Erica Hargreave

Bringing Stories to Life as a Speaker, & Digital & Immersive Media Strategist & Storyteller

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Storytelling with Qualitative Research

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Recently, I have been diving into the worlds of qualitative and mixed methods research in my ETEC 500 Course for my Master of Educational Technology. I’ve really enjoyed this Unit of the course, as it involves one of my greatest passions – storytelling. In the mix, I have discovered a new-to-me researcher, speaker, and storyteller, whose words and advice make me smile – Dr. John W Creswell.

Dr. Creswell talks about the importance of story in sharing qualitative research, as well as combining numbers and qualitative research to tell a story – the latter of which is called mixed methods research. I have to say I love the stories that he tells, and while the importance of collecting and sharing people’s stories for our collective knowledge, and combining those with numbers is nothing new to documentarians, anthropologists, and ethnographers to name a few – Dr. Creswell has helped to champion their importance in certain research fields, like educational research. He’s written a few books topic, of which I suspect I will be diving into soon. In case you are interested, here is the book on Mixed Methods Research mentioned in the talk I linked to above, and below are a few more recent publications of his:

In this Unit’s course work, the question of “What do qualitative researchers do that quantitative researchers do not? What research skills do qualitative researchers have to have that quantitative researchers do not?” were posed. This made me smile, as I believe that many of the skills that allow qualitative researchers to conduct their research well are similar to those skills that allow documentarians, anthropologists, and ethnographers to do their jobs well; and they are many of the skills that I love and highly value. These are skills that Dr. John W Creswell explores in his book, 30 Essential Skills for the Qualitative Researcher.

Loving my time with Hwiemtun, as we connect over an interview, during the filming of Season 1 of Naturally Ours : Naturally Salt Spring.

In my own experience as a documentary storyteller, many of the skills that are important to both qualitative research and documentary storytelling have to do with setting people at ease, making people feel safe, and creating a sense of trust. While some of these skills may be beneficial to a quantitive researcher, the quantitative researcher tends to keep more of a distance and a disconnect between themselves and their study subjects in their research, so as not to allow their personal bias to impact the data that they collect. Whereas, in qualitative research, creating connection between yourself – the researcher and the interview subject is of vital importance in creating a safe and trusted atmosphere for the interview subject to share. These are all things that Dr. Leslie Curry explores in her series of videos on the Fundamentals of Qualitative Research for the Yale University Global Health Leadership Institute, like in this video where Dr. Curry talks about interview skills in qualitative research:

Key to qualitative research is researching and creating a list of interview questions in advance of an interview that are targeted to answer your research question and delve deeper into the area of research you are exploring. It is important with these questions not to allow your own bias to slip in, leading your interview subjects in their response. While qualitative researchers will create a list of standard questions for their interview subjects, it can also be helpful to research your individual interview subject in advance and to have some questions that would lend to the area of qualitative inquiry that are specific to the interview subject. This contrasts quantitative research, where it is important that researchers ensure that the questions and conditions for each research subject in a particular study group are similar.

Researching the interview subject also helps the interviewer in qualitative research to better think on their feet, and respond to unexpected opportunities within the interview, based on ideas being shared by the interview subject. It is for this reason, that it is important for the interviewer to be an active listener in the interview and be present in the moment. This is also where experience is a huge asset. If your interviewer is familiar with the subject matter and can come up with questions in the moment, it is possible to extract a much fuller and richer interview from the interview subject. It is for this reason why in the world of documentary filmmaking, we should not be selecting hosts based on their youth or subjective beauty, but rather on their experience and ability to interview documentary subjects in a richer, more informed manner.

Being taken on a journey in the magic canoe, by Briony Penn as she speaks about her mentor, Cecil Paul, in an interview.

While it helps to be able to think on your feet and ask questions in the moment in an interview, that can be a double edged sword, as you do need to stay on track when interviewing a subject in conducting qualitative research, both out of respect for the interview subject’s time and to ensure you get the information that you need for your study. For me, this is my biggest challenge as an interviewer, and why when we are shooting our documentaries, it is great to work with a Director like Kelly Conlin, that can keep me from straying too far from the subject, and can catch any holes we miss in the interview. It is possible to work in a team in qualitative research when conducting interviews too, but this is also where having your pre-established questions with you, will help. It is also important to remember that in some circumstances, you need to allow the interview subject to speak in whichever direction they wish. This is often the case when the interview subject is First Nations, as it would be considered rude to interrupt to steer them back to the pre-scripted question. In such cases, you just need to schedule for extra time, and let the interview unfold as it will. Often in such cases, you end up with much richer stories than you ever envisioned.

