Dianne's Page

DM Methodology

DM Questions, assumptions

Getting started:

Canvas International schools as to who may be interested in participating in the research into the Literary Festival via the ALESS group.

The following email was sent to the ALESS listerve. I know most of the members personally, so the tone of the letter was quite informal.

Dear all,

Hope you had a nice break.

I am processing a research project I would like to do which is something I have been wanting to do for a number of years, the research question is:

Do author visits and literary festivals make a positive impact on the reading culture of the school? with particular focus on the HK literary Festival.

This is of interest to me as so much money and time is spent on these events - do they really make a difference? Are they worth the time and money we put into them?  Subjectively we can say yes, but objectively?? Not sure.

I would like to know if anyone is interested in helping me in this quest by allowing me to access their circulation statistics before, during and after the festival. I will also need to interview students, teachers and parents and so will need permission from your Principal to conduct the research in your school.

I would also need you to keep a record of the amount of time you dedicate to organising the visits to the literary festival, and your expenditure.

As yet, I have not devised the measuring instruments as I thought I would canvas the group to see if anyone would be interested in being a part of this. Once I have this, I will create the intruments for your and your Principals information. You can withdraw at any time after you have indicated interest.

Although the focus is mainly on the HK literary festival, if you are having an author visit your school, I would be also interested in researching the impact of this, and possibly being able to compare the impact of individual vists to huge events.

If you have even the slightest interest in helping me out on this, could you let me know. It may mean a bit more time spent on recording time spent on organisation (like a time sheet) but this will be kep to a minimum.

Thanks and I look forward to being overwhelmed with offers!

Responses recieved:

Sounds interesting. Is that enough to dob me in.