Title

Senior Associate

Profile

Dr Robert Didham is a geographer and buddhologist with extensive interests in the cultural diversity within New Zealand.  Robert has been involved with the IPS on a number of research projects, including a three-year FRST funded research programme "Education capital formation, employment, migration, gender, work-life balance and missing men", working with Paul Callister, Richard Bedford, Tahu Kukutai and James Newell and the Official Statistics Research project  Who are we: the conceptualisation and expression of ethnicity.with Anna Kivi and Paul Callister. The latter project continues the work done on family ethnicity with Paul Callister and the Pasifika project coordinated by Alistair Bisley.

Robert's involvement in these projects reflects his long association with theory and expression of ethnicity and identity and with the analysis of population mobility.  He has written on many aspects of demography, including ethnicity, language, intermarriage, fertility and migration. Robert has extensive experience in the analysis of population data with research interests in Pacific populations, Chinese-Maori history and Asian migration. His demographic research interests derive from his academic background in Asian cultural history, geography, Pacific and Maori studies.

Among the current research themes that Robert is investigating are questions concerning ethnic mobility, ethnogenesis, language retention and acquisition, and religion, and how these themes contribute to an understanding of population change. Of particular interest is how changes in these features of the population relate to both internal and international migration patterns and how these two categories of migration inter-relate.

Robert holds post graduate qualifications in geography, Pacific studies, English language and literature, Buddhology and Iranian studies.

Selected Publications

Didham, R and Ryan, M (2010) Chasing shadows: comparing sex ratios in census, estimated resident, and Linked Employer-Employee Data populations. Statistics New Zealand Working Paper No 10-02. Wellington, Statistics New Zealand

Didham, R (2010) Ethnicity.  In: Edwina Pio Longing and Belonging. Dunmore Publishing, Wellington.

Didham, R (2010) Future potential and the invisible diaspora: New Zealand and South Asia diasporas. Wellington, Asian:NZ Foundation. Outlook Series 12.

Bedford, R, Callister, P and Didham, R (2010) Arrivals. departures and net migration 2001/2-2008/9. In Trlin and Spoonley New Zealand International Migration: A Digest and Bibliography. Number 6. Massey University, Palmerston North

Boddington, W and Didham, R (2010) Ethnicity in recent births registration data. New Zealand Population Review  35: 149-160

Pool, I, Boddington, W, Cheung, J, Didham R and Amey, B (2010) Differential trends in the compression of mortality: assessing the antecedents to current gaps in health expectancy in New Zealand.  New Zealand Population Review  35:23-53.

Powles, M and Didham, R (2010) India and the Pacific: bilateral, multilateral and diaspora. Presentation to India Track II conference, AsiaNZ Foundation, Wellington 13-14 September.

Blakely, T, Richardson, K, Young, J, Graham, P, Tobias, M, Callister, P, Didham, R, and Atkinson, J (2009) Does mortality vary between Pacific groups?: Estimating Samoan, Cook Island Maori, Tongan and Niuean mortality rates using hierarchical Bayesian modelling. Report to Official Statistics research.  Statistics New Zealand, Wellington

Boddington, W and Didham R (2009) Increases in childlessness in New Zealand. Journal of Population Research. 26(2): 131-151.

Bedford, R, Callister, P and Didham, R (2009) Arrivals, Departures and Net Migration, 1999/2000-2008/2009. In:  Andrew Trlin, Paul Spoonley and Richard Bedford New Zealand and International Migration. A Digest and Bibliography, Number 5  Massey University, Palmerston North.

Blakely, T, Richardson, K, Young, J, Callister, P and Didham, R (2009) Does mortality vary between Pacific groups?: Estimating Samoan, Cook Island Maori, Tongan and Niuean mortality rates using hierarchical Bayesian modelling. New Zealand Medical Journal, vol 122 no. 1307, 11 December 2009.