Enjoying being in the moment in this interview with Cornelia J Krikke, as she talks about healing and sparking creativity through connecting with nature.

In processing your interviews, you as the qualitative researcher become a storyteller. Like the documentary filmmaker, you need to figure out how best to layout the research from all of the stories people have shared with you (and the numbers, in the case of mixed methods research) in a way that captures your reader’s attention and takes them on a journey. This is one of the many things that I love about this form of research. For me, it is fun, and amazing in what you discover when you take an interest and give people the space to share their stories.

I recently have had the opportunity to conduct some qualitative research with Mary McDonald into Sustainable Funding Models Around Storytelling Projects with Educational Application. We are sharing these to StoryToGo, in the form of Case Studies. You can begin to explore with the case studies that Mary McDonald developed around the interviews that she conducted, and stay tuned for more case studies from the interviews Lori Yearwood and I conducted in September.

If you’ve been doing some qualitative research, I’d love to learn more about it, and any tips that you might have in conducting qualitative research. Tell me about it / them in the comments below.

Works Cited

Creswell, J. W. (2015). 30 essential skills for the qualitative researcher. Sage Publications.

Creswell, J. W. (2013, March 1). Telling a Complete Story with Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5e7kVzMIfs

Curry, L. (2015, June 23). Fundamentals of Qualitative Research Methods: Interviews (Module 3). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PhcglOGFg8

Hargreave, E., & Yearwood, L. (2018). Naturally Ours, the Web Series. [online] Roamancing. Available at: https://stareable.com/series/view/naturally-ours-rediscovering-canadas-parks

Reconnecting with Nature, Like You Did As A Kid

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Recently I had the pleasure of spending some time on Salt Spring Island, as we shot the Pilot Episode for a new documentary series, Naturally Ours – on parks, and how and who they inspire.

Filming Naturally Ours at Ruckle Heritage Farm
Kelly Conlin filming Mike Lane and his Highland Cattle at Ruckle Heritage Farm.

Now for those of you that know me well, you will know that among my great pleasures in life are travel, spending time in nature, and storytelling.  So really I was in my element on Salt Spring.  However, and as should come as no shock to many of you, in order to get away to spend time telling tales, I had been doing too much before I left, and my mind was still reeling with all that needed doing, along with work calls coming in from the big smoke.

For all of these reasons and many more, I feel so fortunate to have met a wonderful woman, Cornelia J Krikke of Transformative Practice Studios, who ended up being one of the subjects of our documentary. In the course of filming, Cornelia introduced me to some of her practices in reconnecting people with nature – to ground, to bring peace, to open up your mind to the world around you, to awaken your creativity …

In the trees.

While in reality I was working at the time, by the end of the interview I felt like I’d just been to the spa. It was so much fun, I felt so present and connected, and it relaxed me.

I am not going to begin to attempt to explain the philosophy in what Cornelia did in reconnecting me with nature – I will leave that for the documentary. I do, however, want to show you a few of the simple things that we did in our short time together that relaxed me and made me feel like a kid again.  While some of it might give you a chuckle, I do recommend it as the best kind of anti-anxiety medication for all that is going on in the world at the moment, and a great pattern for taking a bit of ‘me time’ in the New Year.

Take off your shoes and visualize Earth’s energy flowing up through you, or your own roots growing deep into the Earth.

stocking feet in the snow

Lie back in a natural space, get comfortable, and enjoy a different perspective on  the world.

Erica Hargreave making snow angels

Introduce yourself to a tree.

(No really, introduce yourself to the tree first – especially if you want to give it a hug, as can you imagine someone you’ve never met, all of a sudden hugging you?  On this note: my apologies to all the trees I’ve hugged without introducing myself. Really I am not a tree hugging harlot. Again, my apologies.)

Touching a tree.

