Category: Past Virtual Study Groups

On Wednesday, September 24, 2014, the Cultural Research Network held a virtual study group on the topic of “Vetting arts research: peer-review vs. client-review”. This conversation featured:

• Ann Galligan
  Associate professor and co-op coordinator for the Department of Art + Design Program in Creative Industries at Northeastern University.
  Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society
• Alan Brown
  Principal, WolfBrown

Research in the arts and other areas is typically subject to review and revision before it is shared with the world. In academia, peer review is the standard system for evaluating research quality and relevance in advance of publication or conference presentation. In commissioned or commercial research, a range of formal and informal processes critique and inform the final work.

This virtual study group explored the mechanics, logic, and context of reviewing and revising arts research inside and outside of academia, encouraging discussion about how these systems support (or don’t support) the development and dissemination of rigorous, timely, and relevant research.

On June 12, 2014, the Cultural Research Network hosted a virtual study group on “Indexing cultural data.” A brief introduction:

“How can we measure the arts and culture of a city or region? Can we collect arts and culture data in such a way that cities or regions can compare themselves to each other and identify local strengths? Two efforts to do just that are explored in this virtual study group: WESTAF’s Cultural Vitality Index (CVI) and Americans for the Arts’ National and Local Art Indices.

In this VSG, urban planner Anna Muessig described how she used the CVI in research she did for the city of Minneapolis, and Roland Kushner talked about development of AFTA’s LAI.”

Notes from the VSG are available here and below.

VSG-Index_Webinar_Notes

On April 28, 2014, the Cultural Research Network held a “virtual Pecha Kucha” session. Five presenters offered 20 slides each, at 20 seconds per slide, all with the added excitement and unpredictability of video conferencing. Brave souls.

You can find each presentation below. Or browse all of them through the CRN’s Vimeo Channel.

Thanks to all of our presenters for diving into this grand experiment. And thanks also for all who attended to learn and contribute to the conversation.

———-

William Penrose, Research Center for Arts and Culture
“Quick Overview of Research on Artists”

 

Bonnie Nichols, National Endowment for the Arts
“Keeping My Day Job: Identifying U.S Workers Who Have Dual Careers as Artists”

 

Kristin Thomson, Future of Music Coalition
“Health Insurance and Artists”

 

Nick Rabkin, reMaking Culture
“Teaching Artists: A Century of Tradition and a Commitment to Change”

 

Jean Cook, Future of Music Coalition
“US Musicians Revenue Streams”

On March 6, 2014, the Cultural Research Network hosted a virtual study group exploring “Cultural data: landscape and directions.” We discussed arts datasets in the US, challenges for collecting and using arts data effectively, and the future of the Cultural Data Project.

Panelists:
Beth Tuttle, Cultural Data Project
Margaret Wyszomirski, Ohio State University
Sarah Lee, Slover-Linett

Moderator:
Anne Gadwa Nicodemus, Metris Arts Consulting

Notes from the webinar are available here and below.

VSG-CDP_Webinar_Notes

On February 21, 2014, Carlos Manjarrez moderated a virtual study group focusing on two recently created resources to better assist individuals sorting through culture research: Createquity’s Arts Policy Library (APL) and the Arts Education Partnership’s Arts EdSearch (AES). The panelists included Ian David Moss of Createquity and Fractured Atlas, and Sandra Ruppert of the Arts Education Partnership.

Detailed notes from this study group are available here and below.

2.21.14_VSG_ArtsEdSearch&CreatequityPolicyLib

On Monday January 13, 2014, the Cultural Research Network hosted a virtual study group on coding methodology for qualitative researchers.

Based on workshops he has given for researchers from a diverse array of fields, Johnny Saldaña presented an overview of coding methods that can be adapted for almost any qualitative research situation.  In preparation for the virtual study group, Johnny shared a chapter manuscript from his forthcoming contribution to The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods, edited by Patricia Leavy.

Biography:
Johnny Saldaña is the Evelyn Smith Professor of Theatre in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts’ School of Film, Dance, and Theatre at Arizona State University.  His most recent books include:

• Fundamentals of Qualitative Research (Oxford University Press, 2011),
• Ethnotheatre: Research from Page to Stage (Left Coast Press, 2011) recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s Qualitative Research Special Interest Group’s 2012 Outstanding Book Award
• The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers, second edition (Sage Publications, 2013)

Saldaña has published articles in journals such as Youth Theatre Journal, Stage of the Art, Teaching Theatre, Research in Drama Education, Research Studies in Music Education, Multicultural Perspectives, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, and Qualitative Inquiry. He has also published chapters on research methods for such titles as Arts-Based Research in Education, Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research, Handbook of Longitudinal Research, New Approaches to Qualitative Research,  Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice, The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods, and  entries for The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods.

Saldaña’s research methods in longitudinal qualitative inquiry, ethnodrama, and qualitative coding and data analysis have been applied and cited by researchers internationally to explore topics including education, the fine arts, the social sciences, business, government, technology, health care, and medicine.

He is currently at work on Thinking Qualitatively: Methods of Mind; in development for 2015 publication by Sage Publications.

You can access his full CV here.

You can access notes from the study group here and below.

1.13.2014_VSG_CodingMethodologiesforQualRe

On November 21, 2014, the Cultural Research Network hosted a virtual study group webinar with Zannie Voss of the National Center for Arts Research (NCAR) at Southern Methodist University. Zannie discussed NCAR and its inaugural State of the Arts report. The NCAR report shares evidence-based insights from their first exploration into the health of U.S. arts and cultural organizations, using secondary data from a variety of sources.

Kiley Arroyo, Deputy Research Director of Sustain Arts, facilitated the discussion.

Notes from the study group discussion are available online and below.

11.21.13_VSG_NCARStateoftheArts

On July 22, 2013, the Cultural Research Network hosted a virtual study group on the National Endowment for the Arts report, How Art Works: The National Endowment for the Arts Five-Year Research Agenda, with a System Map and Measurement Model.

This seemed like an excellent point of entry to frame a larger discussion about how we, as cultural researchers, conceptualize our work and where holes might lie in this proposed ”system map.”

Here’s a description of the report:

How do you measure how art works — on people, on communities, or on society? It’s a broad question, and the National Endowment for the Arts offers an ambitious plan to “map” the arts to better understand and measure this complex, dynamic system. How Art Works describes the agency’s five-year research agenda, framed and informed by a groundbreaking “system map” and measurement model. The map is grounded in the theory that arts engagement contributes to quality of life in a virtuous cycle from the individual level to the societal level, and back. The map helps illustrate the dynamic, complex interactions that make up this particular system, from “inputs” such as education and arts infrastructure, to “outcomes” such as benefits of the arts to individuals and communities. The NEA developed the map through a series of dialogues with researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the arts, economics, education, health, and other fields.

Guest speakers for this event included:

• Sunil Iyengar, Director of Research and Analysis for the National Endowment for the Arts
• Tony Siesfeld of Monitor Institute, the organization that prepared the manuscript upon which the report is based.

The discussion was hosted by Anne Gadwa Nicodemus.