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‘Wheredunit’ to ‘whodunit’ – geographic profiling research wins 2022 best doctoral thesis award
29 May 2023
University of Waikato graduate Dr Sophie Curtis-Ham has been awarded the 2022 Koko Kairangi Award for Best Doctoral Thesis for her research on geographic profiling for investigative police work. The award was established by the university to recognise excellence amongst their doctoral candidates.
Dr Sophie Curtis-Ham (right) and one of her two PhD supervisors, Professor Devon Polaschek.
“The result of Sophie’s research, is a body of work that is already influencing international researchers, and will certainly help police resources go farther.” Professor Devon Polaschek.
Police and investigative psychology researcher Dr Curtis-Ham has been quietly leading work to advance geographic profiling for a New Zealand context. Geographic profiling is a subset of criminal profiling and forensic psychology based on decades of evidence of criminal offenders and geography. Offenders have a mental map of the physical area in which they operate and they tend to commit crimes near places — ‘activity nodes’ — that are familiar to them from their everyday activities.
Geographic profiling is labour intensive and has been typically reserved for more serious offending, or when there are a number of offences linked to the same unknown offender. It is used to prioritise suspect lists for further investigation.
Dr Curtis-Ham qualified as a Geographic Profiling Analyst in the UK and returned home to work with the New Zealand Police. In her day to day work she identified her PhD topic, the need for a method to reduce the time required for manual analysis of geographic data, that also eliminated subjectivity and human error.
She chose to undertake the work at the University of Waikato, citing her chief supervisor, Professor of Psychology Devon Polaschek as, “an absolute drawcard”. Professor Polaschek said, “Sophie is my favourite combination of committed scientist—proposing new theory and then rigorously testing it—and equally committed practitioner.”
To build an algorithm for a geographic profiling technique, Dr Curtis-Ham worked with local burglary, robbery, and non-family based sexual assault crime data to assure it was telling a similar story to off-shore research. She then built on the prior research by exploring which places people are more likely to commit crime near. She said, “I could see from my work with police, that data on suspects’ activity nodes could be used to produce faster, more reliable results.”
The technique uses suspects home addresses and locations for prior offenses, with the novel inclusion of wider activity nodes, for example the addresses of work or school, and recreational locations—to better prioritise a list for further investigation.
The practical outcome of Dr Curtis-Ham’s thesis Spatial signatures and mental maps: Using offenders’ activity locations to enhance geographic profiling for crime investigations , is the Geographic Profiling: Suspect Mapping and Ranking Technique (GP-SMART). GP-SMART has been tested on thousands of solved cases, showing it placed the actual offender at or near the top of the prioritised suspect list with promisingly high accuracy. She is now testing the tool with real crimes and cold cases, in her work at the New Zealand Police’s Evidence Based Policing Centre .
In 2023, Dr Curtis-Ham’s work has been recognised with the University of Waikato Koko Kairangi Award. She said, “The prize has been personally very affirming of my research. I’m grateful to my supervisors at Waikato University, and to Professor Wim Bernasco from NSCR for his expert technical advice.”
Dean of Graduate Research Professor Karin Bryan , a member of the Scholarship Executive who awarded the prize, said, "It is fabulous to see that high-quality doctoral work can be combined with useful outcomes for New Zealanders, again proving the value of the deeper thinking required in the Doctoral qualification for addressing societal problems."
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The Master of Science (Research) is an internationally-recognised qualification, suitable for students who want a complete research experience, coupled with taught papers. A core feature of the degree is the development of independent research skills, including the collection and analysis of data and critical review of the relevant literature. The MSc(Research) normally takes one and half academic years of full-time study to complete, but you have the option to complete on a part-time basis. In the first semester, you will complete 60 points of taught papers with the remaining period spent doing a 120 point research thesis. Study an MSc(Research) at Waikato University and you will enjoy more lab and field work, more one-on-one time with top academics and access to world-class research equipment. Our great industry contacts will also mean exciting collaborations with local, national and international companies and organisations.
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Research Commons is a digital repository of the University of Waikato's research outputs, including theses, dissertations, and publications.
Dissertations and Theses Regulations. These are the Dissertations and Theses Regulations 2020. These regulations are effective from 1 January 2020. thesis means a piece of written work undertaken in accordance with the regulations for a first masters degree and equivalent to at least 90 points at 500 level, or a piece of written work undertaken ...
A digital copy in PDF format of a Masters thesis (593, 594 and 595) must be submitted via email to [email protected]. ... You will be required to submit a final digital copy to the University of Waikato Research Commons and complete the online digital submission form to complete your masters thesis. You may choose to make minor editorial ...