Climb to a safe branch on the tree, that you can lie back on, and simply be.lying on a tree

Now, if this isn’t safely possible to do, lean with your back to the tree instead, and let the energy flow between the two of you.

hug a treeNow that you’ve spent a little quality time together, it should be okay to hug the tree in thanks, before parting ways for the day.

Yes, you may be chuckling and pondering whether I fell out of the tree and hit my head, but think back – you’ve done such things before too, when you were a kid.  Do you remember how it felt?  Pretty gosh darn good, I bet.  So why did you stop doing it?

Ultimately for me, this is what my New Year’s Resolution is – taking the time to reconnect myself with nature, be a kid again and not care who is watching.

Pokemon Go: Teaching Your Kids to Use Pokemon Go Safely

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Pokemon spotted at the at Mei Foo Skatepark.
Pokemon spotted at the at Mei Foo Skatepark, by Warren RM Stuart.

Love it or hate it – if you have school age kids, you can’t simply ignore the Pokemon Go App, hope it goes away or hope that your kids don’t discover it.  The fact of the matter, even if your kids don’t have a smartphone or tablet, they’ve probably already been playing Pokemon Go with their friends on their devices.  So just like having that dreaded sex talk with your kids, I’d advice not hiding the smartphone or tablet, hoping that they don’t try it.  Have the Pokemon Go safety talk with them before it’s too late.

Pokemon Go hunter in Japan.
Photo of a Pokemon Go hunter in Japan, care of Nagi Usano.

If you think, “not my kid – they won’t play – I’ve told them not to”, think again. A friend and I were chatting about this the other day on the phone.  She’d told her teens the app was dangerous and had them delete it from their phones; then as we were talking, she saw them wandering up the road, staring into their phones, oblivious to the rest of their surroundings.  They are good kids and are smart, but friends had been playing it at the beach, earlier in the day, and they were hooked again – “what harm could it do?” So my friend hopped off the phone with me, to sit down with them and have ‘the talk’.

Pokemon spotted by by Charlie Boy Criscola.
Pokemon spotted by by Charlie Boy Criscola.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against the Pokemon Go App – it kind of opens up a world of magic, which I love, but I’d love to see it kept in the realm of good magic, as oppose to opening up to tragedy and horrors, which often go hand in hand with good magic in the storybook realm.  In that bent, it is good to understand the potential dangers associated with the Pokeman Go App, so that you can advice your kids (and yourselves) on how to stay safe while you have fun playing. Here is a great video on just that, that the Miami PD recently shared: Social Media 101:Pokemon Go.  Do give it a watch.

Here are a few tips to keep your kids (and yourself) safe while playing Pokemon Go:

Hunting for Pokemon.
Photo care of Angie Six.

  • Stay aware of your surroundings.
    • Predators have been known to hangout at Pokemon Go hotspots, watching for the unsuspecting players.
    • Watch where you are going, so you don’t put yourself in harm’s way – like in traffic.
  •  Don’t meet up with strangers to hunt Pokemon, especially at night.

  • Hunt Pokemon with a friend (that you actually know from the real world – not just online), rather than on your own.
    • Watch out for each other’s safety.
    • Just because someone approaches you that is also playing the game, does not mean that they are safe. Listen to your spidey senses and use the usual cautions that you would with a stranger.
  • Put the game away while riding a bike, roller blades, a skateboard or driving a car.
  • Respect private property.
    • A virtual critter inside someone’s home or someone else’s land does not give you the right to enter, and by doing so you could put yourself in danger or at risk of criminal charges.

On the note of respect, also remind your kids to be respectful of the places they are in.  Just as you should respect other people’s property, it is also important to respect memorial sites.  They are plenty of other places to hunt Pokemon, without disturbing a sacred place and upsetting others.  (I suspect with how the app works, Pokemon are only showing up in those places, as they are geolocating where you are, and popping Pokemon up nearby. If you leave this area be, those Pokemon will pop up in more respectful place instead.)

A couple of kids making new Pokemon friends with their Dad.
A couple of kids making new Pokemon friends with their Dad. Photo by Andrés Alvarez.

Now go have fun hunting Pokemon with your kids, and teach them how to be safe and respectful about it in the process.

