Jan
Brief Research Method Critique: Public Art Plan Evaluation Strategy
Cairns Regional Councils’ Public Art Plan (2012-2017) draft is on the web for my local community to puruse and comment upon. I signed up to the Your Say: Help shape the future of our region to do exactly that, contribute to our communiy’s growth and development.
You can review the Plan’s Evaluation Strategy here.
Following, I have provided a brief critique of the Strategy. I hope it enables you to read the research methods in journals and text books with a more critical eye. I have not gone into details as to why I propose certain suggestions~ that’s your homework ~:-) Let me know how it goes for you and what you have to add to my critique.
Research Method Critique
Not very comprehensive is it ~:-) Great that it will cover the areas identified as important. Also I like the multi-method approach for data collection, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. But this is not a strategy, it’s a concept.
Will it be data-collection be in English only?
Will the survey include Likert scales? How many items? How sensitive? What about the wording?
If scales, will they use visual indicators to allow the illiterate and visual-based cultures to be able to answer?
Will there be a pilot test?
What kind of demographic information will be collected?
Will an open-answer section be provided to allow a qualitative element to the survey?
If participants are asked if they would like to be contacted regarding a prize/other incentive/further info, will this info be recorded separatly to provide anonymity and confidentiality to the survey responses they have provided?
How will interviewees be recruited? Is the interview schedule to be structured or semi-structured?
What will the case study involve? More details wanted!
Reading a comment today by a fellow Cairns-ite, it was clear that I had missed a glaring fact~ The draft Evaluation Strategy is not inclusive of community participants, it is an outline for a cost-benefits analysis within the Planning group itself. I had assumed it was how the public would be engaged with to determine the success of the projects.
So, to add to my comment, with regards to evaluation with a non-public sample:
Who will be surveyed ? (Ditto all the construction commentary I made above)
How will participants be selected? (e.g., randomly? stratified sample across roles?)
Will the evaluations be done by an independent evaluation team?
What do you think of the proposed Evaluation Strategy?
