Wendy Stone
BA Hons (ANU), MA (Melb)
Student
Wendy joined ISR in 2004 to take up a Swinburne University Postgraduate
Award (SUPA) and an Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)
Top-Up Scholarship. Her doctoral research is an investigation into downshifting
in contemporary Australia, particularly as it relates to consumption.
Wendy is also a Research Fellow within ISR, contributing to the Citizenship
and Government and Cities and Housing programs.
Prior to joining ISR, Wendy worked for many years as a social researcher,
most notably at the Australian Institute of Family Studies (1995–2003)
where she was principal investigator of a program of research that investigated
the nature, distribution and impact of social capital in the lives of
Australian families and communities. Most recently Wendy held the position
of Assistant Research Director at the AHURI Ltd.
Candidacy
PhD
Supervisors
Denise Meredyth, Kath Hulse
Thesis title
Downshifting and housing: How changing consumption patterns relate to
housing in contemporary Australia
Thesis abstract
Recent research (Hamilton and Mail
2003) suggests that almost a quarter of adult Australians of working
age have "made a voluntary decision
to change their lives in ways that reduce their incomes and spending
(other than retirement)" and that "downshifters" are from
diverse age groups, family types and income levels
(with the exception of those with lowest household incomes). This research,
and similar studies
from overseas, raises significant questions about how
individuals negotiate powerful economic and social pressures in their
consumption patterns
and lifestyle preferences. The implications for housing,
Australians' largest single consumer item and wealth asset, may be significant,
yet
remain unexplored.
The research empirically examines the relationship between downshifting
and housing to understand, sociologically, what this relationship tells
us about contemporary social change. Using a combination of quantitative
and qualitative techniques, the research asks: what can a focus on housing
tell us about downshifting? and what does downshifting mean, in turn,
for housing? The proposed research will make a unique contribution to
our understanding of social change in contemporary Australia, and to
our knowledge of consumption and housing patterns and preferences in
particular.
Previous publications
Hughes, J. and Stone, W., "Family and Community Life:
Exploring the Decline Thesis ", Transition, Spring, 2004
Stone, W., "Bonding, Bridging and Linking with Social Capital", Stronger Families
Learning Exchange Bulletin , Australian Institute of Family Studies,
no. 4, 2003, pp 13–16
Stone, W., Gray, M. and Hughes, J., "Social Capital at Work: An
Australian Illustration", Horizons, vol. 6, no.
3, 2003, pp 55–60
Hughes, J. and Stone, W., Family Life and Community Change: Exploring
the Links, Research Paper 32, Australian Institute of Family Studies,
Melbourne, 2003
Stone, W., Gray, M. and Hughes, J., Social Capital at Work: How
Family, Friends and Civic Ties Relate to Labour Market Outcomes,
Research Paper 31, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne,
2003
Stone, W. and Hughes, J., Social Capital: Empirical Meaning and
Measurement Validity, Research Paper 27, Australian Institute
of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2002
Stone, W. and Hughes, J., "Understanding Community Strengths", Family
Matters, Autumn, 2002, pp 62–67
Stone, W., Measuring Social Capital: Towards a Theoretically Informed Measurement
Framework for Researching Social Capital in Family and Community Life,
Research Paper No. 24, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne,
2001
Stone, W., "Social Capital and Social Security: Lessons from Research", Family
Matters, Spring/Summer, 2000, pp 10–13
Stone, W. and Hughes, J., "What Role for Social Capital in Public
Policy?", Family Matters, Winter, 2000, pp 20–27
Saunders, P. and Stone, W., "Australian Youth and the Dependency
Culture", in P. Saunders (ed.), Reforming the Australian Welfare
State, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2000,
pp 112–135
Winter, I. and Stone, W, "Home Ownership: Off Course?", in
J. Yates and M. Wulff (eds), Australia's Housing Choices, Australian
Housing and Urban Research Institute Monograph, University of Queensland
Press, 2000, pp 43–52
Office location: EW202
Phone: +61 3 9214 4807
Email: wstone@swin.edu.au 
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