Thursday, June 29, 2017

The graduate movie

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Film Theory and Approaches to Criticism, or, What did that movie mean?

By Christopher P. Jacobs

Movies are entertainment. Movies are documents of their time and place. Movies are artistic forms of self-expression. Movies we see at theatres, on television, or home video are typically narrative films. They tell stories about characters going through experiences. But what are they really about? What is the content of a film?

DIGGING DEEPER: FOUR LEVELS OF MEANING

Recounting the plot of a movie, telling what happens, is the simplest way to explain it to someone else. But this is neither a film review nor a film analysis. It’s merely a synopsis that anyone else who sees or has seen the movie will likely agree with. This level of content may be called the referential content, since it refers directly to things that happen in the plot and possibly to some aspects of the story that are merely implied by the plot. In John Boorman’s Deliverance (1972), four men from the city go on a weekend canoe trip that unexpectedly becomes a life or death struggle for survival of man against man and man against nature. Some characters survive, others don’t. Most films can be analyzed more thoroughly to reveal deeper levels of meaning.

A review (perhaps 400-1200 words) typically includes personal impressions and evaluations of a movie’s content and techniques. A good review may touch superficially on topics that might be explored in more detail in a longer formal analysis. An analysis (perhaps 1200-12,000 words) attempts to determine how the film actually uses various cinematic techniques and elements of film or narrative form to make a viewer react in a certain way and why it makes viewers come away with certain opinions about it. Serious film criticism, whether essays written for magazines, journals, books, or class assignments, attempts to analyze films, rather than merely review them or provide simple descriptions of what happens. An analysis requires some reflective thought about the film, and usually benefits from multiple viewings and outside research.

Most films include lines of dialogue and depict obvious developments of character that explicitly communicate meaning to the viewers. Explicit content is perhaps some sort of “moral of the story” or socio-political attitude that the filmmaker is expressing directly through the mouths and actions of the characters. Some reasons the men in Deliverance give for taking the canoe trip include friendship and camaraderie, proving their manhood, and experiencing nature before it is destroyed by industrial development. As the plot develops, they also express personal attitudes about life and law and survival, which the writer and director obviously want the audience to think about. We also see explicitly how construction of a new dam is affecting the wilderness as well as human settlements.

A slightly deeper level of interpretation is implicit content, which may be less obvious but can still be inferred by seeing how the characters change, grow, and develop throughout the course of the film. Issues and ideas dealing with general human relations (rather than those specific to individual characters) may be fairly easy to recognize but are not explicitly stated by the characters. Sometimes implicit meanings are less obvious, and different viewers might interpret the same thing in different ways, depending upon their own experiences and expectations. In Deliverance we see implicitly the change in one character from being a passive follower after he is accidentally thrust into a leadership position. We see another character’s casual attitude about casual sex change drastically after a traumatic experience in the woods. We see all four men force to contend with unexpected dangers in ways that imply how differently individuals can deal with the same events and suggest that certain compromises in one’s ideals may need to be made in order to survive. It could even be possible to infer that the four central characters are separate personifications of conflicting values that might exist within a single individual. Such a literary technique allows an author (and viewer/reader) in effect to argue with himself over what the best or most practical course of action would be under comparable circumstances, and what different decisions might lead to. One could also identify instances of dramatic irony and argue whether certain events are meant to be considered “poetic justice” for the characters involved.

Implicit, explicit, and referential interpretations are based entirely on the film as a self-contained work, on “internal evidence.” It is also possible to find richer meaning in a film, meaning deduced by knowing something about its creators and the time and place it was created, meaning from “external evidence” that is not possible to identify exclusively from the film itself. Sometimes this type of meaning is intentional on the part of the filmmakers, and other times it may be unconsciously incorporated into the story. Analyzing a film on this level is treating the film as a symptom of a much greater influence than simple dramatic concerns for the characters and their actions. A symptomatic interpretation looks at the film as part of the broad context of society, reflecting and illustrating themes prevalent in the culture, in the time and place it was made, and possibly in the creator’s personal life experience. This level of interpretation tries to recognize symbolic content, identifying characters and situations as metaphors for something else, or possibly seeing the entire story as an allegory about something else. Deliverance is an outdoor adventure and journey story set in the American south, but many critics looked at it as an allegory for the disastrous American experience in Vietnam, which was still going on when the film was made. Men conditioned by modern urban civilization believe they’re more or less invincible as they travel into a rural environment inhabited by a less technologically advanced culture of backwoods people they look down upon. However, they soon discover the more primitive people can be more dangerous than they expected, they must do things they were not prepared to do to survive, not everyone gets out alive, and those that do are forever haunted by the experience. The movie District 9 (2009) is a science fiction action-thriller, but this Oscar-nominated and internationally popular South African production by Neill Blomkamp is also symptomatic of late 20^th and early 21^st century attitudes towards immigration, minorities, government and corporate policies, the news media, and documentary filmmaking.

FIGURING IT OUT: APPROACHES TO INTERPRETATION

Identifying the content, whether explicit, implicit, or symptomatic, with a certain attitude you perceive the film takes (whether by its writer and/or its director), is an interpretation of its ideological meaning. Many films are overt attempts by their filmmakers to persuade audiences to their points of view. Others are more interested in raising various issues for audiences to think about. These may be less heavy-handed in supporting one view or another, and sometimes even come across as ambivalent, depicting opposing viewpoints as each having valid concerns and each having their good and bad points. Still other films express obvious socio-political views through their characters, but may appear to contradict them through the actions and ultimate resolutions of the plot, possibly to keep them marketable to a wider public while still raising awareness of the issues. It’s up to viewers and critics to determine whether a film is effective at achieving some or all of its intentions, and sometimes even what those intentions might be. Analysis from a variety of approaches can help a viewer realize just what a film is trying to do, and to appreciate it more, whether or not one agrees with it.

Once people realized that films could do much more than provide simple entertainment, a variety of theories and approaches were developed to help analyze films in order to understand how they created responses in viewers and just what they might mean. Different approaches examine different aspects of a film for different reasons.

A formalist approach looks at the film itself, its structure and form. Thus, while other approaches often use some degree of external evidence to analyze a film, a formalist approach will focus primarily on internal evidence. This approach might analyze how the way the plot presents the story material forces the viewer to see things at certain times and have reactions that might be different if presented some other way. A narrative analysis will examine how a film employs various narrative formal elements (such as character, setting, repetition/variation, etc.) to convey meaning to the viewer. Analysis of specific formal techniques might concentrate on a film’s use of mise en scene or photographic composition, camera movements, editing choices, sound in relation to the image, etc., noting the effect of those techniques on how the viewer perceives the scenes and interprets what they mean.

A realist approach examines how a film represents “reality.” Some films attempt to make techniques “invisible” to viewers so the characters and situations are always the primary focus. Others attempt to use cinematic techniques to replicate a certain type of reality the filmmaker wants the audience to experience -- love, aging, memory, insanity, drug use, etc. Some films are more concerned with creating moods and emotional impressions than with depicting a traditionally plotted story with an obvious beginning, middle, and end. These films may be attempting to convey a type of reality important to their creators, hoping that viewers will pick up on it, but non-mainstream use of techniques and non-standard structure may require a concerted effort on the part of a viewer to understand, multiple viewings, or even an explanation by the filmmaker. Look, for example, at the unusual films written or directed by Charlie Kaufmann, such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synechdoche New York, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich.

A contextualist approach to analysis always considers a film as part of some broader context. This can be society at large (as in the symptomatic interpretations mentioned above), the particular culture, time, and place that created it (a culturalist approach), the director’s personal life and previous body of work (an auteurist approach that assumes the director is the “author” of a film), or various psychological and/or ideological contexts. A psychological approach often identifies plot elements with theories of psychologists like Freud or Jung, looking for sexual symbolism, treatment of the subconscious, representations of the id, ego, and superego, etc. The dualist approach looks for pairs of opposites (male-female, good-evil, light-dark, urban-rural, etc.), possibly identifying them as symbolic of contrasting tendencies in society or human nature itself. A feminist analysis concentrates on the portrayals of women in a film -- are they strong, weak, stereotypes, protagonists, antagonists, etc. A Marxist critic will attempt to associate characters and events in a film as representative of class struggle, labor vs. management, poor vs. rich, oppressive governments, and other Marxist sociopolitical concerns. A generic approach looks at a film as a representative of a genre, comparing it with other films from the same genre and finding meaning by identifying shared symbolic motifs or variations from the expected formula. This is especially useful when a film intentionally subverts or inverts various elements of traditional generic formulas. A generic analysis often benefits from a wider-reaching contextual approach, as a substantial number of genre films (especially science-fiction, fantasy, and westerns, but also others such as journey films, war films, and historical dramas) incorporate intentional metaphors and symptomatic content relating to contemporary society at the time they were made. Another way to examine a film in a certain context is to chronicle its reception by audiences and critics over the years. Some films were huge popular and critical successes when originally released, but were all but forgotten within a few years or perhaps a decade or two. Other films were virtually ignored when they first came out, but gradually gained viewer and critical acclaim to the point that they’re now considered major masterpieces or beloved favorites. It’s possible that a film originally rejected by critics but popular with the mass viewing public gradually reversed that position over the decades so that it is now critically respected but largely disliked by the general public. Still other films provoke a certain amount of controversy, falling in and out of favor from one decade to another as public and/or critical tastes change. A variation on this survey of response to a film over the years is the genetic approach, which follows a film through all stages of its creation and release. It will examine and evaluate various drafts of the story and script, memos about changes during production, continuing through various cuts of the film made for preview audiences, theatrical release, re-edited rereleases, television and video editions, and later “definitive” director’s cuts.

A viewer can use any one or combination of these critical approaches to try to figure out just what a filmmaker is trying to say in a work. Different approaches may embrace or totally ignore other approaches to come up with similar or completely opposite ideas about what a film really means. There may be as many different interpretations of a film as there are critics, but examining a film from a variety of approaches may reveal things one never even considered while watching it for the first time. Of course, trying to use every approach to analyze a film would result in a book-length study. Any particular film may lend itself most easily to one or two specific approaches in detail, with some consideration of perhaps one or more other approaches. Writing a brief critical analysis, whether five pages or 25 pages, requires narrowing down the scope of your coverage to only what strikes you as most important about the film and what you consider most rewarding to discuss.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Led by the Market: How the Market-oriented Ethiopian Infant Film ‘Industry’ Staggers to Stand on its Feet

How It All Began

We neither eat nor drink it, why would we pay for something we see with our own eyes?” was the question posed by many of the aristocrats of Emperor Menelik II, when asked to pay to watch the first ever film screened in Ethiopia at what later became to be known as “Saitan Bet” - the house of the devil. Others concluded “this is the work of the devil not humans” after watching it.
Now, almost a century later, people wait in long queues at the gates of Cinemas to watch Ethiopian films, willing to pay their hard earned money, knowing that they are the works of their fellow countrymen.

Despite the fact that the inauguration of movie theaters in Ethiopia is a century old, the history of filmmaking traces back to only forty years ago, when the country provided the setting for the shooting of ‘Shaft in Africa’ for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and other documentary films by foreigners in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1971 the first Ethiopian-produced movie, Hirut Abatua Man New?, a 90 minute, black and white 35mm film was made. A couple of years later, Gouma and Behiyiwot Zuria were also produced locally. Many refer to this period as the “golden age” of Ethiopian arts, as art in its several forms flourished during this time.

Since then, the production and marketing of films in Ethiopia can be said to have been in hibernation for a long period of time. The inspiration burgeoned in the early 70s had been halted and slowed down with the redirection of arts towards propaganda by the ruling military junta. Though the Ethiopian Film Corporation, a center for an Ethiopian film industry and co-productions equipped with substantial film and editing devices, was established later in 1986, only one feature film, ‘Aster’, directed by Solomon Bekele, was produced.

The Revival

The last decade showed the resurgence of Ethiopian cinema. This revival was heralded in the early 2000s when young filmmakers began to produce films with the help of digital filmmaking technologies and started showing them on big screens; the government’s ban on showing films (for their supposed adverse effects on society) was lifted unceremoniously during this time; Alem Cinema, the first privately owned Cinema also started showing Ethiopian films on big screens side by side with the government owned Cinemas.

