Assignment 3

Intro:
Last week was about hypotheses. This week we did some field research to gain information about what actually happens in the day of students who works and have an active social life. We will focus more on the "think and feel" aspects of the student. You can also find a summary out of an article. You can all read this in the assignment for this week:

Summary:
This week we made a summary out of a text about Interventions into Train Lines and Passenger Times.

"Travel Remedy Kit: Interventions into Train Lines and Passenger Times"

The decisions of government  to invest on transport, either building a road or laying of rail, are predicated on the information of the cost versus the economic benefit of such investment which are calculated on the basis of appraising a model of the proposed transport system. Luggage-carrying, individual and embodied passengers waiting for train are translated into economically modelled passengers, who are rational-actors in a calculated transport system.

This chapter explores substantive differences between this aggregated economic model passenger and sensory, affective model of the embodied passenger arising from social research methods, such as ethnography, focus groups, and interviews.  How might ‘remedies’ for the affective qualities of a passenger’s train journey translate into benefits within the economically modelled version? To provide answers or understanding to the research question, first is to rethink what constitute economically modelled passenger, thereafter making it a potentially better model upon which transport appraisal and government investment might be made. A proposed ‘Travel  Remedy Kit’ is used as intervention to demonstrate how substantive improvements in the experience of individual journey’s might also manifest as economic benefits in the aggregated, economically defined world of transport appraisal.

To set this chapter in context, a summary of the orthodox thinking of transport  appraisal which is as follows:  Travel is seen as a means to an end – a means of getting somewhere in order to do something at the destination. The ‘means to an end’ is an inconvenience-something to be minimised.

It follows that quicker journeys are preferred to slower ones: less time spent on the inconvenience leads to more time to do something else. Travel time is seen as unproductive time, and any  saved travel time is assumed to be reinvested in (economically) productive activity. A three-year research project, concerned with ‘Travel-Time Use in information Age’ is used to challenge this orthodoxy by arguing that travel is more than just a ‘means to an end’ and, for transport policy, the experience of travel time can be productive. For example, a survey conducted of 26,000 passengers in 2004 by National Rail Passengers Survey, not only did the result question the value attributed to saved travel time, but it also questions whether investment in quicker journeys is the only means of yielding benefits in transport system; investment in enhancing passenger productivity on-the-move may also have benefits- economic and otherwise.

 Economically modelled Passengers in transport appraisal are created through a process of translating the messy socio-material world of the traveller and their baggage into a series of calculative relations; a body is flattened into a formula according to the following general tenets ( see Lyons and Urry, 2005):

• passengers experience a universal clock time;

• they take action on the basis that any time in motion is wasteful, and would be

valuable if recovered;

• if they travel outside of work they do so in their own time which they can

value – they have a willingness to trade time for money;

• when travelling in the course of work they do so in relation to time owned by

their employer – time that is valued according to the wage they are paid;

• individual passengers do not matter in an economic appraisal – attention is

paid to the overall population of model passengers, the aggregate.

                                                                                                                                       

To help clear the distinctive features of this ‘appraised’ passenger experience, as distinct from the features of sensory, social and situated passenger experience created through social research , highlights of the differences in their spatiality- the difference in their contingent possibilities for movement.

From the tenet:

-          Transport appraisal passenger moves from a point of departure to a point of arrival in the shortest possible time. The line of journey is uniform, it has no particular characteristics or quality of experience, it ends when a passenger arrives at the destination. It aims for quickest and straightest path. This passenger is static and un-engaged with the world until the destination, the point of activity and re-entry back into the economic world.

For the economically modelled passenger ( travelling in the course of work) nothing happens en route, everything happens before and after. So there appears to be no possibility for valuable activity when travelling- or when waiting in the moment in between.

Travel Remedy Kit

The Travel Remedy Kit is an intervention and interview-based piece of empirical

research, loosely based on the concept of personalised travel planning in transport

studies, which seeks to encourage individuals to discuss and rethink their travel

choices and behaviours with the prospect of some changes taking place to the benefit

of the individual and society (Parker et al., 2007).

