Identifying research paths collectively: Analysis of Project Partner Data Maps

During an in-person meeting for the Sound Travels project, we (the Center for Research and Evaluation at COSI team) asked our project partners from diverse informal learning institutions and job backgrounds to help us identify important paths for our research, given the existing set of data and measured constructs from the previous year of data collection. To do this, we facilitated a data mapping activity. Analysis of 26 of these ‘data maps’ suggests that people in the Sound Travels project team are most interested in exploring correlational and predictive relationships between visitors’ cultural and experiential backgrounds and their visitors’ soundscape preferences. A frequency analysis identified nine construct relationship pairs that ‘stick out’ from the rest of the 81 identified relationship pairs. These are a good place to start for the subsequent analysis phase. We found several new constructs and over 60 relationship pairs that warrant more discussion and consideration as we proceed with the research. We publish this research brief to document part of our analysis and to serve as a possible model for other researchers and practitioners, particularly those who work collectively with diverse partners.