Rank	Country	Number of films produced per year
1	India	1,091
2	Nigeria	872
3	United States	485
4	Japan	417
5	China	330

Rank	Countries	Number of Cinemas
1	United States	38,415
2	China	37,753
3	India	11,183
4	France	5,362
5	Nigeria	4,871

Rank	Countries	Box Office Income in Billions USD (2012)
1	United States / Canada	10.8
2	China	2.7
3	Japan	2.4
4	UK	1.7
5	France	1.7

“We don’t have a lot to talk about films as we have a lot of things to talk about Ethiopia” says Tesfaye Mamo, President of Ethiopian Filmmakers Association in an interview with EBR. “However, the production of video films, intermingled and transformed to digital video filmmaking and editing technologies, has shown a remarkable development of production and commercialization in the last decade” he adds. Films such as Kezkaza Wolafen by Tewodros Teshome, Yeberedo Zemen by Helen Tadesse and Gudifecha by Tatek Kassa can be considered as pioneers of the renaissance of Ethiopian film industry.

As digital technologies in filmmaking have made cinema accessible to the emerging talent, numerous domestic film production companies have increasingly targeted the big screen, to penetrate into the promising market. Young Ethiopians who have acquired the skills through the process locally and those educated in the West have produced films and the reward for most of them has been encouraging.

Almost all of the film producers and directors EBR approached conclude that the film industry is a promising business.

The production and marketing of films is showing an unprecedented growth recently. According to data from the Addis Ababa City Administration Culture and Tourism Bureau, about 400 films have been produced and granted permission to be screened in the past five years alone.

There are many self-made filmmakers in Ethiopia, who without even going to formal school succeed to produce some of the commercially successful movies. Tewodros Teshome, who started making movies with the skills he acquired while working in a photography studio, has already made a big impact in the Ethiopian film industry. His movies Kezkaza Wolafen, Fikir Siferd, Key Sihtet and now Sost Maezen have been popular and market success. His courage to invest and reinvest huge capital into filmmaking has earned him praise from industry observers; though some have reservations about the roles he plays in some of his movies. “He should be given the credit as a pioneer and should be appreciated for his commitments and relentless investment” argues Tefaye.

Nevertheless, Tewodros considers himself a groundbreaker for opening Ethiopia up to digital filmmaking. However, the director and producer also has some regrets that he could have set a ‘higher standard’ of filmmaking had he exerted extra effort in his movie Kezkaza Wolafen. “People tend to use [the movie] as a template and much better films may have been made had I set the bar higher” he told EBR.

A growing number of people are now investing in movie-making as it has become a profitable business, Tewodros asserts. Back then, only a few people used to be engaged in the sector. Many other filmmakers have made some of the relatively good movies afterwards, such as “Semayawi Feres”, by Serawit Fikre, a commercially successful movie whose theme explores the Blue Nile and one man’s quest to harness its potential.

The Young Bloods

Young filmmakers have been exerting aggressive efforts in improving the production quality of films made in the country and they have been successful so far. Yonas Birhane Mewa is one example of these success stories. Yonas, who began his filmmaking career with Yegizew Sewoch, starring the now popular singer, Ejigayehu Shibabaw (Gigi) when he was a teenager, later went to the United States to study filmmaking. “With this tryout, I realized that making movies need enormous knowledge and decided to study the science of filmmaking” says Yonas remembering the time he started a career which made him one of the popular filmmakers today.

Returning home after seven years of rigorous study and practical training, at the San Francisco and Wayne State Universities in California and Michigan, Yonas has produced 11 movies in the past ten years. These include some of the market successes such as Hermela, Yemoriam Midir, Baletaxiw and Mekaniku. His 12th feature film Bitania will be released soon. “When we started making movies 10 years ago the business was not on its feet, rather it followed the trend of theaters” Yonas told EBR. “Since the theaters fee was ETB10, we used to charge the same amount to show our movies; the process used to be a trial and error exercise”.

Another young filmmaker Yidnekachew Shumete, who started filmmaking while teaching videography at one of the training institutes in Addis Ababa, has directed two of the commercially successful films. His films Siryet and Nishan are recognized as ‘different’ from most of the films produced and marketed in the country. “I want to put my philosophy and thoughts in my movies rather than putting what the market wants” he said. The acceptance both from the audiences and critics has been remarkable” he added. His second movie Nishan was screened among the 16 movies selected from more than 1,000 movies submitted for the best feature film selection at Festival Pan-African du Cinema de Ouagadougou (FESPACO), the ‘African Oscar’. It has also been featured in several film festivals in the US, Europe and Latin America as well.

Many of the filmmakers operating in the country at the moment are young self-made producers, who learnt the techniques and business of filmmaking on their own way.

The Business and the Money

Capital investment in feature filmmaking has grown from a few hundred thousand birr a decade ago to more than a million now. The contribution of inflation, like in any other sector is visible in the surge for increased financial needs. Films such as Nishan and Mekaniku have cost ETB700 and 750 thousand respectively. While, Sost Maezen, a film about illegal migration by Tewodros Teshome which is on screens now, has been said to cost in millions since it includes scenes in far remote desert and on the sea. Some parts of the movie were also shot in Mexico and the United States. According to Tewodros, some of the post production activities –such as the sound and animation– were done in the United States with the cost of USD85,000 (close to ETB1.7 million), though the director declined to disclose the total cost of the movie.

“In Ethiopia we only have some of the most essential crew members and technicians necessary in filmmaking” says one of the directors EBR approached. Several responsibilities and activities are taken care of by few individuals usually familiar with the producer. Some of the inputs are also acquired through sponsorship and cooperation. For example, many filmmakers use costumes received through sponsorships from tailors and fashion designers rather than hiring a costume designer and paying for expenses.

On the other hand, payment to actors and actresses as well as other crew members and professionals has grown astoundingly. Ten years ago the highest payment for lead acting roles used to be ETB3,000- 7,000. The figure has now grown to more than tenfold. Prominent male actors request from ETB75,000 - 120,000 to play in the lead acting roles in feature films, while payment for lead female actresses has also reached ETB70,000-100,000. A film director is paid from ETB60,000-70,000 on average, whereas the fee for film scripts has grown to ETB40,000-50,000. Makeup artists are also paid around ETB50,000.

International Recognition s

The first Ethiopian film to achieve international recognition was directed by Haile Gerima, an independent filmmaker and professor of film at Howard University, Washington DC, the United States. His movie Teza, has won several acclamations including: best film award at FESPACO which took the Stallion of Yenenga (named after the horse of the famous warrior Queen of the Mossi of Burkina Faso) to East Africa for the first time. It has also won the Special Jury and Best Screenplay awards at the Venice Film Festival, (in the best screenplay category, Slumdog Millionaire placed second and won the Best Film at the American Oscars and became highly successful, while very few people who aren’t related with films outside Ethiopia have heard of Teza), a Golden Taint for best film at the Carthage film festival, and other several awards in different film festivals.

One important feature of filmmaking is that many filmmakers also get sponsorships to produce their movies. Several businesses, companies and other institutions sponsor production; they pay a substantial amount of money to promote their products and services in the movies, as well as to inculcate their missions in the stories. Aida Ashenafi’s film Guzo was the first Ethiopian movie to be shown on Ethiopian Airlines, the airline provided a sponsorship grant of ETB250,000 for the production.

The Quality Problem

All this growth and recognition isn’t without faults. A lecturer at Yoftahe Nigussie School of Theatrical Arts at Addis Ababa University watches this development cautiously. Though the number of films produced, and the money involved has increased substantially, the quality of the films in respective to arts and cinematography seems flat, he explained to EBR. “The qualities of sounds and pictures have in fact improved thanks to the digital technology, but other artistic and cinematographic elements as well as the themes and stories in movies haven’t shown significant improvements” he argues refering some of the movies he has watched.

Although a large number of youth in urban areas enjoy local films, western films familiar moviegoers aren’t satisfied with the quality of local films. Mekedes Nega, 31, is one of such movie lovers who thinks life without movies [and music] would be unbearable. “I have seen Hollywood movies from Gone with the Wind to Avatar” she claims when approached by EBR while she was getting tickets at Mathi Cenema. (The cinema, located inside Edna Mall around the booming Bole Medhanialem Business District in Downtown Addis Ababa, is a privately-owned venue that screens newly released Hollywood blockbusters and Ethiopian movies.) “I have also seen many of the movies produced locally but I have never been satisfied with any of them” she adds. She attributes her dissatisfaction to the absence of professional elements in the movies, mainly a plot. “They [Ethiopian movies] lack a lot of things you would expect from a movie, mainly a story” she adds.

One reason why local movies have not satisfied the expectations of moviegoers is due to their genres, which in recent years have become more or less similar - comedy or romantic comedy. Another moviegoer, Thomas Urgesa, is “sick and tired” of watching these similar genre films. “The plots are very similar in several of the movies I have watched” he reflects to EBR. “The themes of the films usually revolve around the affluent and simple way of life with fun and comedy scenes in the cities, particularly in Addis Ababa.” Thomas adds. “This is not the only way of life in Ethiopia, if movies are supposed to show our lives”.

In the initial years of filmmaking in Ethiopia, the genre of the movies was focused on showing the dark side of life; portraying crime, murder and corruption Yonas Berhane explains. These days most of the movies produced and marketed locally are either comedy, or romantic comedies. Filmmakers believe that such movies are what the market needs. Despite the commercial success his films have achieved, Yonas isn’t contented with the level of the film industry in the country. “Though art is meant to show basic challenges and ways of life in the society, our movies are mostly market-oriented and couldn’t do that” he says. “We are just not doing art for the sake of art” he confesses.

Several of the stakeholders EBR has approached agree on one thing, in a country where there is no formal education at a university level on filmmaking, the growth of the industry has been encouraging, but improvement is needed in all spheres. Some say with the absence of critical filmgoers who watch most of the films on screen, improvement may take time.

Yonas argues, in a country where the art of watching film is a new phenomenon, the responsibility of producing quality movies solenly goes to the filmmakers, the cinema houses and the government in producing and screening better quality films.

Yidnekachew Shumete has made films that are not in the romantic comedy genre, and yet has been successful. He argues that even though the demand in the market dictates the success and failure of films thematic and cinematographic qualities of movies can still win over the taste of the audiences. Teza which has been a ground breaking in bringing thought provoking stories and of course, the highest level of cinematography is one good example of this, he asserts. An Amharic movie has never been seen with that intensity, he says.

The Long Queue at the Cinema Halls

It is not only the movie goers who stand in a queue at the gates of the cinema; filmmakers too have to get to the queues to get their films screened for the public. In government-owned cinemas film producers wait up to two years to get their turn, whereas in privately owned cinema they have to pass the criteria set by the cinemas – to present a movie that film goers would like or “laugh” at.

The number of cinemas has grown parallel to the number of films produced in the country, though it still can’t satisfy the high demand. There are now 15 cinemas in Addis Ababa where movies are premiered in big screens. These include three of the state owned cinemas; Ambassador Theater, Cinema Ethiopia and Cinema Empire which have 1,447, 1,012 and 805 seats respectively. There are also 12 privately owned cinemas with accommodation capacities of more than 100 seats. The Addis Ababa City Culture and Tourism Bureau give permission to screen movies to cinemas that has a minimum of 100 seats.

Understanding this, many buildings in Addis Ababa are re-designing their facilities to have cinemas. Many new buildings are also including cinemas as part of their real estate business. Buildings that have cinemas attract a large number of visitors per day, which contributes well to tenants interest to acquire a place at a higher rate. The opening of a new cinema at Getu Commercial Center on Africa Avenue and dedication of a floor at the Zefmesh Building around Megenagna are good examples.

Sebastopol Entertainment Plc, owned by Tewodros Teshome, is constructing a six-storey multiplex in Arada District at a cost of ETB50 million. The multiplex will have 10 cinemas, five with 250 seats, two with 400, the other two with 600 seats and the biggest one with 1,000 seats. The top two stories of the building will have a sound stage where much of the resources needed to shoot movies will be available. The earth work for construction has already started.

Edna Mall, which has Mathi Cinema around Bole Medhanealem, is also planning to build a new cinema soon. Dembel and Ambassador real estates have also plans to include cinemas in their buildings.

The future

Ethiopia’s rich and diverse culture, history, geography and topography make the country favorable for filmmaking. “Government should enact a policy for filmmaking by separating it from other sectors and it can earn the country a substantial income and help in image-building” urges Tesfaye Mamo, president of the Ethiopian Filmmakers Association. He argues that a policy that encourages and supports co-production of films with those who have vast knowledge and experience in the sector, will help with technology and knowledge transfer.

Filmmaking and screening has come a long way through the commitments and efforts of individuals. Now, policy-makers should work towards institutionalizing and enhancing its development to the next professional level. Creating connection and opening up the sector for more advanced and experienced foreign filmmaking companies will help achieve this.