Kukutai, T and Didham R (2009) In search of ethnic New Zealanders: national naming in the 2006 Census. Social Policy Journal  Vol 36 August 2009

Didham, R (2009) Intersections: Southeast Asia and Diaspora Engagement. Wellington, Asian:NZ Foundation. Outlook Series 11.

Bedford, R, Didham, R and Callister, P (2009) Missing men 1986-2006: a cohort approach. Working paper, FRST project.

Badkar, J., Callister, P. and Didham, R. (2009) Ageing New Zealand: The growing reliance on migrant caregivers, IPS Working Paper 09/08. Wellington, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies.

Callister, P. and Didham, R. (2009) Dying differently: Gendered mortality trends in New Zealand, IPS Working Paper 09/01, Wellington: Institute for Governance and Policy Studies.

Didham R (2009) Maori and Chinese Encounters and Intersections. In Manying Ip The Dragon and the Taniwha. Auckland University Press

Bedford, R, Didham, R and Ip, M (2009) The changing social and spatial contexts for Chinese-Maori interaction 1920s-1980s. In Manying Ip The Dragon and the Taniwha. Auckland University Press

Morrison, P, Clark, W, Nissen, K, Didham R, Sloan, M (2009) Who moves for employment reasons? Paper presented to 48th Annual meeting of the Western Regional Science Association (WRSA), Napa, California, 22-25 Feb 2009.

Badkar, J., Callister, P. and Didham, R. (2008) The origin, family structure and labour supply of foreign born nurses, paper presented at the 13th Labour, Employment and Work conference, Wellington: Victoria University, 11 and 12 December.

Callister, P., Didham, R. and Kivi, A. (2008) Who are we?: The conceptualisation and expression of ethnicity, report commissioned by Official Statistics Research, Wellington: Statistics New Zealand.

Huber, S, Didham, R, and Fieder, M (2008) Month of birth and offspring count of women: data from the Southern Hemisphere. Human Reproduction. March 2008.

Callister, P., Didham, R., Potter, D. and Blakely, T. (2007) Measuring ethnicity in New Zealand: Developing tools for health outcomes analysis, Ethnicity & Health, 12(4):1-22.

Callister, P. and Didham, R. (2007) Sub-replacement fertility: Is this an issue for New Zealand, Policy Quarterly, 3(4): 4-10.

Boddington, B. and Didham, R. (2007) Busy making other plans: Increases in Childlessness in New Zealand. Demographic Trends 2007. Statistics New Zealand, Wellington.

Didham, R., Callister, P. and Potter, D. (2007) Family ethnicity? Should we count, how should we count and why? paper presented at the International conference on Social Statistics and Ethnic Diversity: Should we count, how should we count and why? Montréal, 6-8 December 2007.

Kukutai, T and Didham R (2007) Can national identity become ethnic identity? The case of the emerging New Zealander ethnic group. Paper presented to Social Statistics and Ethnic Diversity: Should we count, how should we count, and why? Conference.  Montreal, 6-8 December 2007.

Callister, P., Didham, R., Newell, J. and Potter, D. (2007) ‘Family ethnicity’: Knitting a jumper using two woolly concepts, Social Policy Journal. 32: 32-48

Callister, P. and Didham, R. (2007) Some emerging demographic features of the Pacific population in New Zealand. Paper presented at the Thought Leaders Dialogue - With The Pacific... About The Pacific Conference, Auckland, 30-31 August.

Callister, P, Bedford, R and Didham, R (2006) Globalisation, gendered migration and labour markets. Department of Labour, Wellington

Callister, P; Didham, R and Potter, D (2005) Ethnic intermarriage in New Zealand. Statistics New Zealand, Wellington

Didham, R (2005) Understanding and working with ethnic data. Statistics New Zealand, Wellington

Howard, S and Didham, R (2005) Ethnic intermarriage and ethnic transference amongst Maori. Statistics New Zealand, Wellington