Rough Draft of Our Design Outline

PAX 521 –Qualitative Research and Evaluation
Paulette Moore/Brenda Waugh – Design Rough Draft
pmoore2@su.edu
brenda.waugh@emu.edu
703-597-7766
Dr. Terrence Jantzi
jantzit@emu.edu
1-Oct-08

A Look at Architectural Justice; Design Issues and Options

1. The primary purpose of the study.

The purpose of the study is to examine how architecture and built environment process of addressing community conflict as it relates to law and related issues of a community’s feelings of justice.

We feel this study constitutes applied research because the source of the questions is in the problems and concerns experienced by people and could be articulated by policymakers. We not only are trying to understand and explain the nature of a phenomenon, we are also trying to understand how to deal with what is perceived as a significant societal issue.

There could also be an element of action research in this project because researcher Brenda Waugh is a lawyer affected by her built environment and her aim is to illuminate the problems she sees in her community.

2. The focus of the study.

The focus of the study will be the designers, the clients and the observers of both historic and modern day courtrooms. We will also examine the courtrooms which they design an in which they operate.

Interviewees include:

Lawyers

Clerks; both administrative and clerks who keep the history of the courthouse

Probation Officers

Brings the guys from the jail Security and Dignity.

Judges

Security Personnel

Litigants

Architectural historians, architects and designers

Local planning Commission – County Commission

Clarke Co. Commonwealth Atty.

Dr. Howard Zehr

Cleaning people


3. The units of analysis.

The units of analysis will be the people that we interview and the courthouses with which they interact.

4. The sampling strategies

We intend to profile two courthouses and the people who use them in West Virginia and one in Clark County because they seem to represent the potential for an impediment to justice for their bad design, acoustics and representational art.

We also intend to profile the (fairly) new Supreme Court building in South Africa because the stated purpose of its design was to promote justice and fair representation with its beautiful design and its art collection which is deliberate about representing a diverse South African population.

We anticipate this will be a combination of extreme or deviant based sampling because we hope to learn from perceived outstanding successes and failures in architectural justice design. We also feel that because we are treading on fairly fresh, new ground this study could be considered theory-based sampling because we are trying to find theoretical constructs of interest to examine the construct and its variation.

5. The types of data collected.

We will collect videotaped interviews with identified subjects and tour the available courthouses with a camera to document their physical space. Of the courthouses to which we will not have access, we will secure still photos online or videotape from news sources.

Where available, we hope to examine design plans to follow the process of architectural justice design.

We also conduct a literature review of topics related to the use of the built environment.

6. The type and degree of control.

We’ve chosen cases for study because they are information rich and illuminative so it seems we are headed down the path of purposeful sampling. However, because this seems to be a subject that has not been examined in depth we feel an openness to adapt our inquiry as our understanding deepens and anticipate that our original theories about this topic will grow and change so we allow for emergent design flexibility.

7. The analytical approach.

The researchers will conduct their analysis by intermixing interviews with those who create and analyze the built environment to do with architectural justice design and those who are affected by that design with observation of particular courtrooms and analysis of existing documents describing design and analyzing the built environment.

The results will be synthesized into a documentary organized into themes. Initial themes which will drive the inquiry include: History, Design, Function and Vision.

8. How the validity of the findings will be addressed.

We feel a confidence of the validity of findings because we begin with the expertise of project researcher Brenda Waugh, a lawyer with rich experience in the justice system in Virginia and West Virginia and in the particular structures around which our analysis revolves.

Project researcher Paulette Moore, a documentary television producer and journalist with 25 years of experience in national and international production, joins Waugh with a track record for well-researched, responsible and illuminating projects which have often been focused on processes and the experience of those who operate within those processes.

We feel the combination of the researchers’ experiences lends itself to validity in our findings.

9. Timeline, sequencing, phases.

Oct. 2 – 20: Preproduction, research, interview design and interview set up.

Oct. 20 – Nov. 15: Interviews carried out, transcripts created and digital load completed.

Nov. 15 – Dec. 1: Edit presentable rough cut of documentary.

***Literature review will be conducted throughout the entire project so there can be linkages without predetermining a point of view about the built environment.


10. Logistics and practicalities.

Brenda Waugh:
-West Virginia research, preproduction, scheduling of interviews.

-Contacts Howard Zehr for possible suggestions of Architectural Justice experts

-Conducts interviews.

-Sorts through material, decides on story structure and sound bites.

Paulette Moore:
-Secures camera equipment from Shenandoah University.

-Researches and schedules Clark County interviews.

-Researches and schedules American Institute of Architecture interviews if appropriate.

-Researches, schedules interview with South African embassy official about S. Africa’s new Supreme Court.

-Videotapes interviews.

-Sorts through material, decides on story structure and sound bites.

-Edits material.

11. Ethical issues and matters of confidentiality.

Ethical matters and matters of confidentiality will be dealt with as they arise. Each person interviewed will sign a standard release form which will allow use of the material gathered in all media, all productions, and in perpetuity.


12. Resources available. Cost of study.
Resources include:

Brenda Waugh – Researcher, observer

Paulette Moore – Producer, editor

Camera equipment

Lighting equipment

Audio equipment

Video tapes

Editing equipment

The cost of the study will be minimal as all equipment and personnel time is donated.