Esta dissertação investiga processos de democratização do exercício de projeto em design impulsionados por uma série de transformações sociais, tais como a expansão das tecnologias de comunicação e informação, a crise ambiental planetária e as crises econômicas globais. São analisados conceitos como os de \"sociedade pós-industrial\" conforme teorizado pelos sociólogos Alain Touraine (1969) e Domênico de Masi (2013) e \"terceira revolução industrial\", pelo economista Jeremy Rifkin (2011), propondo-se reflexões sobre qual seria o papel do design nesses contextos. A partir das concepções do campo do design propostas por Victor Papanek (1970) e Ezio Manzini (2015), e que examina o \"design quando todos são designers\", são estudados os fundamentos da cultura Faça-você-mesmo (DIY- Do-it-yourself), e da cultura Hacker, propondo-se, por fim, a configuração de um \"ecossistema\" dos processos de democratização do design contemporâneo, ou seja, de um conjunto de relações de interdependência destes processos entre si e com seu meio. / This dissertation investigates processes of democratization of the project exercise in a series of social transformations, such as information and communication technologies, the global environmental crisis and economies. We analyze concepts such as \"post-industrial society\" as theorized by sociologists Alain Touraine (1969) and Doménico de Masi (2013) and \"Third Industrial Revolution,\" by economist Jeremy Rifkin (2011), proposing reflections on the role of design in these contexts. From conceptions of the field of design proposed by Victor Papanek (1970) and Ezio Manzini (2015), and that examines \"design when everyone is a designer,\" the fundamentals of Do-it-yourself culture, and the Hacker culture, proposing order, the configuration of an \"ecosystem\" of the processes of democratization of design contemporary, that is, of a set of relations of interdependence of these processes between themselves and with their environment.

Entende-se que ao assumir uma atitude faça-você-mesmo, bem como táticas de apropriação e princípios maker, é possível uma aproximação e maior interação dos museus com a sociedade contemporânea, podendo oferecer uma renovação participativa e contínua de processos. Isto tudo, sem demandar grandes investimentos, motivando os participantes a aprender fazendo e a compartilhar o conhecimento. O uso de uma técnica de digitalização tridimensional faça-você-mesmo, além de trazer agregada a atitude, possibilita a valorização do acervo museológico. Um objeto da coleção torna-se, então, capaz de transpor sua singularidade para alcançar distâncias além das geográficas, levando para o público seu conhecimento para valorização e conscientização de salvaguardar o acervo. Neste sentido, esta pesquisa contempla o desafio de propor diretrizes projetuais para o uso da digitalização 3D faça-você-mesmo em diferentes tipologias de acervos museológicos. Essas diretrizes foram construídas a partir de informações levantadas em experimentos e entrevistas, posteriormente, trabalhadas através de um processo criativo realizado num workshop no Museu Júlio de Castilhos, instituição museológica mais antiga do Rio Grande do Sul, e, por fim, diretrizes e resultados do workshop passam por um refinamento para a confecção de um framework de diretrizes projetuais. O perfil da instituição participante das atividades da pesquisa foi estabelecido por sua variedade de coleção, por apresentar peças com diferentes características físicas, químicas e morfológicas. Os resultados obtidos indicaram a oportunidade de tornar o acervo do museu mais acessível ao público de forma segura, possibilitando diferentes atividades educativas, maior disponibilidade, alcance para as pesquisas e maior conhecimento do acervo do museu. / It is understood that by taking a do-it-yourself attitude, as well as appropriation tactics and maker principles, it is possible to approach and interact more museums with contemporary society and can offer a participatory and continuous renewal of processes. All this, without demanding large investments, motivating participants to learn by doing and sharing knowledge. The use of a three-dimensional digitization technique do-it-yourself, in addition to bringing aggregates to the attitude, makes possible the valuation of the museological collection. An object of the collection becomes able to transpose its singularity to reach distances beyond the geographic ones, taking to the public its knowledge for valuation and awareness to safeguard these collections. In this sense, this research contemplates the challenge of proposing design guidelines for the use of do-it-yourself 3D digitization to be used in different types of museums. These guidelines were constructed from information collected in experiments and interviews, later worked through a creative process carried out in a workshop at the Júlio de Castilhos Museum, the oldest museum in Rio Grande do Sul, and, finally, guidelines and results of the workshop will go through a refinement for the creation of a framework of design guidelines. The profile of the institution participating in the research activities was established by its collection variety, because it presents pieces with different physical, chemical and morphological characteristics. The results indicated the opportunity to make the museum's collection more accessible to the public in a safe way, allowing different educational activities, greater availability, scope for research and greater knowledge of the museum's collection.