Some countries joined the movie industry very recently and have registered a remarkable achievement, Nigeria being a good case in point. The Nigerian Film Industry hit a turning point when Living in Bondage hit the market in 1992, and when the government set up a favorable atmosphere for filmmaking. Government and institutions need to support the production of Cinematic Arts, which will help in applying the principles of the discipline. As it stands, the movie making ‘industry’ is inclined to satisfy the taste of the audience. That is why the genre of most films is either comedy or romantic comedies, which are genres the audience enjoys more.

Producers, directors, cinemas and others involved in the sector should sacrifice to help the ‘industry’ grow a step ahead rather than focusing on money-making motives and disregarding the development of the art. The ‘industry’ should evolve to higher standards of professionalism at all aspects. Otherwise, film goers may not label the films as the “works of devil”, but may refuse to pay as aristocrats of Menelik II did a century ago.

link to:- http://ethiopianbusinessreview.net/index.php/topic/item/402-led-by-the-market-how-the-market-oriented-ethiopian-infant-film-%E2%80%98industry%E2%80%99-staggers-to-stand-on-its-feet

The New Negress Film Society

The Question of an Ethiopian Cinema

25 Dec

I just returned from a week-long trip to Ethiopia where I was — among other things — investigating the question of an Ethiopian Cinema. What I mean by “Ethiopian Cinema” is a film industry that is not only vibrant but also one that has a self-conscious identity and a unique “film language.” If you’ve been following my blog, you might recall that earlier this year I asked a similar question about an “African film language” and a “Third (World) Cinema” when I was studying African cinema. You might also recall that exactly a year ago I visited Ethiopia with some colleagues and with my wife to begin exploring this question, about which I blogged in a series of six posts composed during the trip [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], and [6].

The timing of my trip this year almost couldn’t have been better. Over the past decade, the number of films produced in Ethiopia and by Ethiopians has increased from about five per year to about a hundred per year. This is in part due to the new digital technologies and in part due to the nation’s overall economic growth. Consequently, this year Addis Ababa University (AAU) created its first masters degree program in film within the School of Fine Arts and Design (inexplicably doing this before creating an undergraduate program in film; incidentally, everyone I talked to in Ethiopia thought AAU’s creating a masters program before an undergraduate program was strange.) Also this year the Ministry of Culture and Tourism began hosting workshops with film professionals as it continues to work on its draft of the nation’s first comprehensive film policy. Perhaps not so coincidentally, also this year the national television station ETV changed its name to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Company (EBC) and has begun to show locally and internationally produced films. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Diaspora community has also been busy, with the creation of the Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS) in Silver Spring, Maryland in 2008, to distribute Ethiopian media entertainment. Earlier this year, an oppositional network representing the Oromo ethnic group and language, the Oromo Media Network (OMN) was created in Minneapolis, Minnesota (though unfortunately so far it only broadcasts news and political opinions); meanwhile, some young Oromos living in Diaspora have independently begun to make movies in their language.

my interview with film director Berhanu in my hotel room at the Bole Ambassador

My trip actually had four separate goals, so my time was a bit hectic, and I wasn’t able to accomplish all of the things that I wanted to accomplish or spend time with even half the people I would have liked to have seen. In addition to my research question, I also needed to do some preparation for a possible study-abroad program for which students from Wagner College will — I hope — travel with me to Ethiopia for a couple of weeks next summer. Where they will stay, what they will do, and the formalities of the international relationships between institutions are all tricky details. Also, I will be teaching a class on “African Cinema” at Wagner College in the spring, and in collaboration with Sandscribe Communications in Ethiopia, will make this course available via the internet as a workshop to students in Ethiopia. Copies of all of the movies that I will teach the textbook are now at Sandscribe’s office in Addis. To advertise this workshop, I gave a rather lengthy presentation at the Bole campus of Rift Valley University in which I attempted to relate the question of an Ethiopian cinema to the history of African cinema. Lastly, I did a little work for Sandscribe so that it can grow.

my interview with movie maker Tesfaye

Hence, to achieve all these goals, my six days in Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Ababa were essentially a series of meetings and interviews at various places around the city that I did with the help of Sandscribe’s manager Tesfaye and his capable wife Metsihet, who video-recorded some of our activity. I had formal meetings with faculty at Rift Valley University and informal meetings with friends at Slow Food International and the Gudina Tumsa Foundation. I conducted interviews with a professor at Addis Ababa and with six film-makers, representing three different generations of film-making in the country. I also met with two individuals from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism who are working on a governmental film policy. Lastly, of course, was my own presentation, the audience for which included several people active in the film-making community. I had a really good time full of engaging conversations even though, it must be said, a lot of my time was spent in taxis stuck in traffic, since Ethiopia is building a new metro-rail that cuts right across the city and, for the time-being, creates a lot of congestion. Such is the big city.

me with Sandscribe Communications manager Tesfaye and Rift Valley University professors Merga and Teshome

To be quite honest, I’m overwhelmed with all that there is to think about and still learn. Debates about tax policy and infrastructure continue. Observations about the ways Ethiopia’s film industry is so unique present interesting questions — questions such as why Ethiopia’s market is so driven by theaters rather than by the DVD or internet markets and why so many of the films are romantic comedies rather than other genres. One question that I repeatedly raised is whether “Ethiopian cinema” is really only an “Addis Ababa cinema” that doesn’t truly express the entire country or even connect with audiences outside the capital city. Different ethnic groups within Ethiopia certainly experience “Ethiopian cinema” differently.

with former students Hiwote, Fiker, and Yimeka and film-maker Paolos at the delicious Efoy pizza parlor in Addis

But to return to the question with which I began, is there such a thing as a distinctly Ethiopian film language? And how might this relate to that ever-problematic and ineffable something that some might call an “African film language” — what scholar Manthia Diawara explores in his 2010 book African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics, which will be the textbook for my class in the spring. The term “film language” can mean a lot of things, and at the core of its meaning is something of a paradox. On the one hand, film language has a universal grammar of images and sounds and how they are sequenced to create meaning and evoke emotion; the elements of this film language are pretty much the same no matter who the film-maker is (e.g., various kinds of shots, editing techniques, lighting, etc.) On the other hand, it is sometimes said that individual directors have a distinct style or that different national industries have recognizably different film languages (for example, Hollywood versus Paris.) More substantial than mere stylistic difference, and also more technical than the mere reflection of a national culture, the “film language” involves something that is sometimes called “looking relations” — how the camera positions the audience in relation to characters and objects. Such looking relations are intimately bound up with both politics and culture. For instance, feminist scholars have analyzed how much cinema objectifies women from a male perspective, and postcolonial scholars have analyzed how American and Hollywood cinema dehumanizes African people by gazing upon Africa from a condescending colonialist viewpoint that seems to reaffirm an implied feeling of white male privilege. Hence, in some ways, an “African film language” was a way of making films in opposition to the racist, sexist, and imperialist “looking relations” that persisted (and still persist) in so much of American and European movies. What is problematic about such oppositional cinema is that it is defined negatively “against” a more dominant cinema rather than simply being sui generis, of itself, or of its own culture. One way a film might define itself more positively and more nationally is through characters and looking relations that hold up a mirror to the whole country — rich and poor, male and female, etc. — that reflects critically on the multiplicity of relations out of which a culture is formed.

Considering this question historically, for Ethiopia, I noticed a difference between the earlier generation of filmmakers and the new generation. The earlier Ethiopian generations during the Haile Selassie and Derg regimes were trained and experienced film in a remarkably international context — studying at film schools in Paris, Berlin, London, Kiev, and Moscow with a cohort of individuals from countries such as Cuba and Argentina as well as other African countries. Those film-makers participated in the pan-African film festivals such as FESPACO and film movements such as “Third Cinema.” But the new generation that came of age under Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles after the 1991 revolution trained more locally, either self-taught or learned at small film academies in Addis with one-year programs. Their films tend to borrow (somewhat unconsciously according to some individuals I met) from the conventions of Hollywood and Bollywood movies and Latin-American soap operas, and they are somewhat disconnected from the rest of African cinema.

The paradox I want to emphasize here is that the more “national” cinema of the 1980s was forged out of the cauldron of an international education, Marxist thought, and Pan-African solidarities. In other words, a “national” film language was created out of an “international” consciousness. In contrast, today’s attempt by Ethiopian film makers at a “universal” film language is being created out of local contexts.

me and Karl Marx after meeting with Professor Aboneh at the outdoor cafe across the street from Addis Ababa University

Admittedly, my observation is somewhat casual, simplistic, and incomplete. I pose this problematic dichotomy between “old” and “new” generations in hopes that the wrongness of my conceptualization might provoke a response so that I might continue to learn.

link to :-https://filmandmedia.net/2014/12/25/the-question-of-an-ethiopian-cinema/

A Brief Overview of Ethiopian Film History

Published: Sep 12, 2016 by Admin Filed under: Ethiopian Film - 560 Views

1. A Brief Review of Ethiopian Film History

1.1 Introduction

Ethiopia has been labeled possessing a long history of three thousand years and more. At various times, its governors and rulers had played their roles in shaping the geographical, cultural, historical, religious etc. -all aspects of the country. As a result most of the status quo today is, to a great extent, the legacy of our past history. That is why the growth and development of film production and practice go back and forth for the past hundred years. As a matter of fact the film art and technology had been introduced to Ethiopian almost as equal as to Europeans, but still the industry is in its infant stage.

1.2 Early Cinema Development from Minilik II- Haileselassie I

Emperor Minilik II of Ethiopia

Cinema was introduced to Ethiopia only three years after the world's first film ever was projected in Paris in December 28, 1895 by the Louis Lumiere brothers. Following this big historical moment the first film screening in Ethiopia occurred during Emperor Minilik II reign at the palace. , Dr. Berhanuo Abebe(2003) In an article appeared in 'Annales d'Ethiopie ', a French journal on Ethiopia, he wrote that in 1898, a Frenchman from Algeria brought one of the first cinematic artifacts to Ethiopia, and sold it to the Italian minister Ciccodicola, who presented it to Emperor Menilek of Ethiopia as a gift. (Arefayine 2006) By looking back to the historical happenings at the time of Minilik one can come up with a wild guess, like other imported technologies of the time the clergy had heard about the inventions of film technologies and had a lot of interest to get the Cinematograph. According to the two most prominent Historians Dr. Berhanuo and R.Pankerest books before the first public film screening occurred in (1909- 1910) the majesty watched several films in his palace almost for more than a decade.

Some of the scholarly written works mentioned the year the public introduced to film is 1923 which means after 26 years of the first cinematograph arrived in the country. Rather 1923 is the possible year the first cinema house owned and built by Ethiopians. Dr. Berhanou, further elaborate this point, there was a film house called 'Pate' owned by MM. Baicovich from 1909 -1910. People were stunned by this magical invention for the first months but soon they turned in different. A French historian, Merab, in his 'Impressions d'Ethiopie (1922),quoted by Dr. Berhanou, said, 'people apparently didn't like to entertain themselves.’ Also Dr. Richard Pankhurst (1968), a distinguished historian with several publications and books to his credit, in his widely-acclaimed book 'Economic History of Ethiopia' further strengthen the above point, about another attempt made in 1909-10 by some Armenians, but the project attracted only temporary interest, and was soon abandoned. (Arefayine 2006)

The clergy, who were very powerful and influential, intensely opposed to this new medium. By the people who are resistant to modern technology associated cinema to the devil’s work. This is attested by the naming of the first cinema ʽYeseyetan Betʼ (The Devil’s house).Which was opened in the year 1923.According to, Encyclopedia Aethiopica,Vol. I (2003), in the early days cinema, cinema houses were called 'Ye Seytan Bet', (House of Satan), a definition which well suited the technological “devilry ˮ of cinematographically combined images and movement. The introduction of this magical medium to Ethiopia was quite different in its historical and political context when it compared to the rest of Africans. Film brought to most of African countries following the foot stapes of their colonizers. According to Chris Prouty, Ethiopia and Eritrea are one of the more documented countries in the African continent. The first Ethiopian movie au de Menilek was made in 1909 by a French man, Charles Martel. The history of cinema quiet different from the rest of Africa in many aspects most of African countries literature, theater and cinema is a colonial history which was introduced through colonial imposition, Ethiopia was introduced to cinema through the natural course as other agencies of modernization-railway, postal, modern education, telephone, etc were popularized in the country. Emperor Minilik II is credited to the introduction of cinema to Ethiopia. (Abebe 2009)

Apart from introduction of film technology and screening, Arefayine, in his article points out the most important progressive phase in the history of Ethiopian film. The first film known to be produced in Ethiopia was a short 16mm black-and- white film, produced by a certain Tedla on the occasion of Empress Zewditu's coronation day in 1917. Similarly Chris Prouty mentioned the first Ethiopian movie au de Menilek was made in 1909 by a French man, Charles Martel. Which is a few year earlier than Arefayine, therefore by taking these two references in to consideration it is possible to conclude that film production in Ethiopia was began at a maximum of 10 years after film medium introduced to the country. In November of 1928, Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia crowned Taffari Makonnen as King and Heir to the Throne of Ethiopia. The Production of film in Ethiopia continued during the Reign of Hailesselassie I with a film in his coronation.

