highlighting technique itself is unlikely to have any effect on measures of cognitive ability but that it may have some effect in the more subjective personality testing domain

Maintenance environment survey (MES) (2nd version)

This document contains the second version of Fogarty's (2004, 2005) Maintenance Environment Survey. All items are listed under relevant scale headings and the response format is specified. The ePrints addresses of relevant validation papers are also cited. The survey is free of charge

Sticking Together Because We're Stuck Together: Solidarity, Indivisibility, and Collective Action in the European Union

Starting from the premise that popular support is increasingly a necessary condition for European Union initiatives, this paper utilizes the concept of solidarity to attempt to better specify the nature of “we feeling” in Europe and its relationship to support for institutionalized collective action through the EU. Building on the Europeanization literature’s examination of the socialization of individuals toward European norms, the paper distinguishes between shared identities and common fate, arguing that the literature has tended to privilege the former over the latter. Using recent Eurobarometer public opinion surveys, this paper explores the different measures of identity and common fate and their apparent relationship to support for collective action across a range of issue areas

THE ECONOMICS OF WINE: PRICING, QUALITY AND RATE OF RETURN: Part 1 Introduction

This thesis consists of six chapters, and the main research contributions are contained in chapters two through five inclusive. The topics addressed in each chapter are distinct, but related, and the specific contributions to knowledge made by the different chapters are related to: (i) understanding more fully the nature of the demand for alcohol; (ii) explaining the relationship between reputation characteristics and consumers’ willingness to pay for wine; (iii) estimating the rate of return to Australian wine; and (iv) using financial analysis to reveal the risk diversification benefits available by including wine in an investment portfolio.