Esta dissertação investiga processos de democratização do exercício de projeto em design impulsionados por uma série de transformações sociais, tais como a expansão das tecnologias de comunicação e informação, a crise ambiental planetária e as crises econômicas globais. São analisados conceitos como os de \"sociedade pós-industrial\" conforme teorizado pelos sociólogos Alain Touraine (1969) e Domênico de Masi (2013) e \"terceira revolução industrial\", pelo economista Jeremy Rifkin (2011), propondo-se reflexões sobre qual seria o papel do design nesses contextos. A partir das concepções do campo do design propostas por Victor Papanek (1970) e Ezio Manzini (2015), e que examina o \"design quando todos são designers\", são estudados os fundamentos da cultura Faça-você-mesmo (DIY- Do-it-yourself), e da cultura Hacker, propondo-se, por fim, a configuração de um \"ecossistema\" dos processos de democratização do design contemporâneo, ou seja, de um conjunto de relações de interdependência destes processos entre si e com seu meio. / This dissertation investigates processes of democratization of the project exercise in a series of social transformations, such as information and communication technologies, the global environmental crisis and economies. We analyze concepts such as \"post-industrial society\" as theorized by sociologists Alain Touraine (1969) and Doménico de Masi (2013) and \"Third Industrial Revolution,\" by economist Jeremy Rifkin (2011), proposing reflections on the role of design in these contexts. From conceptions of the field of design proposed by Victor Papanek (1970) and Ezio Manzini (2015), and that examines \"design when everyone is a designer,\" the fundamentals of Do-it-yourself culture, and the Hacker culture, proposing order, the configuration of an \"ecosystem\" of the processes of democratization of design contemporary, that is, of a set of relations of interdependence of these processes between themselves and with their environment.

O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar a proposta literária do escritor alagoano Graciliano Ramos que conceituamos como ficcionalização de si, a qual consiste na utilização de observação, experiência, imaginação e transpiração como ingredientes da elaboração ficcional. Para atingir a tal objetivo, buscamos traçar um breve panorama político-cultural da década de 1930, no sentido de situar a formação ideológica e a produção mais significativa do autor Caetés (1933), S. Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) e Vidas Secas (1938). Prosseguimos com a construção de um amplo painel sobre o papel da memória na escrita de si, concluindo sobre a impossibilidade da fidelidade absoluta na reprodução do real, uma vez que esta passa necessariamente pela subjetividade da linguagem, o que lhe confere um inegável caráter ficcional. Conceituamos autobiografia e refletimos sobre as profundas alterações percebidas no gênero autobiográfico, inserindo a produção de Graciliano Ramos no contexto memorialista. Defendemos a ideia de que o escritor antecipa, na década de 30, o que na década de 70 será denominado como autoficção. Construída a fundamentação teórica necessária, passamos a analisar e discutir trechos do romance Angústia, em contraponto com Infância. Confrontando as leituras destas obras, pudemos perceber o aproveitamento ficcional de acontecimentos traumáticos da infância do autor narrados em Infância na elaboração da fase infantil do personagem Luís da Silva, de Angústia / The purpose of this paper is to highlight the literary proposal of the writer from Alagoas Graciliano Ramos that we define as "fictionalize yourself", which is the use of observation, experience, imagination and sweating as ingredients of fictional work. To achieve this goal, we seek to draw a brief political-cultural panorama of the 1930s, to situate the ideological training and the authors most significant production Caetés (1933), S. Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) and Vidas Secas (1938). We continued with the construction of a large Panel on the role of memory in "write on yourself", concluding on the impossibility of absolute fidelity reproduction of reality, since this necessarily passes by the subjectivity of language, which gives it an undeniable fictional character. We conceptualize autobiography and reflect in the deep changes realized in autobiographical genre, entering production in the context of memoirist Graciliano Ramos. We defend the idea that the writer anticipates, in the 1930s, that in the 1970s will be named as Self-fiction. After constructing the necessary theoretical background, we analyze and discuss excerpts from the novel Angústia, in counterpoint with Infância. Confronting the readings of these works, we are able to understand the fictional usage of traumatic events during the author's childhood as narrated in Infância in the elaboration of the child stage of the character Luís da Silva, in Angústia