Emperor Haile Selasse I and Empress Menen with their children at the time of their coronation. November, 2nd 1930.

Following this historical moment, documentary films on different issues featuring historical sites, developmental activities were produced. During Italian occupation in the years between 1936 and 1941 the Italians exploited the power of film medium in the glorification and promotion of their culture and politics. They built movie houses in Addis Ababa, Dessie, Dire Dewa and Jimma.

1.3 Socialist Derg and Ethiopian Cinema

After Hailesselassie I following the popular revolutionary outburst of February 1974 against the archaic and oppressive feudal monarchy the military dictatorship Derg tried to nationalize or the existing commercial cinema's into People's Cinema with extreme censorship in place. Ek (2009) briefly explains a first steps in formulating the Ethiopian film industry was taken over thirty years ago when the country provided the set for the filming of Shaft in Africa in (1973) and the local production Gouma in (1975) by Michel Papatakis.

Photos of Michel Papatakis

Until 1974, there were many cinema halls in the country and American and Indian movies have been popular. During the Derg era it is worth to mention that with the nationalization of the Cinema houses, there was a small period that only Russian films having a communist message were allowed to be screened. In that period due to the nationalization of all cinema houses the number of cinema houses, instead of showing progress has gradually decreased. This period in terms of quality and content of production a number of films were produced including a film entitled “Harvest Three Thousand Yearsˮ which features the bitterness of the life of the peasantry under the feudal system was produced by a renowned film director Haile Gerima in 1976. Since then he directed several other films. He is Ethiopia's most proficient director and exporter, who have made seven films including Sankofa (1993) and Imperfect Journey (1994).There were also films produced by Ethiopians such as Guma (Vandeta), and Hirut. Following this, the film production section established under the ministry of culture and sports affairs, produced another film entitled “3002ˮ

Haile Gerima Prof. UCLA

According to a survey study of culture and Media in Ethiopia (February 2003) the Ethiopian film industry that focused on production of documentary films continued with the establishment of Ethiopian film center in 1978.The center then replaced by the Ethiopian film corporation(EFC), which was established by Proclamation No.306/1986(7). Derg established Film Corporation for the purpose of one for news and socialist propaganda; and the other for art productions. These institutions were able to produced 27 documentaries all together. Apart from these documentaries two feature films entitled Behiwot Zuria and Aster were produced. In the period of the HaileSelassie and Mengistu a number of films produced by Ethiopian filmmakers projected as nostalgia along the lines of social changes. According to Pfaff (2004) the thread that runs through Haile Gerima's Harvest: 3000 Years (1976) and Imperfect Journey (1994), Salem Mekuria's Deluge (1995), and Yemane Demissie's Tumult (1996) is a project to revision the foundational narrative of a 3000 year Solomonic Ethiopia in light of the experience with feudalism and a failed revolution and their legacies. "Harvest: 3000 Years" casts a critical glance at the ways the feudal state under Haile Selassie, especially, manipulated legend and myth to perpetuate allegiance to a glorious past that was able to keep the vast majority of Ethiopian peasantry under feudal control. Made at a moment of transition between the end of the feudal regime and dawn of the revolutionary regime of Mengistu, Harvest contests and subverts the reigning feudal narratives and also anticipates the still unfinished struggle against the postfeudal era. Tumult, for its part, revisits the 1960s failed attempts by students, in alliance with segments of the military, to topple Haile Selassie's regime. The film eloquently provides a solid foundation for better understanding of the continuing struggles in contemporary Ethiopia. This is also what Salem Mekuria accomplishes in Deluge, which revisits, from a more personal point of view, a more recent moment in 1970s and 1980s Ethiopia under the reign of Mengistu Haile Mariam. Mekuria's second major work, Yewonz Maibel (Deluge, 1995), is a moving personal journey back to the post-Haile Selassie Ethiopia and the 1978-79 bloody moment of the Red Terror campaign of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia against his opposition.

1.4 Film Industry in the Cotemporary Ethiopia

After the fall of the military government by the democracy fighters Ethiopian People’s Republic Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991, there is almost no film production was takes place for a decade. Consequently in January 1999 the government totally dissolute the former more fruitful Ethiopian film corporation by proclamation No.151/1999.After the dissolution of Ethiopian Film Corporation some of the members of EFC subsequently formed the Ethiopian film Association which is currently named Ethiopian Film Production Association (AFPA). This period due to the advent of video technology the video films became popular in the world and some of the African countries like the Nigerians Nolly wood boost and flood the film word in a massive number of video productions. In contrary Ethiopian film industry is struggling with the past and the present sociopolitical hangover. Though, the numbers of produced films are too small from the view point of the huge socio-cultural heritage of the country. There is actually a dramatic development in the film production sector of Ethiopia in the last three decades. (Masersha 2009)

According to Masresha the film sector in Ethiopia has gained momentum in 1985 when films began to be produced in Amharic language and simultaneously accessed to the audience via CDs.

2. Conclusion and Recommendations

Ethiopian film industry has experienced a robust growth over the past couple of decades. But still the industry faces various kinds of challenges. It consists of many small producers working with a tiny amount of capital; it therefore has not been able to build its own spaces-studios, theaters, office complexes and remain nearly invisible in the Addis Ababa city space, apart from film posters and the films themselves displayed for sale as cassettes or video compact discs. The current growth and development of the industry is shapeless, it is not institutionalized, and it is full of untrained individuals who thought that film making is a profitable business area and a people who have a passion and interest. In addition to this there are no educational institutions who train qualified film makers. Apart from this there are so many studies on different areas of film practices in the west, Australia, China, India, Japan and few African countries like South Africa and Nigeria. Generally, there is the significant absence of research on third world films specially those of Ethiopia. In order to accelerate the growth of film industry which is the most beneficiary sector to the countries economical and cultural development specially the government must take an immediate action in the following three critical problems.

Professional associations should be organized and be free to work without any political, social and economic influences, so that they can serve to create favorable conditions for to be rightful beneficiaries of their creative works.

Due to drastic development of ICT and cyber technology the nature and scope of plagiarism and violation of copy right law became a major problem even in the most developed countries. Therefore The country in order to be beneficiary; and to exploit every possible opportunity from this sector to the countries future economical and cultural development, to take one step ahead the growth and development of the film industry the government has to take a major action and to be put in to effect the copy right law.

The last but not the list recommendation is both the government and the private business sectors should work aggressively to reduce the dominant academic and technical knowledge and skill gap problem of the industry .Most of the current Ethiopian film industry problems are a collective problems over come by the absence educational institutions. Therefore the government must look back to the educational policy and curriculum and take possible actions in order to encourage the private business sector to be active participant in the sector.
link to :-http://www.ethiopian-movies.com/articles/a-brief-overview-of-ethiopian-film-history_1.html

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Research

Module 9 : Introduction to Research

Introduction to Research

Unit 1: Introduction to Research

Unit 2 Research and the Voluntary and Community Sector

Unit 3 Primary and Secondary Sources

Unit 4 Research Design

Unit 5 Quantitative Research

Unit 6 Qualitative Research

Unit 7 Ethics and Data Protection

Unit 8 Presenting and Using Research Findings

Unit 1: Introduction to Research

1. What is research?

This module considers the role, purpose, structure and process of research. It aims to answer the following questions:

What is research?
Why do research?
What types of research are there?
What ethical considerations are there when conducting research?
How might research findings be used?

2. Research is a sign of intelligence

Intelligence can be defined as the adaptation of an environment to suit needs, which is why humans can be acknowledged as the most 'intelligent' of species.
Humans observe, identify, plan and then effect change. Humans have social gain through information as well as resource sharing.
As apart from any other species, humans have complex language structures and the written word to share information from one person to another. Literate societies with well structured, permanent means of communicating information have immense evolutionary advantage.

3. We research everyday

Humans are 'intuitive' scientists ....always asking questions and testing theories about themselves, others, events, the environment and the world around them.

Research is asking a question and finding out the answer.....

It is looking into something.
It is looking for something.
It is comparing and contrasting things.
It is finding out more information...it is counting things ...making enquiries...being curious...finding out what people think...finding out what people do....finding out what works.... finding out what doesn't work...finding out what people want...

What research have you conducted recently?

What decisions have you made about your day?
What decisions have you made today?
What influenced your decision to take this course?
How do you prepare and write assignments?
How do you decide how to provide the best quality of service for your service users?

We all engage in or do social research as we act on the basis and results of our own research and theorising, therefore, what we think affects the way we behave....

4. What do we research?

What do we research?
We research people and their behaviour, opinions, attitudes, trends and patterns, also politics, animals, health and illness. Research can be conducted either informally for our own benefit, through asking questions, watching, counting or reading and formally, for medical or academic purposes, as a marketing strategy, to inform and influence politics and policy.
Research may be carried out in our own lives, through the media, in our place of work, with our friends and family or through reading past research.
Our views - personal, social, community and worldwide and our own identities are socially constructed through our own theorising.

5. What does research tell us?

Research gives us information about:

Thoughts and opinions
Attitudes
Habits
Culture
Norms
Scientific facts
Medical information

What do we do with research?

Have it as interesting fact
Use it to make decisions
Use it to persuade influence others
Use it to affect change
Use it to change behaviour
Use it to better use...medical ...improve customer care...write better funding applications....monitor and evaluate our provision....

We research in order to understand society and social processes, as well as to test and or create theories in order that we are better able to inform about social action and potentially 'improve' social conditions.

6. Knowledge, Interpretation and dissemination

Research involves gaining knowledge, interpreting data and disseminating the findings.

Gathering data from direct and indirect sources:

observations
questionnaires
interviews
experiments
other research

Processing data for interpretation numerically and or verbally:

statistics
themes or perspectives

Dissemination of findings

written reports
presentations
seminars
supply to media

7. When we conduct research, it should be...

Systematic
Non-discriminatory
Open to criticism
Independent and free from and direct and or indirect censorship

8. Research Theory

Research is approached in a variety of ways...in its methods, analysis and presentation...which may be influenced by the theoretical approach the researcher takes.
The appendix of "Research theory" offers a brief introduction to some of the theoretical positions as well as some links which you can use to research further.

9. Conclusion

All academic subjects require research to reach conclusions and establish theories, or simply to find out more about a particular situation or phenomenon.
This module aims to give you the opportunity to learn more about research methods and data in both an academic context, for when you are researching for assignments as well as a professional context in order to give you a better understanding of the role and uses of research within the voluntary and community sector.

10. Working Practice Exercise

Consider a working practice within your workplace.

How has this working practice developed?
What research was done and evidence collated that contributed to the decision being made that this way is the best way?

Appendix - Research Theory

Research Theory
There are several theoretical positions, to include:
Positivists and empirism
Both positivists and empirisists believe it is possible to gather information about the social world and classify it in a way that makes sense. Auguste Comte, a positivist, believed that scientific knowledge about society could be gathered and understood, as in the natural sciences, in order to improve human experience and the running of society. Emile Durkheim, took a similar approach to his sociological understanding or research and society. Durkeim's 'Suicide' (read the attached link for more information http://durkheim.itgo.com/suicide.html) is used as a model of positivist research. The following links provide further reading regarding the positivist and empiricist approaches.

Phenomenology
Phenomenologists 'reject' quantitative or statistical research, as it believes that research cannot produce a causal explanation of human behaviour. They believe that all humans make sense of the world by imposing their own, unique and individual meanings and classifications on it, which make up social reality, which, therefore, can only be subjective and measured accordingly. The following links provide you with the opportunity to explore this approach further.

