16GYP001 Doing Global Research: Block Three Assessment Quantitative analysis using SPSS

16GYP001 Doing Global Research: Block Three Assessment Quantitative analysis PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR ANALYSIS AND REPORT Assignment Instructions The title of your project for quantitative analysis is: “Working in creative clusters in the global city of London: a quantitative analysis” To complete this assignment you must conduct quantitative analysis of a sample of some questionnaire data collected by Dr Allan Watson for a project examining creative work in the music industry in London. This was primary data collected for a real research project. It is intended that using this questionnaire data will give you the opportunity to practice a range of techniques that can be used in your dissertations. To undertake this analysis, you will need the following files from LEARN (under the heading ‘Block 3; Assessment’, there is a folder called ‘Data for quantitative assessment’): 1. The excel spreadsheet containing the questionnaire data, in SPSS format 2. The PDF file which details the questionnaire questions and the coding of the answers to each question. The assignment should include the following sections and activities: 1. Introduction To begin your report, you need to provide a brief introduction to quantitative analysis. Discuss what kinds of questions quantitative analysis address, as opposed to qualitative analysis. Also, you should provide a brief appraisal of a questionnaire as a data collection tool – strengths and weaknesses. It is appropriate here to reference methodological literature. 2 2. Case study For this particular report, you will be working with data from a survey of 63 professionals working in the creative industries in London – specifically the music industry. The questionnaire aims to ascertain the various factors that they consider important to their work. In economic geography, there is a body of literature on the why companies in particular industries co-locate together, to form ‘clusters’, in cities such as London, including the creative industries. In this section you should undertake some independent reading to 1) introduce the concept of clustering; 2) why it is particularly applicable to the creative industries; and 3) the nature of work in the creative industries, for example the importance of reputation and building of social networks. Some recommended reading is highlighted at the end of this document, but you should also look to identify appropriate sources yourself. In order to undertake an analysis of questionnaire data, you should seek to address the following research questions: 1. What do professionals consider to be the key advantages of working in London? 2. Which particular factors are important to the work of professionals in the music industry, and which factors (if any) are unimportant? 3. How important are networking and the development of reputation to these professionals? 4. How does employment status affect: 1) the factors rated as important by creative workers to their work; and 2) their level of cooperation with other firms and their propensity to travel for work? 3. Data Analysis and Discussion In this section, you should describe and discuss the results of an analysis of the questionnaire data. Use the worksheet provided in the Week 8(b) session (available on LEARN) to help you with SPSS. You must produce: • AT LEAST two charts, of different types, produced in either Excel or SPSS. • AT LEAST two frequency charts, produced in SPSS. • AT LEAST two cross-tabulation tables, undertaken in SPSS, with chi squared, for example: o Employment type vs. overseas travel 3 It is worth noting that you can undertake cross-tabulations of elements within and across the different attitude batteries, for example: o Importance of attracting repeat work vs. importance of reputation • AT LEAST two multivariate analyses of means tables, undertaken in SPSS, with ANOVA, for example: o Employment types vs. factors important to doing job o Employment types vs. key factors in being successful in role Note: we used a smaller sample of this questionnaire data in the week 8(b) session. It is acceptable to reproduce the analyses you undertook in this session towards this assignment. Discuss what the results of your analysis shows you in relation to the research questions. What did you find out about ‘Creative workers in the global city of London’? Here it is expected that you will once again incorporate some academic literature on the creative economy. Does the data broadly support what is stated in the literature? PLEASE NOTE that all charts and tables should be presented in an appendix, not in the main report, and each given a caption formatted as follows: Figure 1: This table displays a cross-tabulation of employment type and overseas work All figures should be referenced in the text of your discussion. 4. Conclusion By way of a conclusion, we would like you to reflect on the following: • What more have cross-tabulations and multivariate analysis allowed you tom reveal about the data that you wouldn’t have found out had you simply produced some charts in Excel? • What are the limitations with regards using a quantitative analysis to study these questions? How might qualitative analysis deepen our understanding? • If you are considering using a questionnaire in your dissertation study, in what ways might these techniques be useful and what might they help you to find out? 4 The report must not exceed a maximum of 8 sides and follow departmental guidelines for submission, as set out in your handbook. As noted, all charts and tables should be included in an appendix, which does not count towards the overall page limit. Recommended reading On music industry clusters (see especially question A2): Watson, A. (2008) “Global music city: knowledge and geographical proximity in London's recorded music industry” Area 40: 12–23 On networking and reputation (see especially question C1): Watson, A. (2012) “Sociological Perspectives on the Economic Geography of Projects: The Case of Project-Based Working in the Creative Industries” Geography Compass, 6: 617–631 Watson, A (2015) Cultural production in and beyond the recording studio London and New York: Routledge – Chapter 10 (available as an e-book from the library) On mobility/travel in the music industry (see especially questions C2 and C3): Watson, A. and Beaverstock, J.V. (2016) “Transnational freelancing: Ephemeral creative projects and mobility in the music recording industry” Environment and Planning A 48 (7): 1428 - 1446