Partindo da suposição de que o design é uma disciplina em constante transformação e que as últimas décadas têm sido marcadas pelo crescente desenvolvimento de processos de abertura de autoria e produção nos mais variados meios (tecnológicos, científicos e culturais), a pesquisa pretende investigar como a emergência da questão da colaboração interfere na disciplina do design na atualidade. Apesar de hoje a questão da colaboração estar adquirindo força e visibilidade devido a mudanças culturais baseadas nas tecnologias da informação e comunicação, podem ser observadas manifestações que já tratam de formas de colaboração desde as décadas de 1960 e 1970, seja no campo teórico e crítico como no artístico, literário ou do design. O termo e os princípios do Open Design ou design aberto , cunhados recentemente para dar conta de mudanças mais recentes na disciplina, têm sua origem no conceito Open Source, originário da área da informática, sendo ambos impulsionados a partir do incômodo gerado pelo oferecimento de produtos que não permitem modificações para atender a necessidades pessoais, sejam eles softwares ou objetos. Entretanto, embora os movimentos que se classificam como pertencentes ao universo desse design colaborativo tomem como central a característica emancipatória que a atividade estaria trazendo ao usuário, quando assumem as ferramentas de projeto e produção de uma maneira que se pretende acessível, colaborativa e independente da indústria de massa, é perceptível que algumas críticas a respeito do movimento têm se desenhado, baseando-se em certa distância que por vezes tem se estabelecido entre discursos e práticas. O trabalho tem por objetivo identificar frentes colaborativas do design na atualidade e discutí-las criticamente, de forma a aproximá-las para que o movimento de adaptação do design, hoje disperso em linhas variadas, possa ser melhor compreendido como uma totalidade em seu processo de transformação. / Based on the assumption that design is a discipline in constant transformation and the last decades have been marked by an increasing development of openness in processes of authorship and production, in the most varied environments (technological, scientific and cultural), the research intends to investigate how the emergence of the collaboration interferes on design nowadays. Although today the issue of collaboration is gaining strength and visibility due to cultural changes based on information and communication technologies, its possible to observe manifestations that have dealt with forms of collaboration since the 1960s and 1970s, both in the theoretical/ critical field, and in artistic, literary and design fields. The term and the principles of Open Design, recently coined to account for more recent changes in the discipline have their origin in the Open Source concept, originating in the area of computer science, both of which are boosted by the annoyance generated by the offer of products that do not allow modifications to meet personal needs, be they softwares or objects. However, although the movements classified as belonging to the universe of the collaborative design take as central the emancipatory characteristic that the activity would be bringing to the user, when assumes the tools of design and production in a way that is accessible, collaborative and independent of the industry it is noticeable that some criticisms of the movement is drawing, based on a certain distance that sometimes is establishing between discourses and practices. The objective of this work is to identify collaborative fronts of design in the present time and to discuss them critically, in order to approximate them so that the movement of adaptation of the design, now dispersed in varied lines, can be better understood as a totality in its process of transformation.

