Honours Research
Current Honours projects
The details for the honours projects for 2013 will be displayed here as soon as it becomes available.
Completed Honours projects
Matthew Clark (2012)Title: Individual factors determining mobile phone usage: What has a greater influence?
Synopsis: This questionnaire-based study aimed to determine the individual factors which had the greatest influence on the usage and perceived importance of mobile phone functions. Factors studied included individuals' age, sex, language, ethnicity, education level, level of IT experience, socio-economic status and occupational status. The results from the study revealed that the perceived importance of mobile phone functions was influenced greatest by the factor socio-economic status, whereas the actual usage of mobile phone functions was influenced greatest by the age of individuals. Supervisor: Dr Swantje Zschernack Justin McDougall (2012)Title: The impact of pacing on individual biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical responses when running shod versus unshod (barefoot). Synopsis: The study showed that running footwear has a significant impact on biomechanical responses when running. Individual foot-strike patterns (FSP) had a practical significance on the
physiological responses when running - this highlights the opinion that no single solution fits all runners when it comes to running shod versus unshod. Individuals who ran with rear-foot strikes (RFS) had increased energy costs and an increased risk of injury, the opposite was seen when individuals switched to a fore-foot strike (FFS). Future research needs to focus on other mechanisms hindering running performance besides shod versus unshod running, such as the influence of foot-strike patterns, effective mass, and limb mass. Supervisor: Andrew Todd |
