Final Assignment: Research plan

Final assignment for everybody, individual task: draft a research plan. Minimum 3 pages.

You can either:
1. use this as an occasion to draft a plan for your MA thesis project.
2. use some other project of yours and expand that into a research project.
3. use the Puuvilla case, and the materials and ideas presented during the course, and draft a research plan for a hypothetical project. 

Deadline for the assignment:
a. those who participate in CBM seminar: we will discuss your plan either in the seminar 5.3. or 9.4. Thus for those who can have their plan ready sooner, send it to me by 4.3. latest. For the others deadline is 15.3.
b. for those who do not participate in the CBM seminar, deadline is also 15.3. - I will send you written comments or we can agree a meeting.

Use either these guidelines for MA thesis plan:

1) The thesis title, student’s name, department, (not necessary:presentation date and thesis seminar instructor, as well as the student’s own proposal for the thesis supervisor(s)).
2) The thesis assignment, research question and possible contributing questions specified for the thesis.
3) Starting points and background for the thesis. Perspective, connection to a broader whole and previous research, as well as possible personal criteria for selection of the subject.
4) Methodical selections for the thesis, i.e. what means will be used to answer the questions posed, how the student plans to collect materials, definition of the subject and analysis.
5) Selections concerning thesis reporting, i.e. how the student plans to explain the research process and its results. ETA: in case you plan a production part for your thesis, think about documentation, and about the relation of the written and the production parts.
6) Planned schedule for completing the thesis.
7) Plan for the handling of possible confidential information in the completion and presentation of the thesis.
8) Copyright and other immaterial rights issues possibly applicable to the thesis. 

Or the DA application guidelines (see the link for full instructions)

• 1. Title and abstract  (0,5 pages)
• 2. Introduction to the research topic and literature review (1,5-2 pages)
• 3. Objectives and methods (2 pages)
• 4. Results and ethical questions (0,5 pages)
• 5. Schedule (1 page)
• 6. References (1-1,5 pages)

Assignment 4. Artistic research

You can either do an individual artistic research, or form a team for the task.

Choose a question you want to study - note it down.

Choose an artistic medium through which you want to study - installation, performance, video, painting, what you will. Why this medium? What can you see, think, find, make visible through the medium?

Do the work. 

How do you document the work? What role does documentation play?

How will you present the work? What role does the presentation play?

What did you find out through the work?

Also think about a written part in relation to your work.

- what kind of topics should you study?

- what would the role of the written part be? Its relation to the work?

Artistic Research

If you like, please read the resume on artistic research from the 2011 course.

Here some literature and links:

Kirkkopelto, Esa (2008) New Start: Artistic Research in Finnish Theatre Academy in Nordic Theatre Studies. The Artist as Researcher.

A guide to sc "practice-based research" by Linda Candy of University of Technology of Sydney.

The functions of the written text in practice-based PhD submissions  by Katie MacLeod - who has also written a book on the subject.

Mika Hannula, Juha Suoranta & Tere Vaden, Artistic Research. Theories, Methods, Practices. Gothenburg University/ArtMonitor & University of Fine Arts, Helsinki, 2005.

Basics of Artistic Reserch by Juha Varto. University of Art and Design Helsinki B94. Gummerus 2009.

Borgdorff, Henk. (2006) The debate on researchin the arts. 

Assignment 3. Visual Culture methods and approaches.

Assignment 3: visual data analysis.

We are looking at construction of supermarkets/malls and public space, through the case of Puuvilla. This time you will choose some of the approaches or methods introduced by Reijo to look at some visual material, “data”, concerning the case. This time I’m giving the teams different materials to look at, not different approaches.

Please note: "Pori Lounge", the upstairs room with a sofa and a chair has a bookshelf where Reijo and I have tried collecting some books on methods. Feel free to consult!

1.     Look at official representations of the project. Heta, Opri, Corey.

Choose an approach: why that one? Make notes.

Report what you find.

How will you use the visual material in reporting?

2.     Look at images/photos people have taken of the site. Essi, Juste, Neea, Gerardo.

Choose an approach: why that one? Make notes.

Why did the people take the photos? What do the photos mean to them?

What do you see in them?

Report.

How will you use the visual material in reporting?

Tip: Our Jukka has taken at least some pictures. Also prof Jaakko Suominen was taking photos.

3.     Analyze the site itself as a visual ensamble. Mette, Sari, Teie.

Choose an approach: why that one? Make notes.

Report what you find.

How can you make visible what you “saw”?

Assignment 2: Ethnography

Ethnography means data you collect yourself, through interviews, observation or documents in the case. We are looking at construction of supermarkets/malls and public space, through the case of Puuvilla. I will give each team a different angle:

1.     Interview decision-makers/ the constructing firm/ urban planners.

Decide why you want to interview few chosen key informants/ and who the informants would be.

Decide how you interview them (by phone is ok).

Make notes about the choices; and about the whole process of getting to interview the informants.

Make a list of questions or topics you want to cover.

You do not need to record the interviews, but consider how you would document them, and make notes about how you did.

What did you find out? Write a short report – include your notes about the process!

Ps: please, to save us time: ask for official images of the plans, proposals,  brochures etc. This will be for the next assignment.

2.     Interview people working or studying in Puuvilla.

Decide who and why those (students/ teaching staff/ etc…)

Where will you interview them? How will you choose the persons? (even random is ok, just make notes why and think how it affects the results…)

Make notes about the choices and about the process of interviewing people.

Make a list of questions or topics you want to cover.

You do not need to record the interviews, but consider how you would document them, and makes notes about how you did.

What did you find out? Write a short report – include your notes about the process!

Ps: you too, to save time, could ask also if people have been documenting, photographing the construction and ask if you could use those, for the next assignment. For that I have however also a few suggestions.

3.     Observations: observe what happens to the space and the people moving in the space.

The snag here is of course that we do not have the time-span to see what there was before, what there is now and what there will be when the construction is finished. Thus, your first task is to decide what precisely do you want to focus on. People, traffic, usage of space – inner yard, street, construction itself etc.

Then decide how to document your observations.

Where will you be? Do you want to be visible?

You can also include interviews if you think it is necessary.

Besides documentation, also note the decisions, and the process.

What did you find out? Write a short report – include your notes about the process!

Ethnography 29.1.

Some readings:

Michel Genzuk: A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research - a nice compact text.

See also the study-blog entry for 2011: here

Action research: Rory O'Brien: Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research

(Sociological) Intervention: Jacques Hamel: Sociology, Common Sense and Qualitative Methodology.

Design Probes: Tuuli Mattelmäki: Design Probes. (You can download this as pdf straight from internets.)

Design Research: Liz Sanders: An Evolving Map of Design Practices and Design Research (maybe a good overview in case you're interested.)

Assignment 1.: Texts and Concepts

Teams:

Heta, Opri and Corey
Juste, Neea and Gerardo
Mette, Sari and Teie

Assignment 1. Texts and Concepts.

Everybody in the team reads
- Henna's article, for basic view on Puuvilla and the topic of supermarkets and public space.
- Stephen Ho's thesis on Shopping Mall as Privately Owned Public Space.

Optional: read or scroll Margaret Kohn's book on privatization of public space and supermarkets.

In the texts, identify at least one concept - or conceptual set-up - which you think would apply to the Puuvilla supermarket construction -case.

Please me also notes, and describe the concept; and how you find it could be applied to Puuvilla -case; and why. Half a page is enough.

Tuesday 29.1. we will begin with your notes, and then go on to ethnographic research and design research.