DATA, DESIGN & THE CITY

DATA, DESIGN & THE CITY JAMES STEWART & MORGAN CURRIE 13 FEBRUARY 2019

announcements

(5 min.) • Reflect on how your team worked together. • What are some of the benefits of teamwork? What were some difficulties? How might your team work better moving ahead? Just writing

Questionnaire data

Data organisation and storage • External communication: recruitment and contacting stakeholders • Visual presentation of evidence, data, and slides to give consistency • Internal organisation: making sure your group stays on track! Group organisation

Focus groups guidance (main document). Everyone on the team should read this! • Guidance for focus groups. 1 or 2 people on the team will take this role • Checklists: keep track of what your team needs to prepare and do on the day of documents

Originated in media and comm studies to get feedback on programs and movies, but now popular in many fields (health services, design, etc) • Small group discussions around specific questions, moderated by a researcher (DDC team member) • You get a range of viewpoints/feedback more quickly than through interviewing multiple people • Gathers qualitative data, which means you can ask exploratory ’how’ questions – this is not about numbers, causations, predictions Focus group basics

Not only captures what people think but how they feel and why they think that way • Group interaction is part of the method - Interpersonal communication can highlight cultural values and group norms • Schedule one-hour slots – this is short! Focus group basics

Discussion questions should follow from your goals and help you meet them. • 1 hour slot = 40 min for discussion = MAX 4 questions • Ask yourself if people would feel comfortable discussion this with a group of strangers • After creating questions, check backwards: will those questions actually help you meet your goal? Focus group goals

A focus group is about exploration and discussion rather than definitive answers • You can: • Follow up with questions/interesting things identified in the design sprint • Seek feedback on early stage ideas • Explore something entirely different from the sprint • First, your group should discuss and agree what they want to find out or explore during the focus group Discussion questions

Ask about people’s experiences, understanding, and meaning. Answers are descriptive. ‘Do you think recycling is a good thing?’ ‘Do you prioritise recycling and reuse, and why or why not?’ • Avoid leading questions or vague questions. Good questions don’t imply a value judgement • Prepare follow-up questions or prompts to get people to elaborate. A good follow up question is to ask for a specific example or reason Good questions

Just produce numbers • Are in any way uncomfortable – avoid questions that touch on peoples’ financial situations, health conditions, religious beliefs, etc • Steer participants in any way poor questions

Order questions based on importance. • Most important question SECOND so you can build up to it by first getting participants comfortable. • Least important question last ordering questions

Ask participants to be respectful of each other – ie, it’s fine to disagree, but no attacks • Say you would like to hear something from everyone about each question and may invite someone to speak if they’ve been silent • Remind them that time is limited and you may have to move on to the next question • Remind them there are no right or wrong answers! • Ask people to mute cell phones Focus group rules

Min 0-10: Explain purpose and contribution, consent info, sign paperwork • Min 10-15: quick introductions that give names and context • At Min. 15 moderator introduces first question and reminds people about ‘rules’ • Min 15-50: Main discussion, with 2-4 questions. You decide how long to spend on each question • Min 50-55: start wrapping up • Min 55-60: Close. Thank participants and remind them to contact you with any questions schedule

This is next, after setting your goals and questions • Which people would best help you explore your problem area and questions? Who are the stakeholders? • Be strategic. Try to recruit 4-5 ‘best’ people and avoid those who cannot help you with your question • Participants: consider whether you want similar/different (range of opinions and behaviours), informed/naïve (no particular knowledge of the topic) recruitment

There’s lots to do – divide it up! Make sure one person doesn’t get stuck with the big stuff! • Drafting questions is surprisingly hard. Don’t leave to one person and don’t do this last minute • Recruitment and logistics: where? What time? • Main FG roles: • Moderator runs the discussion (most important) • Camera/audio person and timekeeper • Note taker (1-2 people) • Someone to gather paperwork and fill out research ethics form Division of labour

You must capture your focus group with either video or audio • Notes are helpful as first stage of analysis: flagging the unexpected, generating questions, finding emerging themes, noting disagreements/agreements, anything to follow up later • Notes are not meant to create a record of the focus group • Test your a/v equipment ahead of time! Make sure you know how to get files off the device. • Store your a/v files immediately in a secure place on the University server • You can rent cameras, tripods, and audio recording from Learning Spaces Technology: learningspacestechnology@ed.ac.uk Data capture

Be sure to bring TWO copies of this per participant • Have each participant sign two copies, and you keep one • per Consent form

Select myself or James as supervisor and course organiser • State that there are no risks to participants • You don’t collect any data without consent • You collect sensitive data (consent forms, audio/video) but you will store this on University servers and destroy it once you create transcriptions and after the course is over. • Only students and course supervisor have access to raw data, and data will not be made available for secondary use • Files will be securely disposed by deleting them from the university server • You do require consent (only participant) and it will be written and oral consent Research ethics form

Recruitment • Space and time to hold focus group • Equipment – camera and/or audio • Consent form • Research Ethics form • See checklist doc: https://edinburghlivinglab.github.io/ddc/course_docs/DDS_focus_groups_checklist.pdf practicalities

We’ll give team support and feedback • Groups need to agree on goals of focus group and have something written down about them • Groups need a first draft of discussion questions. Anything you have at that point is ok! • Identify target participants: who could help you meet your goals? • Start to figure out roles, recruitment, space, equipment On friday

We’ll focus on analysing your focus group • You’ll watch and transcribe your focus group audio • We will do much of this in class After the break

Use of existing data • Different types of data • Analysis the problem and its explanations • Presentation of data • Overall presentation quality • Framing the problem, with quant and qual • Use of scientific evidence and theory • Engagement with regulation • Engagement with existing interventions • Identification of stakeholders • Identification of target people and orgs • What did you learn about who to talk to and how? • Analysis of methodological process • Issues of collecting representative data? Group feedback

Reflect on how your group works together • Reflect on feedback • What did you learn from other presentations and project ideas? Group reflection time

DATA, DESIGN & THE CITY