Grounded Theory
Grounded Theory originated with Glaser and Strauss who did research on the interactions between health care professionals and dying patients. This approach goes beyond the phenomenology approach because it produces new knowledge which is used to develop new theories about a phenomenon, therefore, this methodology is based on the collection and analysis of data about a phenomenon. An example of grounded theory is the theory of the stages of the grief process - denial, anger, acceptance and resolution - this is not a new phenomenon, but a theory that acknowledges and describes this experience - we now use this. We now use this knowledge of the grief process, which was derived from the grounded theory, to understand and help people through the grief process. The data collection techniques used to develop grounded theory includes:

Interviews
Observations
The following information helps to make important contributions
Literature reviews
Relevant documentary analysis

New theory develops as the researcher recognises new ideas and themes that emerge from what people have said and/or from events which have been observed. The researcher will review the raw data which will inform patterns. Hypotheses about the relationship between various ideas or categories are then tested out and constructs are formed which lead to new understandings and concepts - therefore, the theory is 'grounded' in the data.
Ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology, an American sociological perspective, applies the phenomenological perspective on the study of society, therefore they go beyond what classifications and meanings individuals give to social facts and look at how groups and society add respond to meaning and classification. Read the attached link which offers further information about the ethnomethodology.

http://www.sociologyencyclopedia.com/fragr_image/media/ethnomethodology

Symbolic interactionism
Symbolic interactionists do not believe that any form of statistical data can be used to give an insight into human behaviour. Symbolic interactionists believe that all individuals understand and experience their own life and world according to their own 'self-concept', which is constantly altering as a result of their social interactions. Symbolic interactionists attempt to research the role of 'labelling' on individuals, and associate labels with opinions, attitudes and behaviours, for example, does labelling in schools as successful or unsuccessful affect ones self-concept which affects behaviour, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Interpretivist
Interpretivists advocate qualitative research over quantitative research methods, as they believe that the basis of sociology is to interpret social action, which can only be understood by understanding the meanings and motives on which it is based through qualitative methods such as interview and observation. The link below takes a further look into this approach.

http://www.sociology.org.uk/revgrm5.pdf

Critical social science, which favours qualitative methods and takes the view that research should be used to make positive changes within society, as it views society as oppressive and wishes to use research to liberate groups from oppression.
Feminists
There are three main approaches feminist research takes. The first is the attack on 'malestream' research, which feminists identify as any previous research conducted by men. This research is deemed to be sexist with patriarchal principles and it is argued that it is therefore subjective and therefore biased. The development and use of feminist research methods, for example, those used by Ann Oakley (1981) in 'Subject Women' reject traditional, scientific methods and take on a more relaxed and open approach in order to gain a better understanding of social reality. And, finally, the feminist approach claims that feminist research, particularly in research regarding women and their experiences in the social world, can be better understood through a feminist approach.
Postmodernists

Post modernists do not believe that any form of research can be regarded as impartial and sees the role of research as a tool in which to examine the social world and to deconstruct or take apart existing explanations of society. Postmodernists believe that no approach is better than another and that research is essentially subjective.

Unit 2 Research and the Voluntary and Community Sector

1. Research and the Voluntary and Community Sector
The Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) continually researches...from formal monitoring and evaluations or surveys used to influence policy to informal chats with service users that assist in affecting change, to influencing best practice and responding to need.
This unit looks at the various ways in which the VCS uses research in its day to day work, in order to influence its own in-house policies and procedures, influencing its strategic plan and its standpoint in the sector as a whole.

2. Some uses for research in the voluntary and community sector

Some of the uses for research in the VCS include:

market research
meeting and responding to need
funding
monitoring
evaluation
lobbying (to include the use of research to bring about change)
regeneration
quality assurance
Customer Care (Complaint, Acknowledge, Recover, Evolve)
Sustainability

The following links to documents on the web offer examples of how research may be used in monitoring and evaluating services. Pay particular attention at this stage to its points on how research influences the monitoring and evaluation process of a project.

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/uploadedFiles/NCVO/Events/Events_Archive/2008/Justin%20Davis%20Smith.pdf
http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/report/VoluntaryCommunityArtsEvalToolkit.pdf

3. Research and the VCS

The individuals making up the VCS also benefit from research:

better informed
understand my job and those around me better
find and evaluate good practices
see ways for making job easier and myself more effective
greater self confidence
feeling in more control through deeper and better knowledge
acquiring new skills of analysis and appraisal
generating strategies based on reasoned arguments to implement as needed rather than react in crisis
improve forward planning
professional development

4. Research and its Influence of Third Sector Policy

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/uploadedFiles/NCVO/Events/Events_Archive/2008/Justin%20Davis%20Smith.pdf
The above link to, 'Bridging the Gap? Research and its Influence on Third Sector Policy', is the speech Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of Volunteering England delivered to the September 2008 Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference.
The speech provides an overview of the history of research and the VCS, its role, impact and potential on third sector policy.

5. The ESRC

The ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) is an independent research organisation which funds research into social and economic issues. Research funded by the ESRC has impacted on public policy and the work of the private, public and third sectors.
The link below provides further information about the role of the ESRC and how it serves to help third sector organisations.
http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/Third%20Sector%20Brochure_tcm6-30420.pdf

6. ESRC Third Sector Engagement Strategy

For a more developed understanding of how the ESRC proposes to work with the third sector, read the following document which provides an overview of its engagement strategy.
http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/index_voluntary.aspx

7. Research and the VCS

The following links report the findings of some government led and sponsored research into the third sector and provide you with an overview of the plethora of areas in which they research and the ways in which findings are used.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/archived/general-content/communities/citizenshipsurvey/
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/research_and_statistics.aspx

8. NCVO Research

The NCVO conducts and facilitates research within the VCS and support voluntary and community organisations through research findings. The attached link offers you the opportunity to research further into some of the findings of research supported by the NCVO. http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/

9. What can research do for you?

Description: https://blackboard.le.ac.uk/@@7F82B7397D811123093E90BED2B68EF8/courses/1/VT080/content/_395405_1/embedded/etivity2.gif

E-tivity- What can research do for you?
Task: Reflect on the work you undertake within the Voluntary and Community Sector. Identify an area of research that could be conducted that would benefit your work. Consider its value and explain its needs and how you would go about making use of its findings.
Post your thoughts onto a discussion board.
Respond: Review the responses of your course colleagues and respond to at least one other posting.
Length: Please try to fit your responses within a two to three paragraph limit.
Completion date for this e-tivity is... [add deadline]

Unit 3 Primary and Secondary Sources

1. Primary and Secondary Sources and Triangulation

Researchers need to consider the sources on which to base and confirm their research and findings. They have a choice between primary data and secondary sources and the use of both, which is termed triangulation, or dual methodology.

Primary data is the data collected by the researcher themselves, i.e.

interview
observation
action research
case studies
life histories
questionnaires
ethnographic research
longitudinal studies

Secondary sources are data that already exists

Previous research
Official statistics
Mass media products
Diaries
Letters
Government reports
Web information
Historical data and information

2. Primary Research

When choosing and developing primary research, one must consider the most appropriate method, to include its reliability, validity and practicality.
Reliability
There are many debates over what is and is not reliable within research. Within the natural sciences, data are seen to be reliable, as they can be tested by different researchers at different times to find out the same or similar information.
Researching society and the people, systems and institutions that make up society does not offer the same guarantee for the same standard of reliability, however, when choosing which research method, one can go about being as reliable as possible - in the methods one chooses, being as objective as possible and applying and demonstrating rigorous collection and analysis methods and systems.

3. Primary Research

Validity
The validity of data refers to the truth that it tells about the subject or phenomenon being studied...a valid statement provides a true measurement, description and / or explanation of what it is claiming to measure or describe.

It is possible for data to be reliable without being valid.

Bryman in Social Research Methods (2001)identifies four types of validity:

measurement validity or construct validity: whether a measure being used really measures what it claims ... i.e. do statistics regarding church attendance really measure the strength of religious beliefs?
internal validity: refers to causality and whether a conclusion of the research or theory developed is a true reflection of the causes...i.e. is it a true cause that being unemployed causes crime or are there other explanations?
external validity: considers whether the results of a particular piece of research can be generalised to other groups - i.e. if one form of community development approach works in London, will it necessarily have the same impact in Leeds?
ecological validity: considers whether '...social scientific findings are appropriate to people's everyday natural setting' (Bryman, 2001) - i.e. if a situation is being observed in a false setting, how may that influence people's behaviour?

Respondent validity also needs to be considered... i.e may question the validity of a questionnaire about people's happiness if they have just had an argument.

Both qualitative and quantitative methods need to consider their approaches and the validity of their methods and findings.

Practicality
The practicalities of the research needs to be carefully considered when developing the research design, for instance:

cost and budget
time scale
size of sample required

Primary research sources will be discussed in units five and six.

4. Secondary Research

Secondary sources consist of data that has already been produced and can be contemporary or historical, qualitative or quantitative.

Secondary sources include

Documents
Letters
Diaries
Autobiographies
Referencing other forms of research and using quotes

The benefits of the use of secondary sources include:

Save time and money
May provide information and access to historical data
May be used to prove or disprove an argument or theory
May be used to offer general background information
Can be used to set the scene of the research and its findings
May be useful for putting the research into context

Researchers must always carefully consider the reliability and validity of secondary sources.

5. Official Statistics

Since 1801, government have collated and produced a vast range of statistical data which has been coordinated and produced by the Government Statistic Service, visit the Publication Hub, Gateway to UK National Statistics www.statistics.gov.uk for more information.
Data collected include:

Birth rates
Death rates
Marriage patterns
Fertility patterns
Divorce patterns
Crime rates
Suicide rates
Economic information
Employment and unemployment details
Strikes
Productivity

Figures are collected and published at various times, for example unemployment figures are produced monthly, while crime figures are published annually and the census is produced once per decade. The above statistics are available freely through publications such as:

Social Trends -
(http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_social/Social_Trends39/ST39_Overview.pdf ) is the 2009 overview.

The reliability and validity of official statistics must be considered by researchers when referring to them.

6. Historical sources

The use of historical documents can help researchers with both qualitative and quantitative information if they are seeking to find out the context of a situation or to look at how things have or have not changed, as well as seeking cause and affect answers. They are often useful in providing information or descriptions about social life.

As with all sources, historical sources have questions over reliability and validity, they:

are subject to a number of interpretations
may be subjective

Life Documents

Life documents include:

Diaries
Letters
Photos
Memos
Biographies
Graffiti
Memoirs
Suicide notes
Memorials of tombstones
Films and videos
Paint pictures
Make music

Generally, life documents are any form of record that detail the accounts and experiences of a person's life. They are predominantly qualitative and can be contemporary or historical.

Life documents are open to subjective interpretation, therefore it is useful to consider who the audience was intended to be when reading through life documents, as this may influence what is written and the context in which it is intended.

Whilst there are obvious limitations to life documents and their validity may be questionable, they are, none the less, useful,

7. Mass media and content analysis

The mass media is a useful source of information about current and historical affairs and events and public opinions and attitudes, however, researchers must always bear in mind that they are often inaccurate and there is a degree of subjectivity...personal, political...of both the author and the audience, therefore, its reliability and validity is obviously questionable.
There are four approaches to carrying out content analysis (which may be qualitative or quantitative) which Pawson in Developments in Sociology, vol. 8 (1995) identifies:
1) Formal content analysis
A systematic sample of texts is used in the study, and classification systems are devised to identify different features of the text, which are then counted with an emphasis on objectivity and reliability.
2) Thematic analysis
'The idea is to understand the encoding process, especially the intentions that lie behind the production of mass media documents. The usual strategy is to pick on a specific area of reportage and subject it to a very detailed analysis in the hope of unearthing the underlying purposes and intentions of the authors of the communication.' (Pawson, R., 1995)
The weaknesses of thematic analysis is that researchers can choose themes that suit them and that there may be a lack of understanding behind the reasons for using themes.
3) Textual analysis
The analysis of the use of words and phrases within a text - and the consideration of if and how words and phrases may be used to influence the reader.
Textual analysis often involves semiology or semiotics, which is the analysis of signs. For more information, visit the link http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rseiler/semiolog.htm
4) Audience analysis
Considers the response of the audience of mass media - whether they accept or reject the content and what it means to them.

8. Evaluating Secondary Sources

In Matter of Record: Documentary Sources in Social Research (1990), Scott offers some useful guidelines for evaluating secondary sources. The four criteria are:

Authenticity: consideration of how genuine the document or source is with regards to its soundness and authorship.
Credibility: consideration must be given to the amount of distortion to the document or source, which will affect its sincerity and accuracy. i.e. has the author given a true account of the situation, or has it been distorted in some way to make the situation look better?
Representativeness: Scott states that '...sampling documents must be handled carefully and as systematically as the sampling of respondents in a survey' and a researcher must give careful consideration to how typical or untypical the documents being sourced are in order that they can recognise limits to the conclusions they can drawn from them. Scott identifies survival and availability as two of the factors which may limit the representation of documents.
Meaning: concerned with how well the researcher will be able to understand the document.

