Research Technique Assignment

Shannon E. Barry

AAD 630

Research Methodology

Assignment #3

2/3/2015

 

Research Techniques:

Part One: Identify at least two research methods applicable to your emerging research interests.

My research interests are historical in nature. I have formulate a fairly strong idea of what I want to research for my graduate capstone project. Choosing a capstone, instead of a group project or a thesis approach, in itself narrows my approach. My idea, though it is still a work in progress is to study art and arts management in ancient cultures. I specifically want to study ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. I need to narrow down time periods within each culture. But my goal is compare and contrast what art was created, and how art was treated/managed in these cultures. All three have overlaps, but there are vast difference in their basic civilizations, that the way they created art, curated art, and defined art, may vary.

The research methods that I plan to utilize are all types of analysis. Document Analysis will be my main way to process information. Document analysis is the “collection review, interrogation and analysis of various forms of written text as a primary source of research data” (O’Leary, 250). In this technique I will have to be wary of author bias. The other thing I need to be aware of is the credibility of my sources, differentiating between facts and opinions will be vastly important. Another technique I will use is historical analysis. This is the “collection, review, interrogation and analysis of various forms of data in order to establish facts and draw conclusions about past events” (O’Leary, 252). The definition is basically the same as that document analysis, the main difference being that “various forms of data” will be used. One of the other research methods I will use is cultural artefact analysis, which is the “collection, review, interrogation and analysis of various human-made objects in order to ascertain information about the culture of the objects’ creator(s) and users” (O’Leary, 253). All of these techniques will help me to review primary documents, histories and anthologies, new theories, and actual pieces of art and architecture from the various cultures I want to study.

Part Two: Review 1-2 references for each research method you have identified. Prepare a 1-3 page literature review from these books and articles.

To create literature reviews I have chosen to focus on document analysis and historical analysis as they are so similar, but have different uses and sources. For document analysis, I read Document Analysis, by T. Rapley and K.N. Jenkins. This article is broken into multiple sections that center around different approaches to document analysis.

The introduction provides and presents what the article will cover. The next section, Approaches to Analyzing Documents, has a very detailed table that lists various strategies and their components. The table is further explained, “Analytic work on documents can be loosely divided into two areas 1. work that focuses on the actual textual and extra-textual content of documents (meta-synthesis and discourse analysis) and 2. work that focuses on the use, role, and function of documents in interactional and organizational settings (ethnography and ethno-methodological ethnography)” (Rapley and Jenkins).

The next section of the article, Meta-Synthesis: Documents and Creating Evidence, goes over yet another type of analysis. This strategy is used often in education research, but there are still detractors. It is very well explained in the article. “As with quantitative systematic reviewing, this qualitative synthesis work involves searching, evaluation, data extraction, and presentation” (Rapley and Jenkins). Discourse Analysis: Documents Create Realities, is the next part of the article. In this technique, instead of viewing a document as ‘neutral,’ they are seen to create their own realities. To do this type of analysis one must see what type of reality the document creates. This may have to do with author bias, old information, or just the skew of a time period.

The next division in the article is, Ethnography: Documents, Interactions, and Organizations. This approach is able to cover a comprehensive spectrum of sites, activities, and contexts. The next section of the article, Ethno-methodological Ethnography: Documents-in-Interactions, is also centered on ethnographic techniques and ways of thinking. Though they are different, each of these techniques has an application in research using document analysis.

To learn more about the historical analysis technique, I read a study guide by a Boise State professor, to get the basic approach to the method. It was written by Skip Knox. As it is a study guide, used for various classes he teaches, this was written with students in mind. This is to give a basic review of historical analysis, so that it can be used in many ways. Of all of the articles and websites I looked at, this was the only one with a direct explanation of historical analysis and what it can be used for.

The guide is broken into four sections. The first being ‘Analyzing Historical Events.’ This addresses how people look at history and specific events. You cannot look through the information (that comes from multiple sources and points of view) with one cause/motive/effect in mind. One has to be open to multiple important causes, effects, and motives. History may be a past event, but people were as complicated then as they are now. Narrowing your view of what you think happened does not help you research the event fully.

The next section of the website is called ‘The Three Cs.’ It addresses the ways you can look at an event or a history for this type of analysis. The three Cs are; causes, course, and consequences. Breaking the event into these three chronological steps, helps to analyze them in order of time and not by importance. The ‘Four Spheres’ that historical analysis can be used in are politics, economy, society, and culture. All four gain information and perspective by looking at their respective histories. These spheres are another way to divide research.

The last part of the study guide is a summary. This guide was very useful to me. It was written simply and directly. As few of the articles I looked at mentioned how do to historic analysis, they only mentioned that it was a method used by the author. Learning how to do research professionally, I will need basic explanations to get me going on my own work.

Part Three: Outline a hypothetical data collection and analysis approach to your topic using one of these methods, and attach process notes (these will be “open-ended” and we will discuss this more in class).

As my project will be centered on ancient history, I will be doing copious amounts of document analysis. Document analysis is the “collection review, interrogation and analysis of various forms of written text as a primary source of research data” (O’Leary, 250). I will be using man old sources, and old books. I will find as much new research as I possibly can, because although the information we have about ancient cultures may change, our research and interpretations change constantly.

For a typical document analysis for this project, I would find a book, whether new or old from the University of Oregon library.  I prefer to have a physical copy than finding just one chapter online. I like to skim the whole book, even if only one section is of interest to my project. It vastly helps to do this to make sure you understand the point of view of the author, and to get background information. After, I would go to my area of interest in the book and read the whole thing, while taking notes. The next step would be to go back and record more specific and detailed notes. I have used document analysis many times, and I am very comfortable using this to obtain material and evidence for my capstone project.

 

 

 

Bibliography:

  1. Jenkins, K.N., Raley, T. (2010) Document Analysis. International Encyclopedia of Education (Third Edition). Pages 380–385. New Castle University. http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/science/article/pii/B9780080448947015220
  2. Knox, Skip. Professor at Boise State. (Accessed Feb 2015). Study Guide; Historical Analysis. https://europeanhistory.boisestate.edu/studyguide/historicalanalysis.shtml
  3. O’Leary, Zina. (2014). The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC. Sage Publications Ltd.

 

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