HIV prevention programs in schools are acknowledged as one of the best prospects for controlling the world HIV epidemic. Epidemiological evidence indicates that deaths world-wide from AIDS are yet to peak. Although HIV notifications and AIDS deaths in the total Australian population have decreased', there has been an increase in rates in the Australian Indigenous population. There is also some evidence of complacency in HIV prevention vigilance in Australia which indicates a need for continued focus on prevention programs. The knowledge levels, attitudes toward HIV risk, and risk-taking behaviours of young Australians place them at risk of exposure to HIV. Appropriate prevention programs can be delivered to these vulnerable young people through the school setting. Programs delivered in schools have been shown to have a positive effect and teachers are vital to the delivery of these education programs. Without appropriate training, however, teachers may not optimise the outcomes of these programs. While it would be desirable for teachers to be trained in HIV prevention education in pre-service training this has not been the case in Western Australia (WA). When there is not an opportunity for pre-service training, professional development programs can be implemented to provide additional training required by teachers. Traditionally this professional development has been provided through workshops. These face-to-face delivery methods, however, do not always adequately serve the needs of all teachers, and in particular the needs of teachers in rural and remote areas. In an attempt to address the needs of these teachers, alternate methods of professional development delivery may be appropriate. The aim of this study was to test an alternate method of delivery. / The study designed, disseminated and evaluated the implementation of a flexible learning professional development program for teachers of HIV education. The program was based on print-based distance learning, supported by a video and tutors. Five objectives were developed for the study. These objectives were: Objective One - To determine factors associated with teachers' enrolment in the Protect Yourself Program (PYP). Objective Two - To determine the association between factors related to entry characteristics, social integration, external attribution, academic integration and incompatibility and amount of PYP completed. Objective Three - To determine the association between amount of PYP completed and factors related to the teaching of HIV lessons. Objective Four - To examine the context in which intervention and comparison group teachers were operating for this study. Objective Five - To evaluate the process of teacher recruitment to PYP, satisfaction with the flexible learning methodology, satisfaction with the PYP materials and completion of PYP. A comprehensive theoretical framework was constructed to guide the development of the empirical study and the professional development program, as little evidence was found in the literature of similar empirically evaluated studies. This framework incorporated: Adult Learning Theory; the Model of Student Progress; the PRECEDEPROCEED Model; the Health Promoting Schools Framework; Diffusion of Innovation and the Communication Behaviour Change Model. The study was conducted in two parts. Firstly, an exploratory study was conducted which provided a basis upon which to implement the second, larger empirical study. / A quasi-experimental study design was implemented due to restrictions placed upon the study by the WA Department of Health, the funding agency. The study sample was made up of teachers from government and independent, primary and second schools in WA. In total, 126 teachers were recruited to the intervention group and enrolled in the professional development program, and 128 to the comparison group, who completed some of the evaluation instruments, but did not participate in a professional development program. The professional development intervention program incorporated four comprehensive work modules, which were delivered in print form. A video and tutorial support supplemented the print materials. To evaluate the professional development program, seven instruments were developed. From these instruments five categories of variables were created, namely demographic, contextual, teacher characteristics, process and dependent. These variables were developed as single item variables, scales or indices. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and a combination of univariate, bivariate, and multivariate techniques (logistic regression and analysis of covariance) were conducted. Qualitative data were analysed for themes. A binary logistic regression was conducted to evaluate Objective One: to determine factors associated with teachers’ enrolment in PYP. The analysis identified four factors which were associated with enrolment in PYP. / The teachers most likely to enrol in PYP had no pre-service training in health education and did not consider themselves to be a specialist or coordinator of health education. The majority of program participants had been teaching health education for between three and seven years and displayed a high level of acceptance of the flexible learning methodology. Objective Two: to determine the association between factors related to entry characteristics, social integration, external attribution, academic integration and incompatibility and amount of PYP completed was evaluated using a nominal logistic regression analysis with the intervention group sample only. Completion of the PYP program by participants was related to circumstances which were often beyond the control of the program, such as events occurring in a teacher’s personal life. However, teachers who showed a preference for flexible learning were found to be more successful in completing the program. The effects of PYP were measured by Objective Three: to determine the association between amount of PYP completed and factors related to the teaching of HIV lessons. Three of the six factors considered by this objective returned a significant association with program dose. Teacher perceived access to HIV education resources was found to be positively related to the dose of materials