Big Data explained
The Big Data team is forming collaborative research partnerships with experts from across our challenge and other challenges and institutions to build a collaborative framework to articulate and answer research questions of significant importance to New Zealand and to the wider academic and policy communities.
What we are doing
- The team has a wide range of expertise in the use of the Integrated Data Infrastructure.
- Consulting with Māori and Pacific stakeholders to develop guidelines for using big data in a way that is appropriate for these communities.
- A paper has been published in an international journal showing a decline in obesity in NZ 4-year-olds.
Team Snapshot
Dr Rick Audas
Theme leader
Dr Rick Audas is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago, and the Big Data theme leader for A Better Start.
Dr Nichola Shackleton
Dr Nichola Shackleton is a Research Fellow for the Centre for Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences (COMPASS) at the University of Auckland. She is a quantitative social scientist working on multidisciplinary research projects. She uses advanced quantitative methods to analyse survey data, and works with population level data in the Integrated Data Infrastructure. Her research focuses on the interplay between child health and the school environment, inequalities in child health, and measuring and evaluating aspects of the school environment.
Justine Camp
Research Fellow, Big Data
I kā tini waka o te motu, ka mihi mai I tēnei uri nō Te Waka o Aoraki
Ki kā kairakahau e whakanui ana e whakapiki ake te hauora o kā tamariki, mokopuna o Aotearoa nei, tēnei te mihi maioha ki a tātou
He waka eke noa
Justine works with Māori communities to ensure their views around the use of Māori data are part of the theme’s everyday thinking.
News
Prediction of early childhood obesity acceptable to many caregivers of tamariki in New Zealand
A Better Start National Science Challenge’s Model Acceptance study is the first large-scale survey on the subject of caregiver acceptability of early childhood obesity prediction models in a multi-ethnic cohort of parents, caregivers, and grandparents anywhere in the...
Social disadvantage a key prediction of gap between Māori, Pacific and Pakeha child obesity
Differences in socioeconomic conditions are a major driver of unequal obesity rates among Māori, Pacific and European children, a new study shows. The study – the first of its kind in Aotearoa New Zealand – found that the difference in numbers of four-year-old...
Personal touch to researcher’s work
As an immigrant to New Zealand, A Better Start (ABS) E Tipu e Rea National Science Challenge PhD candidate Alice Kim says her research has personal relevance to her.
Partners and Collaborators