In order to keep up with the advances of modern technology and to make sense of the newest source, the internet, Stein in Sociology on the Web (2002) highlights six criteria for consideration:

Authorship
Authority of the author
Authority of the material
Authority of the site/organisation
Currency (i.e. is it up to date)
Pressure groups/objectivity

9. Triangulation

'The rather partisan, either/or tenor of debate about quantitative and qualitative research may appear somewhat bizarre to an outsider, for whom the obvious way forward is likely to be a fusion of the two approaches so that their respective strengths might be reaped.' Bryman in Quantityand Quality in Social Research, 1988

The combination of qualitative and quantitative and primary and secondary research is known as triangulation or methodological pluralism. Triangulation offers the benefits of:

The ability to cross check
May be used in the facilitation or to assist in research design...i.e. the data gathered from interviews or observations may be used to assist with the design of a questionnaire or survey
May complement or support the research conducted...i.e. findings show that most people are satisfied with the services provided as 8 out of 10 people asked ....

10. Uses of multi-strategy research

Bryman offers 10 ways in which multi-strategy research can be used:
1) The logic of triangulation: it may be used to offer support
2) Qualitative research facilitates quantitative research: qualitative research can be used to generate quantitative studies
3) Quantitative research facilitates qualitative research: quantitative research may tell how many or how often, and the qualitative research may seek to answer why
4) Filling in the gaps
5) Statistic and processual features: 'In some circumstances quantitative methods are used to study the more stable aspects of social life while qualitative methods are employed to study changes'.
6) Researchers' and participants' perspectives: qualitative data may give a view to the perspectives of the people, while the quantitative information may tell researcher what they are trying to find
7) The problem of generality: a small sample may be used for the qualitative element, while the quantitative element may be used to include a wider sample, therefore increasing the generality of the findings
8) Qualitative research facilitating the interpretations of the relationship between the variables: i.e. quantitative research may identify patterns, while qualitative research can offer to explain the patterns
9) Studying different aspects of a phenomenon: i.e. quantitative methods might help one research what people thought of religion and qualitative research might research how religious beliefs and rituals affected behaviour
10) Solving a puzzle: i.e. if the results of a research do not make sense and there is a need to clarify what has been found

11. Careful consideration

When embarking on research then, one must carefully consider the source of their research, and the issues of reliability and validity, whether that research is primary or secondary.
References
A Bryman, Quantityand Quality in Social Research (1988) Routledge
A Bryman, Social Research Methods (2001) OUP
R Pawson (1992) 'Feminist Methodology' in M. Haralambos (ed.) Developments in Sociology Vol. 8, pp. 113-135, Ormskirk: Causeway Press.
J Scott, Matter of Record: Documentary Sources in Social Research(1990) Polity Press
S Stein, Sociology on the web (2002) Pearson Education

Unit 4 Research Design

1. Introduction to Research Design

Research is the study of materials, sources and data in order to get conclusions. Getting the research design right is the first step towards organised research, which is more likely to be good research.

The research design provides the structure of the research and links all of the elements of the research together. It provides the researcher the opportunity to carefully consider the research and to plan the way in which they will approach the research, for example, the following elements will be considered:

sample

chosen
random

purpose of research
how will the data be collected or generated
how will the data be analysed (i.e. how you got your results)
explain how you will obtain your results

the data obtained may affect the results
clarify why you chose the research methods
provide evidence that the data will be collected in a consistent and acceptable manner
demonstrate that the research methods are appropriate to the research

identify and acknowledge any issues or barriers and how you might go about dealing with them

2. The research process

Values
Values and beliefs of the researcher-----consider your values and beliefs...

What are they?
How will they affect the research project?
Will they be affected by the research project?
How will you manage your own values and beliefs?

Funding
Funding is an important factor in the design of the research
Some funders include:

Nuffield and Rowntree Foundation (http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/go/Default.html)
Economic and Social Research Council (http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/index.aspx)
The European Union (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm)

It is important to consider the affect the amount of funding will have on the methodologies used in the research, as well as the values, beliefs, aims and objectives of the funders and how they may impact on your research...
Practicalities

Availability of existing data
Practicality of collecting data
Gatekeepers...who are the gatekeepers? Is there a group of people you would like to research but can't as they are difficult to gain access to / or are they unwilling to participate in research? - how might you get around this?

3. Some links

The links below may be used to assist in developing a research design and/or proposal.

4. Planning Research: Issues to Consider

Research plans depend on what you need to find out, what data you need to collect and what will affect your decisions, for example, if you are researching a Customer Care issue, you may already have a topic chosen for you, i.e. 'How do we improve our Customer Care?', whereas if you are undertaking research for academic purposes, you may have a host of issues or topics you are interested in researching.

Being focused about what you want to gain from the research will help you to be more effective and efficient in your research.

Issues to consider when planning research include:

what is the scale of the breadth and depth you want regarding the information you need
what resources do you have / are available to you?

time scale
existing resources
existing knowledge
manpower
man hours
support
sample
funding

5. Key Considerations

What is the focus of the investigation?
For what purpose/purposes is the research being done- i.e. what will you do with the research and what do you want it to be able to decide?
Is it a replication of previous research?
Is it an extension of previous research?
What is the prediction?
Is the prediction a logical conclusion to the evidence presented in the introduction of a report?
Who is / are your audience(s) for this research?

funders
partners
board
management
staff
volunteers
service users
customers

What kinds of information is needed for the research?

do you need to know how much/how often/when
is the research about behaviours, attitudes, opinions?
quantitative or qualitative information

From what sources should the information be collected?

documents
service users
customers
staff
management
board
funders
partners
other agencies, organisations or projects
particular sample-

community (location)
community (commonality)

How can / should the information be collected? i.e. what methodology is most appropriate
What is the time scale and / or time frame for the research?
What are the available resources for collecting the information?

6. Hypothesis

Writing a hypothesis...

A hypothesis is a question that is being asked or a statement that is to be tested...a hypothesis requires an investigation...some research....

A testable hypothesis is one that can be carried out by others in the same way.

A testable statement that links the variables under investigation.

Below are different examples of what a hypothesis might be:

the experimental hypothesis - a precise prediction of the relationship between the variables
the colour of all swans is white
F = k x
the null hypothesis - all variations in results is due to random variability
swans can be any colour
extension in a spring is not related to the applied force
hypotheses can be rejected if found false
hypothesis are never proven but are supported with a certain level of confidence or probability

7. How are hypotheses tested?

Statistics examine the null hypothesis to see if there is no significant difference or relationship between variables, in effect they examine if the results come from the same population rather than different ones or results are unrelated
Hypotheses can be one-tailed or two-tailed
Previous research may indicate direction for a one-tailed prediction - i.e. there is a positive relationship between the amount of alcohol drunk and reaction time or boys can name more football teams than girls
Two-tailed predictions do not specify a direction in difference or relationship, e.g. amount of sleep and mood are related or boys and girls differ in verbal ability

8. Experimental Design

Independent groups/independent measures between groups design

two or more conditions with different people in each condition e.g. males and females; medication/placebo groups

Repeated measures / related measures with groups design

same individuals in two or more conditions e.g. before and after medication; morning / afternoon ability

Matched pairs design

For example, different people in each condition but groups contain similar backgrounds, such as same age, same gender, same social background

9. Qualitative Research Design

The study of phenomenon

A way of describing something that exists as part of the world we live in
Phenomenon can be events, situations, experiences or concepts

Examples:

We know people are carers, but what does caring actually mean and what is it to be a carer
Or...back pain - what is it like to have back pain, what problems does it cause and how does it affect people's lives?

10. Key Areas of the Research Proposal

When writing a research design or research proposal, ensure you consider and cover the following areas:

A working title or topic area - ensure that you convey the key points of the research
General overview of the research area - provide a brief synopsis of the research
Identification of the relevant literature - reference any key literature that may support your proposal and use the literature to demonstrate how/where it fits within the context of the subject area
Key research questions - in order to demonstrate that your research is viable and do-able it is essential to identify some of the key questions it aims to answer
Methodology - outline the methodologies you aim to use
Timescale / research planning - identify the timescale and acknowledge the planning done, required and/or involved
Bibliography - ensure to include a Bibliography for any references to literature within your research proposal

11. Review of secondary research

Description: https://blackboard.le.ac.uk/@@7F82B7397D811123093E90BED2B68EF8/courses/1/VT080/content/_395411_1/embedded/etivity2.gif

E-tivity-Review of secondary research
Task: Review the attached pdf,
"UK Giving 2007/2008: Results of the 2007/2008
survey of individual charitable giving in the UK".

As a secondary source, comment on its design and
use within the Voluntary and Community Sector.
Post your comments on a discussion forum for this
e-tivity
Respond: Review the responses of your course
colleagues and respond to at least one other posting.
Length: Please try to fit your responses within a
two to three paragraph limit.
Completion date for this e-tivity is... (add deadline).

http://www.cafonline.org/pdf/UK%20Giving%202008.pdf

Unit 5 Quantitative Research

1. Overview of quantitative and qualitative methods
Methodology is concerned about both the ways in which the research is carried out - i.e. its structure and process, as well as with the way in which this information is analysed.
The two approaches to research are:

Quantitative - based on the methods used in the natural sciences
Qualitative - based on methods which are said to be humanistic

Quantitative methods:

Used to find out how much, how many, how often, to what extent
Aims to be objective and scientific in its approach
Quantitative research is hypothetico-deductive in its approach to constructing social theories
Aims to assess and measure
Is regarded as a way to get to the truth, to understand the world well enough so that we might predict and control it through identifying cause and effect relationships
Quantitative research can be
administered by the researcher
self-administered
one to one
in a group
face to face
telephone
postal
email

The attached link provides an insight into the use of quantitative methods to search for truth.
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Maldon/validity.htm
This unit will investigate quantitative research, its role, purpose, process and strengths and weaknesses.

2. Theory and quantitative methodology

The theories introduced in Unit One which would advocate a quantitative approach to research include positivist and empiricism
Quantitative research is influenced by the empiricist paradigm, which means that it is concerned with cause and effect of social phenomena and uses the data - which is based on empirical observation and their critical interpretation
Qualities of quantitative research

Deductive
Begins from theory - i.e. it is established to test theory
Can be used to make generalisations and / or to test hypotheses

Popper and Falsification '...theories cannot be verified absolutely and forever; however, they can be falsified - i.e. they can be proven to be wrong - given a certain degree of certainty (or probability)' (The Logic of Scientific Discovery, 1959)

Testing theories can 'improve ' them, but it cannot 'prove' them
Quantitative research needs to be open and open to criticism - which should be at the heart of quantitative research
Theories that cannot be tested, re-tested and (based on their falsification) be changed should be dismissed
Theory - concept - indicator

For more information about Popper and Falsification, visit http://elm.eeng.dcu.ie/~tkpw/index.html

3. Importance of Quantitative Research

More reliable and objective
Can use statistics to generalise a finding
Often reduces and restructures a complex problem to a limited number of variables
Looks at relationships between variables and can establish cause and effect in highly controlled circumstances
Tests theories or hypotheses
Assumes sample is representative of the population
Subjectivity of researcher in methodology is recognised less
Less detailed than qualitative data and may miss a desired response from the participant

4. Quantitative Analysis

Laboratory experiments
deliberate manipulation of independent variable, strict control of other variables
test cause and effect relationship
Field experiments
natural environment but independent variable still manipulated
difficulty in controlling the situation so more likelihood of extraneous variables
ethical problems of consent, deception, invasion of privacy
Quasi-or natural experiments
examine effects of independent variable without control over independent variable itself which often occurs naturally
unable to manipulate independent variable because of ethics or because it is impossible

5. Quantitative Observation

Observation can also be carried out in a quantitative context and may involve:

Counting the use of services
Number of people accessing services
Ascertain busy/quiet times

6. Questionnaires

Questionnaires or social surveys are a method used to collect standardised data from large numbers of people -i.e. the same information is collected in the same way. They are used to collect data in a statistical form.