a participant completed. / Participants who completed a high dose of the program considered HIV resources to be relatively easier to access than participants completing a low dose. Teachers who completed a high dose of PYP reported being more comfortable to teach HIV lessons than teachers completing a mid dose. In addition, intervention group teachers showed a significant change in comfort with their ability to teach HIV lessons and specified HIV topics to Years 8, 9, and 10 classes and intervention group teachers of Year 8 students thought the HIV topics were less important for this level of students. The final variable to show a significant change over time when dose of the program was considered was teacher sexual conservativeness. Both high and mid dose participants reported being less sexually conservative than low or no dose participants from pre to midtest. The context of the teachers participating in the PYP study was investigated through Objective Four: to examine the context in which intervention and Comparison group teachers were operating for this study. Two factors were found to be associated with gender, six with school location and eleven with level of teaching. These associations provided important contextual information for interpreting the findings of the study. Objective Five evaluated the process of teacher recruitment to PYP, satisfaction with the flexible learning methodology, satisfaction with the PYP materials and completion of PYP. The recruitment strategies implemented for PYP were effective in having teachers from government and independent schools in WA recruited to PYP. / However, more than 90% of the intervention group were from government schools. Schools encouraged more than one teacher from a school to enrol, with nine primary schools, four district high schools, one community high school, one secondary college, four senior high schools and one combined independent primary and high school enrolling more than one teacher in the program. The flexible learning methodology was reported to be suitable for the needs of teachers who enrolled in PYP, as they felt comfortable with the learning methodology and appreciated the opportunity to choose when and where they completed the program. The opportunity for face-to-face contact, however, was still preferred by some teachers. The materials within the program were considered to be appropriate and useful. The writing style and activities were well received and the efforts of the tutors were welcomed by the majority of the intervention group. One third of teachers who enrolled in PYP completed at least some of the materials, but less than 10% completed the entire program. The most frequent suggestions made for increasing program completion rates were to set dates for completion of the program modules and to allow time release to complete the program. At baseline, this research showed that teachers considered it important for their students to have access to HIV education, but many of these teachers did not feel comfortable providing HIV education for their students. / As positive effects were observed in the PYP program of impact of program dose on factors affecting the implementation of HIV education, it would appear that flexible learning professional development was a suitable alternative to face-to-face professional development. Teachers' acceptance of flexible learning professional development as an alternate methodology, however, appears to be in its infancy and will require more empirical research. Future research, study design improvements and intervention design improvements can be informed by the following recommendations. Future research Recommendation 1: There be more rigorous investigation of flexible learning as a methodology for provision of professional development for teachers of health education. Recommendation 2: The status of claiming credit for professional development toward postgraduate qualifications for teachers continue to be investigated. Recommendation 3 : Further research be undertaken to evaluate available technologies and their acceptance by teachers as a delivery method for flexible learning professional development. Study design improvements Recommendation 4: design limitations of the PYP study. Future research be designed to overcome the study Intervention design improvements Recommendation 5: The findings of the PYP study and suggestions made by PYP participants be used to improve future health education professional development programs.

Projektet har gått ut på att göra ett flexibelt bord som ska kunna gå att förändra mellan högt och lågt och mellan olika storlekar på bordsskivan. Detta som en funktionell aspekt av föränderlighet men jag ville även införliva en emotionell föränderlighet. Jag vill att användaren, på ett handgripligt sätt, ska kunna uttrycka sig själv i bordet. Min intention är att man, genom att göra sitt eget unika bord, skapar ett starkare band mellan artefakt och dess användare. Detta som ett led i en hållbar utveckling så att produkterna vi äger kan brukas längre och motverka den ohållbara så kallade slit-och-slängkulturen. / The aim of the project has been to make a flexible table with the ability to change between high and low, and various table tops. This is a functional aspect of variability, but also an emotional element is contained. I want it to be simple for users to express themself  in their table. My intention is that when users can make their own unique table there will be a stronger bond between the artifact and its user. This as a means of sustainability so that the products we own can be used for a longer time, and in this way oppose the unsustainable consumerism culture.The aim of the project has been to make a flexible table with the ability to change between high and low, and various table tops. This is a functional aspect of variability, but also an emotional element is contained. I want it to be simple for users to express themself  in their table. My intention is that when users can make their own unique table there will be a stronger bond between the artifact and its user. This as a means of sustainability so that the products we own can be used for a longer time, and in this way oppose the unsustainable consumerism culture.