Digitally yours,

Erica

History & Technology Merge with the Fairmont Château Laurier’s History App

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I am a bit of a history buff!  One of my secret desires is to one day write a historic thriller.

For that reason, one of my favourite past times in a new place is actually taking a historic tour of the place I am staying in.  I can almost hear as I say this, the cringing of some of those I’ve travelled with, who find hotel tours to be a sales / marketing pitch, and while some can be, others can be the most magnificent journeys back in history.  As I write this, I am remembering a glorious afternoon in Memphis spent with the Assistant Duckmaster & Hotel Historian at the Peabody, Doug Weatherford. I really could not have asked for a more delightful way to have spent the afternoon, then walking back in Memphis history with Doug.  In fact, this visit was one of the highlights of trip to Memphis, better than my tour of Gibson Guitars, better than my visit to Stax Records, and WAY better than the circus that was Graceland. At any rate, I will write more about my adventure back in time with Doug another day on Roamancing. Today, I want to to put my tech specs on in combination with my historian hat, as I take you further North to the Fairmont Château Laurier.

Fairmont Château Laurier in Ottawa
Fairmont Château Laurier, an Ottawa hotel rich in history.

This past spring on a visit to Ottawa, I was fortunate enough to stay at the Fairmont Château Laurier, a hotel steeped in history, a history I wanted to learn more about. Rather than give me an actual tour, the hotel asked me if I could try out their new interactive history tour.  Being a bit of a tech nerd, and loving seeing and experiencing examples of technology being used to educate and tell story, I readily agreed.

Right now the Fairmont Château Laurier’s history tour is available on iPads and tablets, although I rather hope that it will at some point be available on other devices, like smart phones. Anybody with an iPad or tablet can take the tour for free, whether they are a guest or not, they just need to download the Fairmont Château Laurier History App (from the links I’ve provided in this paragraph).  If you don’t have an iPad or tablet, but are fortunate enough to be a guest of the Fairmont Château Laurier, you can borrow an iPad for the tour from the front desk.

Fairmont Château Laurier History App
Beginning my walk back in history at the Château Laurier.

Once begun this digital tour takes visitors to the Fairmont Château Laurier on a walking tour, starting in the hotel’s lobby. It provides an informative and interesting narrative, including historic photos, as it walks you through various rooms of the hotel, intertwining history with the current space visitors see before their eyes.

Fairmont Château Laurier History App
Discovering fascinating past visitors to the Château Laurier.

Fairmont Château Laurier History App
Wandering through the historic halls of the Château Laurier.

So my take on the experience?  I very much enjoyed it, as it gave me context to the space I was walking through (oh, if the walls could only talk), and snippets of history I’d been hearing about (like, did you now there is an historic connection between the Château Laurier and the Titanic?). It also got me to explore deeper into the hotel, right into the depths of the basement.  I only wish that I’d taken this tour at the beginning of our stay, rather than at the end, as it would have ensured that I made it down to the basement for a dip in that fabulous art deco pool, and would have enriched my stay so much more, with the stories of the history that surrounded me.

Now does this compare to the kind of tour that a Hotel Historian and Storyteller, like the Peabody’s Doug Weatherford gave me?  No, but afternoons such as that one are special, to be cherished, that cannot happen all the time due to scheduling and the likes. There are after all only so many Historians and Storytellers, like Doug Weatherford around, and they can’t be scheduled around the clock to suit visitor’s schedules. Catering to visitor’s schedules and the access to historic imagery are what made this technology driven digital walk back in time such a win in my mind. The weary traveller could even take the tour digitally from the awfully comfy Fairmont Château Laurier bed, as a form of a bed time story, or the uber organized traveller could watch in prep for their stay, even on-route to Ottawa on the plane or train. I, however, think it is enjoyed best as a leisurely stroll through the Fairmont Château Laurier’s historic halls.

Enjoy!

Three Women in Tech I Admire

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Apparently today is Ada Lovelace Day.  I didn’t know about this day until a few hours ago when Tris Hussey told me about it. For those of you similarly unaware, Ada Lovelace Day is a day in which we honour women in tech that we respect by writing a blog post about them.