In Data Collection in Context (1981), Ackroyd and Hughes identify three types of survey:

Factual surveys: used to collect descriptive information, i.e. the government census
Attitude surveys - i.e. an opinion poll - rather than attempting to gather descriptive information, an attitude survey will attempt to collect and measure people's attitudes and opinions, i.e. 4 out of 5 people believe...
Explanatory survey - goes beyond the collection of data and aims to test theories and hypotheses and / or to produce new theory.

Researchers usually use questionnaires or surveys in order that they can make generalisations, therefore, the surveys are usually based on carefully selected samples.

Questionnaires consist of the same set of questions that are asked in the same order and in the same way in order that the same information can be gathered.

Questionnaires can be:

Filled in by the participant
Asked in a structured and formal way by an interviewer

Interviewer bias must be considered when done in this way, however, an advantage of this method over a participant filling in a questionnaire is that the interviewer may assist if there are any ambiguous questions or if the participant is confused in any way

Postal questionnaire can be used, whereby a questionnaire is posted to the sample group and returned to the researcher by a specified time and date
Administration of a questionnaire to a group is an option - i.e. at centre, school or group. The researcher needs to consider if the group will affect each other's responses and the concentration levels etc when undertaking this approach
Telephone questionnaire
Email questionnaire

7. Developing a Questionnaire

Developing a Questionnaire
The process of developing a questionnaire involves the following four steps:

Choosing the questions by operationalising concepts, which involves translating abstract ideas into concrete questions that will be measureable (i.e......class, power, family, religion....add some sort of example)
Operationalising concepts involves a set of choices regarding the following:

units of analysis

units that can be analysed:

individuals (i.e. students, voters, workers)
groups (families, gangs)
organisations (churches, army, corporations)
social artefacts (buildings, cars, pottery, etc)

points of focus
treatment of the dimension of time
nature of measurement

Establish an operational definition which involves breaking the concept down into various components or dimensions in order to specify what is to be measured
Once the concept has been operationally defined in terms of a number of components, the second step involves the selection of indicatorsfor each component.'
'...indicators of each dimension are put into the form of a series of questions that will provide quantifiable data for measuring each dimension.'

8. Questionnaire Questions

Questions in the questionnaire can then be:

Open ended (more difficult to extract quantifiable data)

This form of question requires the researcher to code the answers. Coding identifies a number of categories in which people have responded, more detail of this process is covered in the qualitative research unit

Closed
Fixed-choice
Likert scale - where participants are given a range of options, i.e. agree, strongly agree...for more information about the Likert scale and other scales of measurement, visit http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scallik.php
the difficulty or negative of all of the close and fixed are that participants may be forced into an answer or may not be able to qualify or explain what they mean by what they have answered

The following links provide further information about social surveys and questionnaires:

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survey.php
Refer back to the 'Evaluation Toolkit for the Voluntary and Community Arts in Northern Ireland' and read the section on developing a questionnaire, pages 39 - 42
http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/report/VoluntaryCommunityArtsEvalToolkit.pdf

9. The advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires

The advantages of questionnaires

Practical
Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way
Can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited affect to its validity and reliability
The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily quantified by either a researcher or through the use of a software package
Can be analysed more 'scientifically' and objectively than other forms of research
When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other research and may be used to measure change
Positivists believe that quantitative data can be used to create new theories and / or test existing hypotheses

The disadvantages of questionnaires

Is argued to be inadequate to understand some forms of information - i.e. changes of emotions, behaviour, feelings etc.
Phenomenologists state that quantitative research is simply an artificial creation by the researcher, as it is asking only a limited amount of information without explanation
Lacks validity
There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being
There is no way of telling how much thought a respondent has put in
The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the full context of the situation
People may read differently into each question and therefore reply based on their own interpretation of the question - i.e. what is 'good' to someone may be 'poor' to someone else, therefore there is a level of subjectivity that is not acknowledged
There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning that when developing the questionnaire, the researcher is making their own decisions and assumptions as to what is and is not important...therefore they may be missing something that is of importance

The process of coding in the case of open ended questions opens a great possibility of subjectivity by the researcher

References

K. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959), reprinted (2004) by Routledge, Taylor & Francis

S. Ackroyd and J. A. Hughes, Data Collection in Context (1981) Longman

Unit 6 Qualitative Research

1. Qualitative Research is concerned with:

Early forms of research originated in the natural sciences: biology, chemistry, physics, geology and wanted to observe and measure in some way in order to gain understanding. Quantitative research refers to observations and measurements that can be made objectively and repeated by other researchers. Along with the development of social sciences: psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc, they were interested in studying human behaviour and the social world. The social sciences found it difficult to measure human behaviour in the simpler quantitative methods, therefore qualitative research methods were developed in order to look beyond how, how often and how many...it looks at why and attempts to further and deepen our understanding of the social world.

The theories introduced in unit one that take on a qualitative approach to research include:

Phenomenology
Ethnomethodology
Grounded Theory
Symbolic Interactionists
Interpretivists
Critical Social Science
Feminists

Qualitative research methods:

are concerned with opinions, feelings and experiences
describes social phenomena as they occur naturally - no attempt is made to manipulate the situation - just understand and describe
understanding is sought by taking a holistic perspective / approach, rather than looking at a set of variables
qualitative research data is used to help us to develop concepts and theories that help us to understand the social world - which is an inductive approach to the development of theory, rather than a deductive approach that quantitative research takes - ie. Testing theories that have already been proposed.
Qualitative data is collected through direct encounters i.e. through interview or observation and is rather time consuming

2. The Nature of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is concerned with '...developing explanations of social phenomena...'

The world in which we live
Why things are the way they are
Concerned with social aspects of our world
Seeks to answer questions about

Why people behave the way they do
How opinions and attitudes are formed
How people are affected by the events that go on around them
How and why cultures have developed in the way they have
The differences between social groups

Qualitative questions:

How
Why
What

3. Methods of collecting qualitative data

Data collection approaches for qualitative research usually involves:

Direct interaction with individuals on a one to one basis
Or direct interaction with individuals in a group setting

Qualitative research data collection methods are time consuming, therefore data is usually collected from a smaller sample than would be the case for quantitative approaches - therefore this makes qualitative research more expensive.

The benefits of the qualitative approach is that the information is richer and has a deeper insight into the phenomenon under study

The main methods for collecting qualitative data are:

Individual interviews
Focus groups
Observations
Action Research

4. Interviews

Interviews can be

Unstructured

Can be referred to as 'depth' or 'in depth' interviews
They have very little structure at all
The interviewer may just go with the aim of discussing a limited number of topics, sometimes as few as just one or two
The interviewer may frame the interview questions based on the interviewee and his/her previous response
This allows the discussion to cover areas in great detail
They involve the researcher wanting to know or find out more about a specific topic without there being a structure or a preconceived plan or expectation as to how they will deal with the topic

Semi structured

Semi structured interviews are sometimes also called focused interviews
A series of open ended questions based on the topic areas the researcher wants to cover
A series of broad questions to ask and may have some prompts to help the interviewee
'The open ended nature of the question defines the topic under investigation but provides opportunities for both interviewer and interviewee to discuss some topics in more detail'
Semi structured interviews allow the researcher to promt or encourage the interviewee if they are looking for more information or find what they are saying interesting
This method gives the researcher the freedom to probe the interviewee to elaborate or to follow a new line of inquiry introduced by what the interviewee is saying
Work best when the interviewed has a number of areas he/she wants to be sure to be addressing

Structured

The interviewed asks the respondent the same questions in the same way
A tightly structured schedule is used
The questions may be phrased in order that a limited range of responses may be given - i.e. 'Do you rate our services as very good, good or poor'
A researcher needs to consider whether a questionnaire or structured interview is more appropriate
'If the interview schedule is too tightly structured this may not enable the phenomena under investigation to be explored in terms of either breadth or depth.'

Qualitative interviews should be fairly informal and participants feel they are taking part in a conversation or discussion rather than in a formal question and answer situation.

There is skill required and involved in successful qualitative research approaches - which requires careful consideration and planning

Good quality qualitative research involves:

Thought
Preparation
The development of the interview schedule
Conducting and analysing the interview data with care and consideration

5. Focus groups

The use of focus groups is sometimes used when it is better to obtain information from a group rather than individuals.

Group interviews can be used when:

Limited resources (time, manpower, finances)
The phenomena being researched requires a collective discussion in order to understand the circumstances, behaviour or opinions
Greater insights may be developed of the group dynamic - or cause and consequence

Characteristics of a focus group:

Recommended size of the sample group is 6 - 10 people as smaller groups may limit the potential on the amount of information collected, and more may make it difficult for all participants to participate and interact and for the interviewer to be able to make sense of the information given
Several focus groups should be used in order to get a more objective and macro view of the investigation. i.e. focussing on one group may give you idiosyncratic results. The use of several groups will add to the breadth and depth of information. A minimum of three focus groups is recommended for best practice approaches
Members of the focus group should have something in common which is important to the investigation
Groups can either be put together or existing groups - it is always useful to be mindful of the group dynamics of both situations

The aim of the focus group is to make use of participants' feelings, perceptions and opinions

This method requires the researcher to use a range of skills:

group skills
facilitating
moderating
listening/observing
analysis

6. Observation

Observation involves may take place in natural settings and involve the researcher taking lengthy and descriptive notes of what is happening.

It is argued that there are limits to the situations that can be observed in their 'natural' settings and that the presence of the research may lead to problems with validity.

Limitations with observation include:

Change in people's behaviour when they know they are being observed
A 'snap shot' view of a whole situation
Think Big Brother...
The researcher may miss something while they are watching and taking notes
The researcher may make judgements of make value statements or misunderstand what has been observed

Strengths of observation

Can offer a flavour for what is happening
Can give an insight into the bigger picture
Can demonstrate sub-groups
Can be used to assist in the design of the rest of the research

Sometimes, the researcher becomes or needs to become a participant observer, where they are taking part in the situation in order to be accepted and further understand the workings of the social phenomenon.

Observation can sometimes obtain more reliable information about certain things - for example, how people actually behave (although it may not find out the reasons for why they behave in a particular way).

Observation can also serve as a technique for verifying of nullifying information provided in face to face encounters.'

People or environment can be observed.

When environment is researched, it can provide valuable background information that may inform other aspects of the research.

Techniques for collecting data through observation

Written descriptions

The researcher makes written descriptions of the people, situations or environment
Limitations include

Researcher might miss out on an observation as they are taking notes
The researcher may be focussed on a particular event or situation
There is room for subjective interpretation of what is happening

Video recording

Allows the researcher to also record notes
Limitations may include people acting unnaturally towards the camera or others avoiding the camera
The camera may not always see everything

Photographs and artefacts

Useful when there is a need to collect observable information or phenomena such as buildings, neighbourhoods, dress and appearance
Artefacts include objects of significance - memorabilia, instruments, tools etc

Documentation

Any and all kinds of documentation may be used to provide information - a local paper, information on a notice board, administrative policies and procedures...etc previous research, even

7. Self Study

Consider an area within your work that you might want to observe in order to get an answer, find out more or gain a better understanding.

Think about and plan:

What your aim/purpose is.
What permission, etc, you may need to gain.
What your role/presence will be.
How you will record your observation.
What you will record.
What you will do with your findings.

What are the pros and cons of this process.

8. Ethnography

Ethnography has a background in anthropology and means 'portrait of a people'. Ethnography is a methodology for descriptive studies of culture and people and looks at the people, cultures and commonalities of shared experiences.

Ethnographic research entails extensive fieldwork by the researcher. Data collection includes:

formal and informal interviews
often interviewing an individual on several occasions
participative observations

therefore, ethnography is very time consuming and involves the researcher spending a great deal of time in the field

analysis of ethnographic data = 'emic' - which means the researcher attempts to interpret data from the perspective of the sample that was studied, i.e. to understand the subjects themselves and the language and terminology they use, as well as the meanings behind this
the risk of using ethnographic research is that the researcher may not fully understand or be familiar with the social norms of those they are researching and therefore there is risk of misinterpretation
Payne and Payne Key Concepts in Social Research, 2004, describe ethnography as '...the production of highly detailed accounts of how people in a social setting lead their lives, based upon systematic and long-term observation of, and conversation with, informants'

9. Action Research

Action Research doesn't just involve asking about it, it involves doing it.