A thesis or parts of a thesis are often subsequently published either as journal articles or as books. For more information or advice on publishing, check out the following: Publishing your research; Higher Education Network - Getting Published: what academics need to know; So you want people to read your thesis? Cabell's Scholarly Analytics ...
Introduction. This guide has been prepared by the University of Waikato Library in association with the School of Graduate Research and provides details about each stage of writing and submitting your thesis. The following is a selection of links to more information about theses and postgraduate study. Your faculty will also have graduate ...
The Library's page on Digital Thesis Deposit, and the downloadable Thesis Deposit guide found there, provide instructions on making your thesis digital; Finding other theses Research Commons. You can browse digital copies of University of Waikato theses in Research Commons. Other New Zealand theses. Use nzresearch.org.nz to search for New ...
After a thesis has been examined, passed and returned to a student, the student must, within three weeks, submit a final digital copy of the thesis to the University's digital repository, Research Commons. (4) After a thesis has been examined, passed, and submitted in final digital form the digital copy will be lodged permanently in the ...
The information on these pages is for students enrolled in doctoral (PhD, EdD, DHSc, SJD, DMA) or Master of Philosophy programmes. Students planning to undertake one of these programmes, should refer to the Higher Research Degrees Application Process.. In this section, we provide guidance relevant to the doctoral journey and useful information about procedures and requirements — including ...
Proofreading. Before submission, meticulously proofread the thesis. It's advisable to have someone unfamiliar with the material perform this task. Check for: Every table, diagram, photograph and map has a caption and is referred to in the text; Every table, diagram, photograph and map referred to in the text is actually included;
The EdD Thesis (Part 2) 18 RESEARCH INFORMATION 19 Ethical Review Process 19 The Supervision Process 20 The Thesis 22 POLICIES AND REGULATIONS 26 Extensions 26 ... » First Masters Thesis Submission Form waikato.ac.nz/education (search postgraduate study) Doctoral theses: » Confi rmation of Doc Form » Progress Report Form
Research & Enterprise Waikato ; Research showcase ; Open Research ; About us Ko wai mātou About us Ko wai mātou. ... The 90-point thesis is an individual scholarly piece of work of 30,000 words which uses research methodology to systematically investigate a health issue.
Research Rangahau. Discover impactful research at New Zealand's top-ranked research university. The University of Waikato is driving innovation for societal progress and global sustainability, linking knowledge with industry for a better world. ... Education Thesis. 2024. Change year. 2023; 2022; 2021; 2020; 2019; 2018; 120. 500. 26 Feb 2024 ...
Embargo — withholding a thesis. In keeping with worldwide academic practice, the University of Waikato endorses the principle that research theses are, by their very nature, available for public inspection. In so doing, it helps to ensure that intellectual developments can be appraised, used, and built upon by all interested parties.
Prior to depositing the final version of your thesis with Research Commons, it must be submitted via the School of Graduate Research (Higher Research) or Student Services (Masters). For help with formatting your long document, please contact the E-tuts team. Masters Thesis Submissions; Higher Research Degree Submissions
Each copy of the thesis must include an abstract. It is a summary of the thesis, should not exceed 500 words, and should be written in a form suitable for publication. A definition of an abstract is: "An accurate and concise summary of the organization and content of the thesis ... "The scope of the work undertaken, the method of investigation ...
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of . ... The University of Waikato . By Taima Materangatira Moeke-Pickering . The University of Waikato . 2010 . 1 . Abstract . This research examined the social and political approaches that Indigenous peoples undertook to situate Indigenous-based education programmes in
This thesis reflectively and critically examines a series of research case studies initiated by a research-whānau. It explores the thinking, experiences and reflections of this research-whānau, as they worked to enhance the educational achievement of Māori students. Authorship of the thesis was undertaken by me (Mere Berryman).
This thesis considers how a curriculum might form a useful tool in meeting the needs and aspirations of Ngāti Rangiwewehi, a small, but dynamic tribe, who occupy specific territory from the north western shores of Lake Rotorua into the
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Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be
University of Waikato graduate Dr Sophie Curtis-Ham has been awarded the 2022 Koko Kairangi Award for Best Doctoral Thesis for her research on geographic profiling for investigative police work. The award was established by the university to recognise excellence amongst their doctoral candidates.
Should the recipient hold another fees scholarship for their master's thesis, the University of Waikato Research Masters Scholarship will pay the balance of any tuition fees (up to $5,500); the recipient will forgo any unused balance of the tuition fees portion. 7.3. Recipients should seek independent financial advice about any tax ...
In the first semester, you will complete 60 points of taught papers with the remaining period spent doing a 120 point research thesis. Study an MSc(Research) at Waikato University and you will enjoy more lab and field work, more one-on-one time with top academics and access to world-class research equipment.