OK, so after the brainstorm session this week . . .
SUNDAY, FEB. 3:
The on-site team will visit the church this Sunday to get an idea of the scope of our project, and what it believes will be feasible activities for all of our groups to tackle. These three members will start an investigation of the current communication tactics used on Sunday mornings, when many people are in the building. They will help us brainstorm again during a shorter session next Monday, and provide information we'll need to help the quant team. A sample question that they might provide? What about this: What information did you learn at church on Sunday morning that helped you make plans for the week? This would have to be reworked for use in a survey, but it will give the survey team some material and general ideas to work with.
MONDAY, FEB. 4:
We'll meet during our regular class time, when each group will have a mini report to make, based on secondary research, literature reviews, and/or preliminary analysis of its area (or materials related to its area). One goal of our class meeting on Monday will be to provide information that may be shared with the quant team for its survey.
Basically, we need to help the survey group figure out what questions are most suitable for this client. So, if you could ask a survey-type question or two about your area, what would it be?
For the print/online group, maybe one question would be: What printed materials are most useful to you for keeping up with the activities you are most interested in? For this question to work, the survey group would need a list of print materials to include in the survey. Another question might be: How do you use the web site? Again, the survey group will need our knowledge to help them figure out the tools and information offered by the web site. Of course, they can look at the web site, but we'll have a better context for analyzing it.
The focus group team could be reading ahead about how to conduct focus groups and how to recruit for them, from one demographic that is important to the church: families with children. Is there information that we could garner through the survey that would help you with this task? Do you want to ask survey respondents if they are interested in participating in a focus group, too? Do you want to ask one or two open-ended questions on the survey that could give you background or information that you would need for the focus groups? What about asking about times most convenient for meeting in a focus group?
TUESDAY, FEB. 5:
A few students who are able will attend the quant class at 6:30, to share what we know so far that would be useful to their work in building a good survey.
ALL WEEK:
If you need help in contacting Meredith Bell, remember to talk to Sarah Junek first, at sarahjunek (at) mac.com. All students will be helping us put together literature reviews based around their teams: organizational communication and worship community communication (on-site team); best practices for focus groups, especially groups that are involved in talking about organizational communication (focus group team); best practices for print and online communication (print and online team). Please email me with your questions.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
We're set to go
[Note to JOUR 5260 students: Please check your UNT email accounts.]
Hi. I've visited with the communications committee at FUMC-Arlington, and we've been given an OK. When I discussed our two classes completing a communication audit for them, I asked them about their own goals for the project. One of the key questions: Is this about "quality of life" at your church, as it exists now, or is it about something else?
Of course, that something else is usually about retaining members and gaining new members, important to any organization based on membership, but especially important to a large worship community in an urban area. Many of the committee members said it was about quality of life, but they also talked about how a better quality of life within the church made the church more likely to retain and to gain new members.
One of the challenges of this church is its large size, both in numbers and in building size and configuration. One example: when an older member of the congregation encounters new neighbors and has the chance to invite that family to church, that older member may have no idea what is "going on downstairs, because some people have never been down there." What's going on downstairs? Well, there are several teenage Christian rock bands that meet and play for services designed for teens. Perhaps this new neighbor has a teenage guitarist who would be interested in this, but if the older member doesn't know about it, then that may be a lost opportunity.
The church has already made plans for an evangelism consultant to work with members later this year. So, this makes our project even more important. If we can give them the contours of their internal communications, and suggest some best practices for them to adopt, then they will be in better shape for their evangelism effort.
While this isn't an exhaustive list of all that will take place during the communication audit, here's a short list of key deadlines for the project so far:
Weeks 3 & 4 (Jan. 28 and Feb. 4, and Sunday in between)
Qualitative team begins with church building audit, media audit, and initial visits/interviews to prepare for Feb. 12 presentation to Quantitative team. Both teams conduct reviews of secondary research about organization communication, communication practices for religious groups, and best practices for internal communication. This bank of research will be shared between both classes to give us the foundation we need for the work ahead.
Qual team visits Quant class on Tuesday, Feb. 5 (new earlier date), so that the quant team can begin gathering information before designing the survey.
Week 8 (March 3/4)
Survey is ready for distribution to FUMC-Arlington members. Members answer survey during first three weeks of March.
Week 11 (March 31/April 1)
Quant team visit Qual class on Monday, March 31, to share survey results.
Weeks 10, 11 and 12 (March 24, March 31 and April 7)
Qual team prepares for focus group, recruiting members and establishing a topic guide.