Action Research is a framework that is:

Collaborative
There is a practical intervention made - i.e. you do something to make a change or intervention in a situation that you research (i.e. the work that we do in vcs...project monitoring and evaluation...use for bids)
The researcher will be actively involved in the planned intervention
Checklands FMA model

F - framework of ideas
M - methodology being applied
A - area of concern

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Sengupta/default.htm

10. Other forms of qualitative research includes:

Longitudinal research or panel studies

When research is conducted over a long period of time and the researcher contacts the participant at various times: i.e. every two years
Examples of longitudinal studies include:

West and Farrington's Who Becomes Delinquent (1973) which followed the development of 411 London schoolboys from the age of 8 to 18 to determine the factors that cause delinquency

Historical

'The systematic collection and objective evaluation of data related to past occurrences in order to test hypotheses concerning causes, effects or trends of these events that may help to explain present events and anticipate future events' (Gay, 1996)

Case study

Case study research is a methodology which can take either a qualitative or quantitative approach
In the qualitative approach, case study refers to the in depth analysis of a single or small number of units
A case study unit may include a single person, a group of people, an organisation or an institution
Some case study research may involve the research of a series of cases
Case study research ranges in its complexity:

From a simple, illustrative description of a single event or occurrence
To a more complex analysis of a social situation over a period of time
To the most complex approach which is an extended case study which traces events involving the same actors over a period of time - enabling the analysis reflect changes and adjustments

Case studies aims to:

Offer a richness and depth of information by capturing as many variables as possible to identify how a complex set of circumstances come together to produce a particular manifestation '...to as identify how a complex set of circumstances come together to produce a particular manifestation.'

Case study as a method is very versatile, as it uses many methods of gather information, from observation to interview to testing
One of the criticisms of the case study method is that the case under study may not be representative of a wider social setting and therefore it is argued that the results of the research cannot be used to make generalisations
Therefore, the purpose of case study research is to describe that particular case in detail and take learning from that and develop theory from that approach - it is particularlistic and contextual

The attached link will provide further information about developing a case study:

http://managementhelp.org/evaluatn/casestdy.htm

11. E-tivity- Qualitative versus Quantitative Research

Task: Comment on the following statement, using the information you have learned in units 5 and 6 regarding qualitative and quantitative research methods.

You can never be accurate using qualitative data and therefore it is of little use in the Voluntary and Community Sector.
Post your comments on a discussion forum for this e-tivity
Respond: Review the responses of your course colleagues and respond to at least one other posting.
Length: Please try to fit your responses within a two to three paragraph limit.
Completion date for this e-tivity is...( add deadline)
References
L. R. Gay Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application Fifth Edition (1996), Prentice-Hall.
G. Payne and J. Payne Key Concepts in Social Research (2004) Sage Publications Ltd
D.J. West and D.P. Farrington Who Becomes Delinquent (1973) Heinemann Educational Publishers

Unit 7 Ethics and Data Protection

1. Introduction

"My only merit is that I did not neglect the observation and that I pursued the subject as a bacteriologist."

Alexander Fleming on seeing the effect of the Penicillum bacteria on other bacteria.

When conducting research, one must be mindful of ethical and data protection issues. Ethical guidelines seek to work towards protecting the individuals, communities and environments involved in the studies against any form of harm, manipulation or malpractice. The importance of the role of ethics and data protection are explored in this unit.

2. An ethical approach

When conducting research, one must consider ethics, in order that they work within the law, to professional guidelines and act morally.

Adapting an ethical approach will contribute to:

a sound starting point
a suitable and valid method
good and useful results
solid conclusions

3. Principle's of Ethics

'...ethical behaviour helps protect individuals, communities and environments, and offers the potential to increase the sum of good in the world. As social scientists 'trying to make the world a better place' we should avoid (or at least minimise) doing long-term, systematic harm to those individuals, communities and environments...' (Israel and Hay, Research Ethics for Social Scientists, 2006)

The three principles of ethics include informed consent, confidentiality and avoiding harm to do good.

Informed consent

It is important that those participating in the research understand its aims and objectives and that informed consent is given, for research that is carried out with children or vulnerable adults, it is essential to acquire informed consent from a parent, guardian or responsible adult

Confidentiality

Confidentiality needs to be considered - how will confidentiality be maintained? is it always appropriate and applicable (i.e. criminal activities, if someone is in harm...etc)

Avoid harm and do good

Ethics can go so far as to suggest that research needs not only avoid harm, but to ensure that its purpose is to do good...how might this impact on the methodology of the research? and the impartiality?

4. Ethics and the VCS

Some ethical implications for research in the VCS may include:

vulnerable people
confidentiality
voluntary participation
establishing informed consent
considering risk of physical or psychological harm
anonymity
right of service (i.e. if there is a medical research with one sample taking a placebo and another taking the drug, all must be aware that they may opt for the service available to them if they request
risk of bias, to acquire or account for funding

5. ESRC Research Ethics Framework

It is important to the ESRC (Economic Social Research Council) that it only supports research that is carried out to the highest ethical standards. The Research Ethics Framework has been developed in order to communicate its required standards in order that it may encourage and expect good working practices. Read the Research Ethics Framework attached below and carefully consider all of the areas the framework covers and how the standards may influence or impact on any research.
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/ESRC_Re_Ethics_Frame_tcm6-11291.pdf

6. Self Study Exercise

Read the following link - http://www2.le.ac.uk/institution/committees/research-ethics/code-of-practice - which outlines the ethical framework within which the University of Leicester operates. When reviewing the link, consider the importance of the issues highlighted and how the code goes about aiming to protect the researcher, the phenomenon being researched and the university as an institution.

7. Safety of the Researcher

www.the-sra.org.uk/documents/word/safety_code_of_practice.doc
Researchers must consider their own personal safety from physical and psychological harm and to ensure they maintain professional boundaries. The SRA (Social Research Association) has developed a Code of Practice for the Safety of Social Research. Read the attached links to find out more about the role of the SRA and the Code of Practice for the Safety of Social Researchers.
http://www.the-sra.org.uk/staying_safe.htm

8. Further reading

The following link offers access to articles relating to ethics in research, which may be reviewed for a further or more detailed insight into the role and implications of ethics and ethical behaviour in research.

http://scientificethics.suite101.com/article.cfm/ethics_in_social_science_researchModule 9

9. Ethics in research

Description: https://blackboard.le.ac.uk/@@7F82B7397D811123093E90BED2B68EF8/courses/1/VT080/content/_395462_1/embedded/etivity2.gif

E-tivity- Ethics in research

Task: Read the following (www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ethics.php)
which offers in brief a perspective of the history, role and importance of ethics in research.

Reflect on the information provided in the link and offer your own thoughts and opinion relating to the role of ethics in research.
Post your comments on the a discussion forum for this e-tivity
Respond: Review the responses of your course colleagues and respond to at least one other posting.
Length: Please try to fit your responses within a two to three paragraph limit. Completion date for this e-tivity is...(add deadline).

References
M. Israel & I. Hay Research Ethics for Social Scientists (2006) Sage Publications Ltd

Unit 8 Presenting and Using Research Findings

1. Introduction

Once you have carefully planned and conducted your research, you will need to consider how to analyse and present the data you have collected. This unit looks at how to handle, analyse and present qualitative and quantitative research to a variety of audiences.

2. Handling qualitative research data

Handling qualitative research data

Researchers can either take notes during their interviews (transcribing) or observations, or take a recording
Using a tape recorder:
The benefits tape recording include:

The researcher can concentrate and listen and respond better
The discussion flows better when there are no distractions
In note taking there is an increased risk of the researcher being more subjective
The entire interview/observation is recorded, which gives a better, more holistic picture of what is going on
The participants may feel less observed if the tape recorded is used in a a discreet way
During analysis, the researcher has the opportunity to go back over material

Transcribing:

Transcribing the interview involves taking notes of the interview...it is the full 'script' of the interview and the aim is to take a full written version of the interview
Transcribing an interview is very time consuming, with an estimated time ratio of 5:1 (i.e. 5 hours of transcribing a one hour interview)

Tape analysis can be used, which is a combination on the two and involves the researcher taking notes from the recording
Bias must be considered when taking notes or using tape analysis
Good quality transcribing relies on skills beyond just taking notes and there is often space for subjectivity

3. The ten steps of content analysis

The ten step of content analysis are:
1) Copy and read through the transcript - make brief notes in the margin when interesting or relevant information is found
2) Go through the notes made in the margins and list the different types of information found
3) Read through the list and categorise each item in a way that offers a description of what it is about
4) Identify whether or not the categories can be linked any way and list them as major categories (or themes) and / or minor categories (or themes)
5) Compare and contrast the various major and minor categories
6) If there is more than one transcript, repeat the first five stages again for each transcript
7) When you have done the above with all of the transcripts, collect all of the categories or themes and examine each in detail and consider if it fits and its relevance
8) Once all the transcript data is categorised into minor and major categories/themes, review in order to ensure that the information is categorised as it should be.
9) Review all of the categories and ascertain whether some categories can be merged or if some need to them be sub-categorised
10) Return to the original transcripts and ensure that all the information that needs to be categorised has been so.
The process of content analysis is lengthy and may require the researcher to go over and over the data to ensure they have done a thorough job of analysis

4. Analysing Qualitative Research Data

The analysis of qualitative research involves aiming to uncover and / or understand the big picture - by using the data to describe the phenomenon and what this means. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis involves labelling and coding all of the data in order that similarities and differences can be recognised. Responses from even an unstructured qualitative interview can be entered into a computer in order for it to be coded, counted and analysed. The qualitative researcher, however, has no system for pre-coding, therefore a method of identifying and labelling or coding data needs to be developed that is bespoke for each research. - which is called content analysis.

Content analysis can be used when qualitative data has been collected through:

Interviews
Focus groups
Observation
Documentary analysis

Content analysis is '...a procedure for the categorisation of verbal or behavioural data, for purposes of classification, summarisation and tabulation.'

The content can be analysed on two levels:

Basic level or the manifest level: a descriptive account of the data i.e. this is what was said, but no comments or theories as to why or how
Higher level or latent level of analysis: a more interpretive analysis that is concerned with the response as well as what may have been inferred or implied

Content analysis involves coding and classifying data, also referred to as categorising and indexing and the aim of context analysis is to make sense of the data collected and to highlight the important messages, features or findings.

5. Analysing Quantitative data

The analysis of research in any project involve summarising the mass of data that has been collected and the presenting the results in a way that communicates the most important findings or features

The analysis of quantitative research involves the analysis of any of the following:

Frequencies of variables
Differences between variables
Statistical tests designed to estimate the significance of the results and the probability that they did not occur by chance

All of the above is achieve by counting and comparison

6. Presenting Qualitative Research

When planning the presentation of qualitative data, consider that the data are:

Subjective
Interpretative
Descriptive
Holistic
Copious

It may be suggested that the researcher base the structure of the presentation of the research around the categories or themes that have emerged
The themes or categories may be presented as sections with relevant sub-sections
Quotes can be used to demonstrate and or inform or support findings, but it is recommended that the researcher consider the reliability and validity of each quote
Consideration may also be given to whether or not qualitative data can be represented in a quantitative form (i.e. 6 out of 10 people...)

7. Computerised data analysis

Software packages are available for the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. Each packed has different features and the researcher needs to choose carefully. The aim of all of the packages is to assist in the categorisation and matching process. The packages can save time, but there is still a great deal of time required to set them up and input the data and check through the process.
The most well known software packages are listed below, some have links attached which you may wish to read through for further information:

Ethnograph
There are also a number of networks available that are accessible via the Internet, CAQDAS is one of them, available at http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/caqdas

8. Overview of reporting research findings

Introduction

Introduction of the research, objectives and how achieved, methodology and main findings.

Literature Review

Review any previous work to do with the topic of research. Include a general discussion of how it relates to research - i.e. supports, contests, proves or disproves.

Method

Discuss how the results were achieved and provide explanations of how data was gathered/collated/generated and how the data was analysed. Discuss any methodological problems and their solutions and or effects on the research.

Remember:

the purpose of the research section
keep notes of what you did, why you did it and what happened
remember who your audience will be

Results and Discussion

Provide the interpretation, presentation and/or discussion of the results. Also, any comparisons with the results of previous research or effects of methods used on the data obtained.

Conclusion

has the research question/problem been solved?
to what extent have the objectives been achieved?
what has been learned from the results?
how can this knowledge be used?
what are the shortcomings of the research or methodology used?

9. Consider your audience

As introduced in unit one, research in the voluntary and community sector has a variety of uses and purposes, therefore, when presenting and disseminating research findings, one must consider the audience they are presenting to. Potential readers of research findings may include:

academics
board members, managers and staff
service users
funders

It is important, then, that one adopts an appropriate approach to presenting their research. The following links offer an insight into some of the possible ways in which one might present data.