The final stages: Volunteering uncovered

Throughout the entirety of this research project, curiosity has remained the greatest catalyst for new research. My passionate curiosity for philanthropic participation in society acted as the stimulant for my survey questions, guided focus group discussions and led me to interesting, anticipated and unexpected results alike as my project drew to a close.  Ann Gray defines research as ‘the exploration of some phenomenon in a systematic and rigorous way,’ (Ann Gray 2003), however I have found that the research process, while rigorous and systemic, relies largely on creative insight. I endeavoured to actively engage with concepts from the AULIVE method creativity instrument of: abstraction, connection, perspective, curiosity, boldness, paradox, complexity and persistence. My project lended itself to the notions of connection, paradox and perspective as I was forced to deal with conflicting data and make cohesive conclusions from this data. As a result, my project is largely geared towards influencing people’s perceptions of the Australian volunteer industry, with the aim of successively influencing their attitudes and behaviours towards volunteering as a practice. Curiosity, similarly to perspective, has acted as a catalyst for change. Not only as a stimulant for all stages of my research, but through the way in which other’s curiosity in my research will hopefully bring about personal and societal transformation.

The focus of my research project remained the role and or contribution of young Australian women within the Australian volunteer sector. My aim was to uncover what motivates and/or deters young women from participating in volunteer programs, thus providing some insight into the relationship between young people and volunteering, declines in Australian volunteer rates and other trends in the Australian volunteer sector. In hindsight, focusing on young women and volunteering was too broad a topic, thus delving into declines in volunteering and young Australians and their role in volunteering proved too broad to cover succinctly in the allotted timeframe. Nevertheless, taking such steps provided additional thought-provoking and poignant content to my research, which was of importance when considering findings in a broader context.

It was crucial to the planning of my project and during the carrying out of research that I remained accountable for my methodology and final project, the findings of which were to be presented to the public. To do so, I adhered to the guidelines of the MEAA Journalism Code of Ethics, principally acting in an ethical manner, striving for accuracy and fairness as I collected and presented data and through the disclosure of all essential facts as I have done so via my blog. I have respected autonomy where necessary, not disclosing personal information of survey and focus group participation, and crucially, I have not allowed my beliefs or passions towards my topic to influence in any the research process or what has been presented in my final project (media alliance code of ethics).

Remaining accountable for my research further meant acting with integrity in research, upholding ethical standards via acting with the principles of honesty, fairness, trust and responsibility. To maintain the integrity of my work and ensure respect of privacy of contributors to my research I took on an axiological approach to my methodology and research (Shawn Wilson 2008). Axiology is the process of framing our ontological understandings on the basis of your own and others’ morals and values. I have adopted this style of research as I have provided relevant information, when needed, concerning confidentiality and anonymity (Wilson 2008). This was done when conducting focus groups and an online survey. There was no longer a need to organise interviews, as a focus group proved to be appropriately informative and suitable to the design of my project, following the recommendations of Jane Stokes (task two).

Conclusively, I was extremely pleased with my final research report. I believe I revealed invaluable detail and insight into the role and unrecognised potential of not simply young Australian women and volunteering, trends within the Australian volunteer sector itself. Conducting this research project has developed my research and time management capabilities, but further honed my communication skills as I was required to conduct people-centred methodologies. All stages of the project proved vital to self-reflection and provided me the opportunity of working with with a variety of individuals, identify problems and use my judgment to find the best solution. Feel I acted in a highly organised, efficient and responsible fashion, with the ability to work independently and utilise course materials to produce a successful final research report.

Key report findings:

• Lack of time is the main deterrent for participation in volunteering, followed by:

• Lack of awareness of the scope of programs offered.

• Minimal knowledge of the need for the volunteer industry.

• The importance of the formal volunteering industry to Australia’s economic good is not recognised.

• Lack of personal gain i.e. not paid, specifically applies to university students.

 

 

References

Research task two.

AULVIE n. d, Concepts from the AULIVE method creativity instrument. Sourced from: http://www.aulive.com/#testmycreativity

ABC n. d, Media Alliance Code of Ethics. Sourced from: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/0921_meaaethics.pdf

Bowels, K 2017, Wilson, S. Sourced from lecture notes: available from: https://moodle.uowplatform.edu.au/course/view.php?id=11034

Stokes, J 2013, How to do Media and Cultural Studies. Sage Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi Sourced from: https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/podzim2012/FAV241/ebooksclub.org__How_to_do_Media_and_Cultural_Studies.pdf

Volunteers Australia: priceless pioneers

My research project focus remains the role of young women and the role and/or contribution they make to volunteering. I have however, narrowed this down further to the role of young Australian women and ‘what deters, or motivates them from participating in voluntary programs,’ particularly those offered domestically via Australian organisations.  After careful consideration, I realised that attempting to identify the trends in volunteering in Australia in comparison with foreign exchange programs was far too vast to research, analyse and evaluate in the time-frame available. I largely believe that foreign exchanges and volunteer programs are romanticised, while similar domestic offers are overlooked. People too often believe the grass is greener on the other side, blind to the treasures offered in their own backyard. The broader aim of my project now is more personal than just examining information and analysing trends, but a method for which to reveal the value of volunteering to Australia, economically, philanthropically and psychologically.

