1. Introduction to Critical Enquiry Research KKP601 Approaches to Enquiry in the Creative Industries Associate Professor Terry Flew Guest Lecture 2008

2. Recommended Readings

Methodology

• David Deacon, Michael Pickering, Peter Golding and Graham Murdock,Researching Communications: A Practical Guide to Methods in Media and Cultural Analysis(2 ndEdn., Arnold, 2007)

• Judy Giles and Tim Middleton,Studying Culture: A Practical Introduction(2 ndEdn., Blackwell, 2008)

Applications

• Manuel Castells, Why Networks Matter, in H. McCarthy, P. Miller and P. Skidmore (eds.),Network Logic: Who governs in an interconnected world? , DEMOS, 2004.

• Terry Flew, Global Media Cultures, inUnderstanding Global Media(Palgrave, 2007), Chapter 5.

3. Researching Communications (chapter titles)

Approaching Research

Dealing with Documentation

Selecting and Sampling

Asking Questions

Handling Numbers

Counting Contents

Analysing Texts

Unpacking News

Viewing the Image

Interpreting Images

Being an Observer

Attending to Talk

Taking Talk Apart

Using Computers (e.g. SPSS)

What, how and why of researching communications

4. Studying Culture (chapter titles)

What is Culture?

Identity and Difference

Representation

History

Cultural Geography

Case Study: Global Tourism

Cultural Value: High Culture and Popular Culture

Subjects, Bodies, Selves

Consumption

Technology

5. What of Research?

All research methodologies need to be situated within a four-fold understanding of theresearch process :

• Define the problem

• Gather the evidence

• Analyse the evidence

• Draw conclusions

6. Qualitative Research

Qualitative research consists of a set ofinterpretive, material practicesthatmake the world visible [as] they turn the world into a series ofrepresentations [through]studying things in their natural settings , attempting to make sense of, phenomena in terms of themeanings people bring to them.

Norman Denzin and Yvonne Lincoln,Handbook of Qualitative Research , 3 rdEdn., Sage, 2003, p. 3.

7. Beyond the Words versus Statistics Dichotomy DATA HYPOTHESES TEXTS INTERPRETATIONS 8. Object and Subject of Research Demonstration of research outcomes to those outside of related peer communities Examples: APA(I); research with/for corporate, NGOand government clients Research driven by interest in engagement by others with artefacts produced and consumed by others Examples: textual analysis, audience research, action research; ethnography External Assessment of outcomes by related peer communities Examples: exhibition, installation, live performance event, circulation of creative written work Research driven by persons own creative practice Examples: art works, novel, performance Internal Subject of Research Object of Research 9. Research Techniques

Action research

Field work

Interviews

Surveys

Case studies

Ethnography

Focus groups

Discourse analysis

Content analysis

Textual analysis

Archival/documentary research

10. Developing a Sample

Sampling texts and documents

Sampling populations

Sampling content

Sampling data

Sampling statements and images

11. Modes of Engagement

Participant observation

Surveys

Semi-structured interviews

Questions of representativeness, relevance, reliability of evidence

Triangulation of cases and research methodologies

12. Interviews and Focus Groups

Organising an interview

Medium of interviewing (face-to-face or other)

Single interviews or focus groups?

How structured is the interview/focus group?

Organising questions to time

Comparing responses

Resource implications of different methods (e.g. timing, transcription, online v. face-to-face)

13. Case Studies

How many case studies (scope and resource implications)?

What is the key information sought (Occams razor principle)?

Availability or relevant documentation and data

Mixed-method approaches (e.g. publicly available data and information, interviews and audience/user surveys)

Comparative case studies

14. Triangulation: Case Study #1 - Media Corporations andOnline News Media PUBLICLYAVAILABLE MATERIAL (speeches, annual reports,secondary sources)SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS (key informants withinthe organisation) TEXTUAL/CONTENT ANALYSIS (analysis of sample of online content) 15. Triangulation: Case Study #2 - New Media and Developing Countries PUBLICLYAVAILABLE MATERIAL (policy documents,archives, speeches,online publications)PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION (immersion in thelocality of case study) USER ETHNOGRAPHIES (stories aboutpatterns of use affordances and problems) 16. Entering the Research Industry

Research is a $5bn+ industry in Australia (ARC - $1.2billion annually) most research funding is externally driven

• Timelines/milestones

• Project management/working in teams

• Outcomes/deliverables

• End-user orientation

Publishing research: how to present to different readerships

Researching for industry : outcomes-oriented research (bottom line time constraints research commercialisation)

Researching for government: policy-oriented research (ideas thick research Cunningham presenting findings for decision-makers)

Advocacy research understanding your constituency

17. Entering the Research Industry

How to present at conferences and seminars

Presenting to the media

Applying for research funding

Building a research CV and networks (e.g. developing an affable persona)

Ethics of research: research/consultancy relationship