Australian Social Attitudes

Australian Social Attitudes presents a fascinating insight into what Australians think about contemporary political and social issues. It draws on a veritable mine of data collected from the inaugural Australian Survey of Social Attitudes, conducted for the first time in mid 2003, and reflects the expressed opinions of a broad sample of some 4300 Australian adults. While selected at random, the respondents reflect the state by state distribution of the Australian population and are representative in terms of gender and age. In its analysis of the data ""Australian Social Attitudes"" draws on the latest social research from many of Australia's leading social scientists, including Michael Pusey, Mark Lyons and Jocelyn Pixley, to challenge conventional wisdoms about Australia, and assesses the impact of the Howard government on the attitudes and behaviour of Australians of all ages and social backgrounds.

Shaun Wilson is Research Fellow in the Centre for Social Research at the ANU. His main research interests include: comparative welfare states, the sociology of work, applied social research and political sociology. Shaun is a Principal Investigator of the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes. Gabrielle Meagher is Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Sydney. Her research explores contemporary problems of the welfare state, including the supply of a skilled and well-supported care workforce in social service industries and attitudes to public service provision, income support and union membership. Rachel Gibson is Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Social Research at the ANU and her research interests include online campaigning of political parties in advanced democracies. David Denemark is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia and has been published widely on electoral politics, election campaigns, and the mass media. Mark Western is a Co-Director of the University of Queensland Social Research Centre, and an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Queensland. He is now working on the impact of Neoliberalism on socioeconomic and gender inequality, politics and culture, and the identities and life-course pathways of Queensland high-school students.|||||Gabrielle Meagher is a lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Sydney. She has previously worked as a domestic cleaner, shop assistant, and receptionist