Syfte Uppsatsens syfte är att genom en analys av dagens digitala marknadsföring av artister i Sverige få fram olika strategier som kan leda till differentiering online, samt få vidare förståelse om hur artister aktivt kan arbeta med strategierna online för att förstärka helhetsupplevelsen av varumärket och hur fansen upplever det digitala arbetet. Metod Denna uppsats är genomförd utifrån en kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod och har en abduktiv ansats. Vi har samlat in det empiriska materialet via kvalitativa intervjuer med utvalda personer från olika delar av musikbranschen för att få olika synvinklar. Samt gjort en enkätundersökning för att få in konsumenternas aspekt, som vi i uppsatsen benämner som fans. Dessa tillvägagångssätt har kompletterats med primär- och sekundärkällor inom branding, sensory branding och digital marknadsföring.  Slutsatser Vi har genom vår analys och slutdiskussion kommit fram till följande: genom att tillämpa de fyra strategier som vi har valt att kalla; branding-strategi, sensory branding-strategi, digital marknadsförings-strategi och storytelling-strategi, är artisten på god väg att utmärka sig för både fans och musikbransch. Fansen anser att man ska ha en bra story kombinerad med en röd tråd och ett helhetskoncept. Genom att då arbeta aktivt och hitta sin balans i huruvida personlig eller informativ man ska vara i sin kommunikation, men även att vara konsekvent i sin marknadsföring som helhet.

This thesis is concerned with architectural and design practitioners involved in areas outside of their training: specifically, with the way designers embrace a do-it-yourself or DIY ethic to create experimental, ephemeral, collaborative environments not usually considered “architecture” in the professional sense. This happens because they become directly involved with a variety of methods, construction activities, project types and materials normally associated with amateur building. The thesis does not aim to contribute to more comprehensive solutions for architectural production (say, commercial practice), but rather focuses on a particular production opportunity. It attempts to draw forth qualities of process, practice and conceptualisation that are of relevance to architecture and could be the basis of future exploration in architecture. With this intent, this thesis outlines a conceptual explanation for why these designers sometimes background their training in, and knowledge of, building procurement, in favour of amateur building activities. This design approach raises questions about the way architecture is understood, discussed and practiced. In philosophy and architectural theory, architecture is usually described as a device for ordering and framing the world, an opposition to the unfolding, unpredictable process of the evolving, natural world. Yet there are things that some designer-maker-inhabitants do in practice to thwart their environmental control and influence, thus introducing a degree of unpredictability into projects. This unusual design approach has the potential to inform discussions about architecture and architectural practice beyond this thesis. There is a plethora of technical information about DIY in the popular media, yet little investigation of how professionally-trained designers creatively engage with DIY. The experimental approach to building and space studied in this research is different to self-building or simple DIY because it does not adhere to a set of design plans or set approaches. This approach is also different to outsider architecture or vernacular building because it is initiated by people with design knowledge and training, even if they put aside some of their knowledge. To clarify this latter approach to architecture and space, the research describes a space of blurring between professional and non-professional building, architectural control and spontaneity; a space of germinant practice, based on the precepts and proposals manifest in germinant philosophy. The thesis includes speculations about ways to encourage germinancy in design practice. This practice-led study involved preliminary fieldwork studies through critical analysis of my own, and others, sitespecific installation art practice. These preliminary studies led to two major fieldwork projects in Brisbane: both are homes to artists and architecturally- trained designers working outside of commercial, professional practice.

