Calling all trad fiddles player based on the island of Ireland.
My name is Mark Porter and I am a PhD research student at the University of Ulster. I am carrying out research regarding playing related injuries in Irish traditional music. The main focus of my research is fiddle players and the associated injuries caused during play. I have developed an anonymous web based questionnaire study to identify the prevalence of injury for this instrument category.
please see study details below:
Before you decide to take part, please read the participant information
sheet which accompanies the questionnaire, by clicking the following link:
Hi Mark … I note that nowhere in your information sheet does it actually state that the survey is restricted to Ireland, north and south. If that is in fact the case, you might want to say so explicitly in the survey info. It’s obvious you care about making your survey a good experience. And maybe you’re counting on your invitation here and elsewhere to attract only eligible participants. But knowing the internet …
I can imagine there might be funding or academic reasons behind the geographic restriction. But as Ben said, it would be interesting to know why.
I can only assume you won’t get the post survey link without the introductory information provided by Mark in his O.P. You are invited to access the post survey information if you fit the criteria and are considering participation.
But that’s the point, Jleo. Relying on external instructions (e.g. here) to ensure that the survey population meets the sampling criteria is not methodologically sound.
For example: I just filled out the survey, since there was nothing to stop me. And no question in the survey asked for my location. (I did however specify that I’m not in Ireland in the final comment, so Mark can filter out my data if needed.)
Once this thread is indexed by Google, anyone (not just Chiffers) might stumble upon the survey link and take it, without regard to the OP (or simply ignoring it).
thanks for the comments. first off having difficulty with link it keeps sending people to the wrong place, have to take it down until i get it fixed.
regarding cleaning of data the survey site i am using collects geodata for each respondent, at the end of the survey any from outside of Ireland will be excluded.
Ireland is the focus of this study due to: time, unique cultural setting regarding style of music and awareness of the issue. with more time further study of a global data set could be carried out to compare and contrast the findings.
Yes, I see you’ve taken it down for now. FWIW, it came up just fine before, the several times I accessed it.
That makes sense. Of course, if truly evil and determined, I could have used an Irish or Northern Irish web proxy. Then your geodata would tell you I’m in, say, lovely Limerick and not sunny Southern California (actually rainy SoCal today).
If your survey started with “Are you located in Ireland/NI?”, then bailed you out if the answer is no, it could help prevent ineligible respondents from wasting both your time and theirs. Maybe the survey software allows that sort of logic?
Sure, I can understand good reasons for setting bounds on your sample. Though, having taken the survey, and having played trad in Ireland and not-Ireland, I haven’t really seen differences between a competent Irish trad fiddler in Tralee or Taunton or Timbuktu with regard to the physical challenges and injuries asked about by the survey.
In any case, do let us know when the link is back up!
