Wednesday, 17 March 2010

Observation Exercise Follow Up

At the campus session yesterday we observed the short clip and in the discussion afterwards people started to interpret the data without actually defining the criteria / phenomena to be observed. That's why it would be useful to watch the clip again and define what the observation should document and then devise a grid to enable data to be gathered. The main lesson learned yesterday from this exercise was that a pilot would be more than helpful in designing a grid. Check Slide 9 on the Observations slide show for a sample gird.

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Observation Exercise

Having read around the topic of observations it should be clear that conducting a pilot would be useful in order to decide on criteria that you are actually going to observe. Have a look at this 3 minute clip of a dancing lesson and establish which phenomena you are going to observe. In other words define what is to be documented to enable you to produce an observation grid.

PS. Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Observations in Research

Research Overview

The following slides form part of the Campus Session on 16th March

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

Campus Session 2 - 3rd March

Peter and Paula covered a lot of material in this session. Please check their blogs for the slides they developed and talked to. We also enjoyed a game of definitions where participants had to define various research terms. This was to highlight the need to start compiling the Glossary of Terms which is Activity 1 in the assignment and will be submitted with the rest of the work on 6th May. Check out this short clip from today's session and we look forward to seeing you at Campus Session 3 on 16th March.

Evening Lecture - Making Public Histories Thursday 18th March 7-8.30pm, at Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Cat Hill

Free Event for Students

David Heathcote is a design historian, writer, curator and broadcaster.
In this lecture he will discuss the ways in which the requirements of different media – whether exhibitions, television programmes or publications – shape the ways that history can be told.

History is almost invariably something that we gain understanding of through its articulation in the public domain. Most historians, however, are woefully unprepared for the work necessary to convert their research into something that the public can read, listen to or view.

Historians rarely suspect, when venturing from the quiet world of the University into the realm of public history, that what awaits them are a vast array of good reasons as to why what they want to state cannot be conveyed as they propose. From the length of lines and legal constraints on seemingly innocent material to the necessity for the historian to appear naked before the audience to tell the story, the public realm has much in common with the gladiatorial arena.

Booking form: http://www.moda.mdx.ac.uk/docs/flyers/makepublichistory.pdf

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Comparing biographical sources

Here are two contrasting sources of the same subject, Bob Fosse, to reflect upon. Each of them tell us something. It would be good to decide for yourself what question is each source trying to answer. The first is Bob Fosse's Obituary in the New York times. The second is an interview (and commentary). This data source has an added dimension in that visual data is available for us to interpret alongside non-verbal data.

Monday, 1 March 2010

Biographical Data

Some research may draw on biographical data for evidence. One source of biographical data is the obituary column. Certain facts can be gleaned from such a source. On the other hand it has its limits. It must be considered who wrote the obituary and in the case of the obituary linked to this blog, the author predeceased the subject by eleven years! Obituaries, by their nature tend to take a positive angle of the subject. Here is an example of the recent obituary from the Guardian of Wendy Toye - dancer turned choreographer and director. After you have read it, reflect upon what is missing from it. Answers in the comments column ....