The kit comprises two elements: a deck of 34 cards (see Figures 1 and 2), constituting

the results of our national rail survey, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, and

ethnography; and a travel pack of personalized items designed, with use of the cards,

for the specific passenger and journey. The complete deck of cards, which we do not

have the space to present here, and instructions for use can be downloaded from

http://www.built-environment.uwe.ac.uk/traveltimeuse/

The Travel Remedy Kit method involves 3 stages: design of the kit, travelling with the kit, and a final debrief and discussion of its effectiveness.

Using these 3 stages insights were gotten from the participant which include post remedied journey interviews to evaluate participants experiences with the travel remedy kit.

Conclusion:

The travel remedy kit was designed to create journeys that were more beneficial to passengers, and where travel time can be stretched or compressed. Through the intervention and the research method, they were able to show that benefits could be accorded to passenger be creating activities which will make the journey quicker and activity full for passenger.

What I personally learnt was how mix method were used to answer the research question. Additionally, how to design different activities that will provide insights from participants.

Choosing and research method should fit with how data and insights will be collected to answer he research question.

Research Report:

Introduction

Students work for variety of reasons. Some work for fun, some for pocket money. Some work because they must pay their way through school while others work for the experience. These are the people that this research seeks to help. These students build their own rhythms while trying to get the most out of their education and surroundings. To better help the students to following research question, How can we help students working part-time balance work, school and socializing? was created. The aim of this research project is to find out how students balance work, school and socializing to find ways to help them do it better.

Methods and rationale

The research question sets the direction for the project and helps create an objective view of the topic. Interviews and questionnaires were the primary source of information during the project.  The interviews and questionnaires were conducted to gain insights into the target group; to gain understanding into the rhythms that the students live by, and find the unmet needs.  

Research set up (location, questions etc.

The questionnaires were sent out over email. The interview too place in a variety of locations; from SKYPE to FACEBOOK to in-person conversations. They had to be flexible to fix into the students days.

Questionnaire option 1

Questionaire option 2

Data:

	Occupation	Hours per day	Times per week	Why do you work?	Chink in days	What helps/ insights	Day order	…	…
1.	Dishwasher	5-7	3-4	I have to pay for my schooling	When the train schedule changes.	I go back and forth between ns and 9292.	School first and then work after.
2.	Ah employee	5	3	I pay for extras my parents pay for only the university		Work as close to home as you can.	School first and then work
3.	Ah employee	7	4	Pay for school	When someone is late and I have to stay until they are there.	Really flexible plans and working after school so no conflicts	School first then work
4.	Ah junior manager	7	4	Pay for school and experience		I work week ends and the free days	School is the priority
5.	Ah stocker	5	3	Pocket money	Late delivery’s, I have to sort and unpack them before I can leave	I work only after school at 5. And one week end.	School first.
6.	Baker in bakery5	4	5	Experience	Machine malfunctions. We share machines if one is malfunctioning then I’ screwed.	Communication. I keep everyone constantly in the loop. Getting breakfast and food at work.	I work in the bakery in the mornings form 4- 8 and get to school for –9,30 class
7.	Lundress in hotel	8	3	Money	Vip people. That means that they have to come first	I only work on free days and I get fed at work	School comes first. When my schedule changes, everything changes.
8.	Packer at Beckers	7.5	3-4	Money		I send them my school schedules and they work around it. Its shift work	School first.
9.	Waitress	6hrs min.	5	Money and fun	Late rushes and conventions or meeting that aren’t booked	My schedule changes with each module. This module I have class from 10.30 to 12 then 14.30-16.30 do I work the morning rush, afternoon rush and the evening rush	Communication there is always time you are not really using.
10.	Waitress	10	2	Money	Slow or new employees	I usually work week ends so no conflicts	Be organized.
11.	Shop assistant	7	3	Money		I work weekends and koop avonds so conflicts	Work for school when you have time. If not there is not enough time.
12.	Copy shop person	4	4	Money	Broken machines, I have to use them all day. If they don’t work then I cant.		I work after school.

Challenges:
We have chosen two different situations that came out of our interviews. We translated those situations and made two challenges out of it.


Challenge 1:

Challenge 2:

Updated Experience flow:

That's it for this week!