Weeks 13 and/or 14 (April 14 and 21)
Focus group is held at church by Qual team.
First week of May
Final report due; client presentation (All class members do not need to attend; however, it would great to have a few students from both classes).
Our liaison at the church is Rev. Meredith Bell, associate pastor. We'll have a student liaison from each class to stay in contact with Meredith Bell and to ensure consistent communication between the classes. That way, our own internal communication will be strong and we won't inundate the associate pastor with too many requests coming from too many different directions. I told her she would be working primarily with one student from each class.
Hi. I've visited with the communications committee at FUMC-Arlington, and we've been given an OK. When I discussed our two classes completing a communication audit for them, I asked them about their own goals for the project. One of the key questions: Is this about "quality of life" at your church, as it exists now, or is it about something else?
Of course, that something else is usually about retaining members and gaining new members, important to any organization based on membership, but especially important to a large worship community in an urban area. Many of the committee members said it was about quality of life, but they also talked about how a better quality of life within the church made the church more likely to retain and to gain new members.
One of the challenges of this church is its large size, both in numbers and in building size and configuration. One example: when an older member of the congregation encounters new neighbors and has the chance to invite that family to church, that older member may have no idea what is "going on downstairs, because some people have never been down there." What's going on downstairs? Well, there are several teenage Christian rock bands that meet and play for services designed for teens. Perhaps this new neighbor has a teenage guitarist who would be interested in this, but if the older member doesn't know about it, then that may be a lost opportunity.
The church has already made plans for an evangelism consultant to work with members later this year. So, this makes our project even more important. If we can give them the contours of their internal communications, and suggest some best practices for them to adopt, then they will be in better shape for their evangelism effort.
While this isn't an exhaustive list of all that will take place during the communication audit, here's a short list of key deadlines for the project so far:
Weeks 3 & 4 (Jan. 28 and Feb. 4, and Sunday in between)
Qualitative team begins with church building audit, media audit, and initial visits/interviews to prepare for Feb. 12 presentation to Quantitative team. Both teams conduct reviews of secondary research about organization communication, communication practices for religious groups, and best practices for internal communication. This bank of research will be shared between both classes to give us the foundation we need for the work ahead.
Qual team visits Quant class on Tuesday, Feb. 5 (new earlier date), so that the quant team can begin gathering information before designing the survey.
Week 8 (March 3/4)
Survey is ready for distribution to FUMC-Arlington members. Members answer survey during first three weeks of March.
Week 11 (March 31/April 1)
Quant team visit Qual class on Monday, March 31, to share survey results.
Weeks 10, 11 and 12 (March 24, March 31 and April 7)
Qual team prepares for focus group, recruiting members and establishing a topic guide.
Weeks 13 and/or 14 (April 14 and 21)
Focus group is held at church by Qual team.
First week of May
Final report due; client presentation (All class members do not need to attend; however, it would great to have a few students from both classes).
Our liaison at the church is Rev. Meredith Bell, associate pastor. We'll have a student liaison from each class to stay in contact with Meredith Bell and to ensure consistent communication between the classes. That way, our own internal communication will be strong and we won't inundate the associate pastor with too many requests coming from too many different directions. I told her she would be working primarily with one student from each class.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
First post of 2008
A big welcome to students in qualitative and quantitative research courses in the Mayborn Graduate School of Journalism. We also welcome stakeholders in the service-learning project we're doing with First United Methodist Church of Arlington. This will be a place we can communicate and share information, along with group email messages.
The first term we'll define is "service learning." It's a chance for students to complete assignments and earn credit by working in the community on real-world projects that benefit organizations. We'll be treating FUMC as if it's our client, in which deadlines and deliverables are met with professionalism. For this project, the professors will serve as account managers, supervising and approving (and yes, grading) work. This collaborative effort will benefit this place of worship, its leaders, its 5,000 members, and the broader community it has faithfully served for more than 125 years. You may find out more at:
http://www.arlingtonmethodist.org/
To learn more about service learning, try this link:
http://www.servicelearning.org
The first term we'll define is "service learning." It's a chance for students to complete assignments and earn credit by working in the community on real-world projects that benefit organizations. We'll be treating FUMC as if it's our client, in which deadlines and deliverables are met with professionalism. For this project, the professors will serve as account managers, supervising and approving (and yes, grading) work. This collaborative effort will benefit this place of worship, its leaders, its 5,000 members, and the broader community it has faithfully served for more than 125 years. You may find out more at:
http://www.arlingtonmethodist.org/
To learn more about service learning, try this link:
http://www.servicelearning.org
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