So far during my research, I have uncovered the vital contribution volunteering makes towards the Australian economy. The greatest difficulty I have encountered however is the lack of information. Volunteering in general, is not a highly-researched issue as it is an under-valued and under-acknowledged practice. Furthermore, much of the information is generalised, very little focusing on the role of young women volunteering in Australia. There have also been skewed statistics regarding the percentile of young Australian volunteers and I intend to investigate and address this issue further with the hope of providing some clarification of the issue.

Majority of the information currently uncovered has surrounded the issue of the declining rate of volunteers in Australia. Thus, this will be a key overall issue I will discuss, with any luck providing why this is the case through qualitative data collection methods of my female peers and friends.

I am pleased with the progress my project is making. My topic is unique, and an issue that I am passionate about. I am hopeful and confident that my research will raise important discussions regarding awareness of volunteering in Australia and the poignant, yet under-represented role of young female volunteers.

Curious by nature; a research endeavour

I have reached the conclusion that passions and curiosity are inherently intertwined, a friend speaking to me recently of a quote that passions should not be thought of as concrete objectives, but considered in the same manner with which we view our feelings — A confident fact we know about feelings; they change. Likewise, our curiosities change and often in a manner of side-tracked seconds. Like many I am sure,narrowing my aspirations has never come easily, though I have always considered myself somewhat of a humanitarian, a forever unwavering motive to advocate for women’s rights. This task stimulated me to contemplate when and why my passion began –

 

My intrigue emerged when reading the confronting, beautiful book Gogo Mama by Sally Sara, a collection of real-life events faced by twelve astonishingly brave, selfless African women. Undermined by the circumstances she fell victim to a particular harrowing story of one of these women struck me, and still does when I recall it today – A Rwanda genocide survivor asked by a young rebel boy whether she would rather smile or frown. Smile, her lips would be cut by a hunting knife, frown, they would by pierced and padlocked shut; She chose to frown.This remarkable woman recalls her own agony and fear, accompanied by the terror of the young boy himself, yet never hostile nor resentful throughout her recollection. To me, that is the greatest display of courage. Through this reflexive thinking I recognised the subconscious inspiration this story has provided and the subsequent meta-narrative discovery it has sent me on.  

 My research at a preliminary stage was to be on young women today and the role they play in improving the lives of those less fortunate. I acknowledged that this was an extremely broad topic that encountered too many research restrictions in terms of scope and availability. Therefore, following voluntary participation in the International Women’s Day Breakfast in Sydney, as part of the UN Women AU. Committee on the 9th March 2017, I chose to focus on the role of young women in volunteering and ‘what motivates, or deters, young women from participating in voluntary programs?’. I intend to do so through conducting primary research in the form of focus groups, surveys and one-on-one interviews with my female peers. I have not yet fully fleshed out my research modes, yet aim to reveal why volunteering it geared towards foreign exchanges and academic programs rather than philanthropic purposes. I hope to influence young women to take charge in a manner beneficiary for themselves while equally to fellow women in need of a voice. 

References:

Sara, S 2013, Gogo Mama; a journey into the lives of twelve African women, Macmillan, Australia.

Image; Gogo Mama book cover, http://www.Goodreads.com ,viewed March 11 2017.

The Catalyst that is Curiosity

Curiosity is the foundation of research & research is the foundation of knowledge; This is a slogan I mustered up when considering curiosity and the role it plays in fostering research and thus knowledge. I consider myself to be a highly inquisitive individual, forever reading articles, scrolling through web feeds, constantly caught up in my own thoughts. This happens to be my best trait. Not to mention my biggest downfall. My curious ways have led me to an abundance of knowledge on a wide scope of topics from high-brow politics to pop-culture fandom. For example did you know the worlds oldest woven garment is an Egyptian dress known as the Tarkhan dress, or that Brad has been texting Jennifer following his sudden split from Angie. Scandalous. My point is, curiosity can take you anywhere. It helps you immerse yourself in culture heightens your senses and stimulates memory intake at a rate you wouldn’t believe. 

At times we all become caught up in the marvelous swirling cacophony we know to be our thoughts. We often consider spending much of the day  day-dreaming, fleshing out these strange entities as a waste of our valuable time, but how can kneading and molding and changing a puzzle of ideas into something succinct and meaningful hold no stature of importance?

Behind great epiphany’s, astonishing scientific discoveries and mere everyday findings, there is one raging catalyst. Curiosity.

All great knowledge stems from an individual or groups curious nature. The want of greater self awareness and a belief that there is always a greater power, a broader understanding of how things work in there current state or how things should work in a Utopian society. It is a characteristic embedded in the human condition. Many scientists who have examined curiosity in relation to research have come to the conclusion that curiosity is an instinctive feature of humans and animals alike.

In their publishing The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity Hayden and Kidd use a working definition of curiosity “as a drive state for information,” in other words, we are curious because we want to learn. They present curiosity as a form of information seeking  and go on further to state that this state of seeking can be observed in mundane circumstances and in organisms as simple as nematode worms.