USB100 Understanding the Built Environment

[Template for annotated bibliography – Assessment Item 1]

Article No.: (Use this table to analyse each of your 5 sources of information)

Complete citation:
BIS Shrapnel, Building Australia. (2014, July 1). The incredible shrinking Aussie household [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.bis.com.au/bf_-the_incredible_shrinking_aussie_household.html

Credibility of the author:
There is no listed author so the qualifications of the author are unknown
The author is a representative of BIS Shrapnel, a well-known and respected company that has been in business since 1964
According to their website, BIS Shrapnel’s specialities are proprietary market research, industry networking and methodologies for forecasting, topics which are relevant to this blog post
Clients include companies, government agencies and non-profits and client testimonials from well-known companies are provided adding validity to BIS Shrapnel
It is an Australian-owned company commenting on Australian markets suggesting their experience is relevant
Other BIS Shrapnel reports have received multiple citations as recorded on Google Scholar

Date of the Publication:
2014, July 1
This blog was posted in the last 9 months and represents up-to-date information as there has not been substantial changes in demographic or market demand trends in recent month
The associated report provided forecasting to 2029 suggesting that the blog was written with a strong focus on future events

Intended audience:
BIS Shrapnel’s clients include companies, government agencies and non-profits, suggesting their information is consumed by a broad range of groups
This article would primarily be aimed at built environment professionals such as developers, planners and valuers
The general public, particularly those with investment properties or plans to invest may read this blog
International and domestic investors may read this blog
Government agencies would have an interest in market trends and may read this blog
Because trends it is likely this information is up-to-date and accurate as the audience would know if it was falsified or misleading
There is a small incentive for a company like BIS Shrapnel to portray a positive perspective of the property market as positive accounts stimulate investment and increase market confidence, therefor increasing demand for their research services as companies and individuals seek to make informed investment decisions
As the intended audience could be expected to read the blog quickly there may be an incentive for the author to sensationalise the findings for quick consumption and to encourage readers to discuss and forward the information to others (you may want to think about this with newspaper articles as well – media often creates drama and emphasises certain aspects to draw attention to a topic)

Summary of important points:
Household sizes have been declining since WWII
There is demand for more dwellings as smaller households require more dwellings for a given population
There is a trend towards more apartments
Social changes, such as the impact of the baby boomers, the aging population, divorce rates and female work