Broad partnership proposes wide-ranging study of new media behaviour, attitudes

A broad coalition of government, academic and private-sector partners has come together with the hope of conducting a first-of-its-kind study of the way people think about and use new and traditional media. The Canadian Internet Project, proposed as a long-term longitudinal study of attitudes and behaviours of Canadians using new media, has filed an application with Canadian Heritage's New Media Research Network Fund for financing to cover part of the proposed $450,000 per year budget the study cost.Project manager Charles Zamaria, well-known for his work with various funding agencies and as a professor at Ryerson University's School of Radio and Television Arts, tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the study is roughly analogous to a similar American project but will be the first of its kind to bring all three sectors together to study something broader than consumer behaviour.In 1999, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) launched the UCLA Internet Study to explore how computers and the Internet have changed people's lives. The survey, under the direction of the school's Jeffrey Cole, has been widely hailed as groundbreaking.Zamaria says there are key differences between what his group is proposing and the UCLA study. "First of all," he says, "this differentiates itself from the American study in that it isn't as consumer-driven. This goes beyond just being a usage pattern study, and more into behaviour and attitudes and the psycho-metrics of the individuals using the Internet. It also delves into the cross-over behaviour much more than the other studies do."To make the study possible, a new body - the Canadian Media Research Consortium (CMRC) - has been formed to coordinate research and the publication of findings. The CMRC is made up of: Le Centre d'études sur les médias (Université Laval and L'école des Hautes études commerciales), the University of British Columbia's School of Journalism, and the joint graduate program in Communication and Culture of York University and Ryerson University.Zamaria expects that the academic partners will pay about one-third of the cost of the project on an ongoing basis, the government to pitch in about half, and the remainder to come from private-sector partners. He says he can't yet reveal the details of those private-sector agreements but at least some of the cash has already come from BCE Inc., earmarked for the project since the telecom giant acquired CTV Inc.The three-way partnership is key to the project, according to both the group's application to Heritage and to Zamaria. "I think that balance will really keep the integrity of the study sound in terms of not being overtly a marketing study for advertisers and, at the same time, not being over-the-top esoteric and just for an academic cadre of individuals."Among the benefits of the study Zamaria and the project's other proponents identify is a new base upon which to build sound policy decisions."Are funding agencies - government funding agencies - pursuing the right path? I've always had an interest in the dialectic between culture and commerce. There's been millions of studies put forward on those issues with respect to content. Perhaps (the project) can help to clarify some of those areas. It could help to inform government and industry on policies in terms of implementation in terms of information technology and the Internet. If the trends indicate such, maybe it could expedite some of the programs and processes that are presently being thought of and considered."To that end, Zamaria hopes and expects that the project will be a long-term one, including government funding past the limited two-year involvement of initiatives winning New Media Research Network Fund aid."We're being very careful with the sources we co-opt, just to ensure it has sustainability and to make sure that whoever is on board is on board for the long term. The significance of this study is, in the long term, longitudinal analysis of it in terms of how trends change - to really take a look and evaluate how things are moving as opposed to just a one-off thing."Should the project win funding, it's anticipated that between mid-October and mid-April next year the group will conduct preliminary investigations and formalize partnership and academic details. For one month in May 2003, the group would conduct its survey. The involvement of Jane Armstrong, senior VP of Environics Research Group, in the project would seem to indicate that company will win the survey contract.Between June and September next year, the data would be analyzed and a public report issued. The next four months would be devoted to disseminating the results and fine-tuning the survey. A second survey would be conducted in January 2004, with analysis and a comparative first- and second-year report issued by March 2004.Zamaria anticipates that the material from the survey would be freely available, especially to academics, though results might be delayed for a few months while the private-sector partners get first crack at the data.

Broad partnership proposes wide-ranging study of new media behaviour, attitudes

News | 10/16/2002 4:00 am EDT

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