Housing renovation is a major activity for many consumers in Australia, and its growing popularity in recent years has been reflected not only by it share in GDP but also by publicity it receives via home exhibitions and numerous TV renovation shows. Despite this, and despite similar experiences in other countries, research on how decisions in this sector are made is still quite sparse, a major restraint being the limitation of secondary data. This thesis attempts to improve knowledge in this area while at the same time exploring the feasibility and benefits of doing applied economic research in a pluralistic manner. From the perspective of mainstream economics, individuals’ decision-making in the context of renovation can be modelled in terms of utility/profit maximization subject to a budget constraint. The literature that has attempted to follow this research strategy is reviewed in Chapter 2, as is research undertaken in sociology that has been partly informed by behavioural economics. The economic literature fails to recognize the possible importance of social influence and psychological factors in this context. This could be unfortunate, as these factors, which are seen as important in some other economic paradigms, may explain how some renovators get derailed from rational decision-making. The methodology of pluralism offers a way to bridge between these divergent arguments by keeping mainstream insights in mind whilst at the same time adopting an ‘open-minded’ rather than ‘autistic’ attitudes towards different paradigms and embracing ‘realistic’ aspects (e.g. limits to individuals’ rational behaviours) rather than assuming them away. Chapter 3 examines the case for pluralism and shows that although debate in economics is often couched in terms of a battle between fundamentally opposed ‘mainstream’ and ‘heterodox’ views, a deeper analysis of sub-paradigms reveals a complex web of partially overlapping core ideas. Once this richer view of schools of thought in economics is recognized, orthodox economics and heterodox economics are not necessarily incompatible but rather seem potentially complementary. Despite renovation being a popular topic in Australia, relevant micro-data regarding individuals’ choices and their social and psychological attitudes towards renovation are in short supply. Therefore, unlike most previous renovation studies using published secondary data, this study involved the collection of primary data by a survey mailed to a sample of Brisbane residents in late 2006 and early 2007. Chapter 4 explains this choice of method, which provided data on respondents’ decision-making regarding renovation, their demographics, and social and psychological factors. This data set was used to analyse the following four topics: individuals’ decision to renovate or not (Chapter 5); renovators’ choice between using their own labour (DIY) or outsourcing the work (Chapter 6); psychographic segments of ‘non-renovators’, ‘DIY-renovators’ and ‘Hire-renovators’ (renovators who outsource the work) (Chapter 7); and factors shaping renovators’ tendencies to engage in overcapitalization and cost escalation in their renovation projects (Chapter 8). The pluralistic philosophy is applied in an addition way to analyse these issues, since the study used a variety of statistical techniques. The empirical results reveal that this dual form of pluralism—involving theoretical inputs from a variety of paradigms (including both ‘old’ and ‘new’ behavioural economics, socio-economics and others) and a variety of analytical techniques (cluster analysis, logistic regression and others)—does indeed widen our understanding of this topic. Generally speaking, the empirical finding stresses the importance of psychological factors in the context of individuals’ decision-making on renovation. In analysing individuals’ decisions to renovate or not, it is shown that, besides conventional factors (such as age of respondents), the psychological factor ‘perceived self-performance in renovation’ is crucial: individuals are more likely to embrace renovation if they perceive highly their ability to handle the renovation process. In exploring renovators’ decisions to engage in do-it-yourself (DIY) or hire others to do the work in their latest renovation projects, besides factors such as the scope of the project and renovators’ capabilities, the psychological factor ‘trust in contractors’ plays an important role: renovators are more likely to choose to use their own labour if they are uncertain about contractors’ reliability while those who outsource renovation works are in general more trusting than those who engage in DIY. The exploratory psychographic analysis of heterogeneous groups within each of the three groups (non-renovators, DIY-renovators and Hire-renovators) indicates the necessity of recognizing the heterogeneity the population when designing policies to improve the efficiency of the renovation market. In the investigation of renovators’ mistakes that lead to overcapitalization and cost escalation, psychological factors did not show their expected strong influences on either of these phenomena. However, it was found that the factors related to the project itself, especially the scope of the project (approximated by ‘time spent on preparation’) and the age of house, influence renovators’ overcapitalized spending and the extent of their cost escalation.