A bit of self-promotion here, but hopefully a useful tip too. It’s to flag that, this summer, there’s a particularly strong reason to base your qualitative fieldwork in the Midlands or North, rather than the South-East region. And get me to do it, obviously.
Many of us will have received another Transport for London email this morning warning us about the traffic and transport problems expected in the capital in late July / August, when the London Olympics take place. So for researchers or clients considering qual fieldwork at that time, why not avoid it all and do the groups in Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, or any of the other fine “viewing-facility ‘n’ good recruiter” cities?
You get easier recruiting and less risk of no-shows; the interviewer or moderator will be able to get to fieldwork on time; and you’ll generally avoid all the stress of London’s busiest month.
What’s that you say, oh London-based research manager type person? You can’t be a***ed schlepping up to Brum or Manc? But here’s the beautiful thing: you don’t need to! I can do it for you. For, being based in the South Midlands hub of Oxford, the geographical centre of the nation*, I can take care of the fieldwork (and analysis and reporting for that matter) while you dodge stray javelins and give up your seat on the Tube to the Peruvian modern pentathlon team.
It would be a fitting tribute to the Queen on her Jubilee and to our fine Olympians if agencies were to commission me to carry out extensive programmes of qualitative research fieldwork in the Midlands and North during July and August. I can think of no better way of crowning Britain’s summer of glory.
* not technically true. The centre’s probably nearer Sheffield. But with the disproportionate weight of population in the South East (20-25 million in that corner alone), Oxford can claim to be close to what geographers might call (but never have) the Populational Centre of Gravity of Britain.
P.S. a fascinating Riley Family Olympic fact: my mum attended the last London Olympics in 1948. She came all the way from Strabane, Northern Ireland to London to watch the Dutch “The Flying Housewife” Fanny Blankers-Koen et al breaking records while having to eat their own ration books and graze in the fields for sustenance.
Related articles
- What we really think about the London Olympic Games (thisislondon.co.uk)
- London 2012 Olympics: Transport for London publish ‘hot spot’ data ahead of the Games (telegraph.co.uk)
- Drivers face £200 Olympics fines (confused.com)
- Heathrow’s a ‘nightmare’: IOC member (news.smh.com.au)
- London 2012 initiative offers camping from £10 (guardian.co.uk)
- Olympics marketing blitz takes off (japantimes.co.jp)
Strangers on the Shore 