The day is named after Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace. Ada is mainly known for having written a description of Charles Babbage‘s early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She is today appreciated as the “first programmer” since she was writing programs—that is, manipulating symbols according to rules—for a machine that Babbage had not yet built. She also foresaw the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching while others, including Babbage himself, focused only on these capabilities – from Wikipedia

Ada Lovelace - The first computer programmer and 19th century mathematician by Aristocrat.

 

Pretty amazing to think of anyone, female or male, being so advanced and forward thinking.  She did this in the early-mid 1800s, whilst I myself am only just learning to code.

When I think of the women in technology that I have interacted with in the past year and a half, it is pretty difficult to limit this post to one woman.  There are so many women in tech that I respect and are amazed by.  I know last year I was impressed with all the women that were involved in putting Bridging Media together with Meg and I. I want to make this celebration special, however, so I am going to highlight three women whom I was fortunate enough to recently share a panel with at the Women in Film Festival New Media Day – Monica Hamburg, Carol Sill and Gillian Shaw.

 

Photographed by Tris Hussey

 

Monica Hamburg, because she never seizes to surprise me with how many ways she can use social media to bring a smile to my face and a chuckle to my belly.

Carol Sill, because she was one of the first people to introduce me to blogging and social media.  Even though she came from a world of traditional media, she immediately recognized the value of emerging and social media, embraced it whole heartedly, and shared it with those around her.

Gillian Shaw, because she is a testament to the fact that we can bridge traditional and emerging media, and by altering the manner in which we tell our stories, we will see media evolve rather than die.

Ladies – I do hope we get to do the second half of our panel, sometime in the not so distant future. I feel most fortunate for knowing and sharing with each of you.

The Green Chain: A Film Review

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Full Disclosure: The Green Chain’s producers, Tony Wosk and Mark Leiren-Young are friends mine, but that does not mean that I’d automatically like their movie.  And to be honest I didn’t like it ….. I loved it!  I knew Mark was a good writer, but this isn’t just good writing, this is great writing.

If you don’t know what The Green Chain is about, here’s the synopses:

The Green Chain is a powerful, funny and thought-provoking film about the conflicts between people on both sides of the battle who love trees — and are willing to risk anything to protect their personal visions of the forest.

The Green Chain by emmerogers.

 

‘Powerful’ is the perfect descriptor for this film.  It really hit a chord for me and rang so true to many of my own experiences.  I’ve worked in the forestry industry, am a biologist and been an environmentalist, and I saw so much of the dialog and characters in myself and the people I met along the way. It’s uncanny how Mark writes them so perfectly. In my late teens, I was the kid that would have found it to be an adventure to live in the tree and as a biologist I would have been there for many of the reasons that the Raging Granny shared.  As I matured and spent more time in the smaller towns of BC, I discovered that my youthful ideals were a little naive.  It doesn’t matter that I now recognize that the story has more sides, to the forestry workers in the small towns I will always be seen as an educator and one time forestry researcher, and they’ll be too busy defending their right to log to hear me say, ‘I understand’.  My cousin will get into actual fights with me where I don’t say a single word, because in her mind I’m still that scrappy, tree hugging, granola eating, 19 year old, who’d still love to live in a tree (I’d be lying to say I’d never considered it).

I love the way in Mark’s account of this age old story, all the characters touch each others lives.  He does this so seamlessly, but so that it really pulls at the heart strings of our own connectivity, just like that of the ecosystem.  And the beauty is this isn’t just a story about logging.  This is a tale that speaks to many small towns and natural resource based industries. Speaking from the BC perspective, this story could just as easily be fish or rocks.

 

Photographed by Robert Shaer

 

Oh and I don’t think you have to be an uber science geek like myself to enjoy The Green Chain.  It is simply a good story and I’ll be the first to admit I am a critical audience.  I’m critical of science stories as I am a scientist and storyteller.  There’s nothing to be critical of here, it’s just a darn good story and accurate.  And unlike some science stories, it’s far from boring.  In fact, I will likely watch it numerous time, as I enjoyed it that much!

Go see it!  You still have time to make the late show!  It starts at 9:10 pm.

Failing that, the daily show times of The Green Chain at Fifth Avenue Cinema, between now to Thursday March 11th, are 1:30, 4:45, 7:10 and 9:10 pm.