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Old 26-04-2003, 01:29 PM
M Harvey
 
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Default Researching GM

Dear All. I am a researcher at Cardiff University in Wales. My
research is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council and
focuses on views on the genetic modification of food and crops. I am
trying to gain a spread of views and am trying to use net based
discussion groups, with a possible interest in GM, to make contact
with participants. This is why I am posting a message to this group. I
hope I am not infringing the spirit of the group by doing this. The
technique I am using to record the views of participants is known as
the ‘Q sort'. This is a self completion exercise and takes between
thirty minutes to an hour to go through and can be quite interesting
in itself. What I ask participants to do is to sort some cards with
various opinions about genetic modification into order. The way you
sort the cards will depend on your viewpoint. Of course, you shall
also have the opportunity to speak freely about genetic modification.
If there are any willing participants out there then please respond
via my email address. I should mention that I'm looking for a wide
range of participants and you need not be a food scientist or have a
ready opinion on GM to help out. The only caveat is that participants
need to UK based. Thank you for your time.
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Old 26-04-2003, 01:29 PM
Jim Webster
 
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M Harvey wrote in message
om...

The only caveat is that participants
need to UK based. Thank you for your time.


uk.business.agriculture might well be a useful place to post.


--
Jim Webster

"The pasture of stupidity is unwholesome to mankind"

'Abd-ar-Rahman b. Muhammad b. Khaldun al-Hadrami'



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Old 26-04-2003, 01:30 PM
M Harvey
 
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Default Researching GM

(Charles Hawtrey) wrote in message ...

In reply to the following posting:


Surely you do not propose that a Usenet survey could possibly be
interpreted as a statistically valid sample of the general population,
or of experts in the field, or even of those with interest in the
issue of GM. Perhaps some important details of your methodology have
been left unsaid.



In some respects, you are correct and some apsects of the methodology
were left unsaid, but perhaps not in the way you were thinking. I
would only be interested in gathering a 'statistically valid sample'
if I were interested in the distribution of 'opinion' or 'attitude' or
something like that acoss a given target population. This however is
not the aim. This, rather, is to elucidate the manifold ways in which
'GM' is represented (not so much linked to individuals, but to the
language they use). The opinion statements that are sorted in the Q
sort have been gathered from a very wide range of 'real life' sources
and these are, hopefully, representative (in a roughly statistical
sense) of the ideas etc. that abound about GM. Participants are
selected according to theoretical principles - this discussion list is
one of many selected groups with the hope that certain views of GM
will be expressed. GM trial farmers, activists, scientists,
philosphers, vicars etc. have all taken part as well as 'ordinary
folk'. There are not an infinite number of ways people talk about GM,
and the point is to reveal the limited number of patternings employed.
I hope this goes some way to explanation, and that I have not put off
any potential or current participants who have approached me from this
list! Thanks, Matthew
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Old 26-04-2003, 01:30 PM
Jerome Ranch
 
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Default Researching GM


There are not an infinite number of ways people talk about GM,
and the point is to reveal the limited number of patternings employed.



Not completely true, as it depends on what level of detail you mean to
address. At high level you are correct (political, sociological), but
at a very detailed level (scientific), I'll wager that each person has
his own take on GM, and since we don't have an infinite number of
people on the planet yet, all I can say is that in the latter case the
range of opinins reaches infinity.
Jerry
 
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