Honours Surveys !

UPDATE: Surveys are now CLOSED and interviews are no longer being conducted, thank you to those who participated!

HREA Panel B approval no. 13 031

    In addition to the interviews and fieldwork I will be conducting two short surveys as part of my honours thesis.  Each surveys should take 10 minutes or less, and all answers will be kept anonymous. Your participation will be greatly appreciated and will really help my study!! :)


The Public Survey:
    This survey is open to anyone from the general public and has never worked in the funeral industry. Answer honestly and do not worry about a 'right' or 'good' answer.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sp6_muhcGpNX4MU05eQg3CG6t9iK94sXn9od1pEGtWA/viewform

The Funeral Staff Survey:
    This survey is open to anyone who has worked in the funeral industry in some capacity. Such as a funeral director, mortician, gravedigger, celebrant, etc. Answer honestly and do not worry about a 'right' or 'good' answer.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nAa04xdAv9EJdQhIlwIi4DYmjCEmzd3qiQ2GLoBtYY4/viewform

    Feel free to share the surveys with anyone who might be interested. You are also welcome to participate in interviews, follow the link below for more information:

Information about the interviews & how to register interest.

 
All participation in this project is appreciated, if there's any further questions or comments feel free to email me via theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com.


    This project is part of honours in anthropology at the University of New South Wales and has received ethics approval (approval no. 13 031) from HREA Panel B at UNSW. If there are any questions or issues you can contact me via theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com or my supervisor Dr Amanda Kearney at the University of New South Wales.

Will Baby Boomers Significantly Impact the Funeral Industry?

    The baby boomers are considered somewhat of a prized commodity by many within the funeral industry. Essentially the theory is that over the next few years there will be a growth of deaths as the boby boomers die. Hence current marketing is attempting to tap into this desirable market.

    Yet I question this notion, maybe the baby boomer generation will push death rates up, but will it really be a notable rise?  In this post I explore the rising deaths of baby boomers and whether this might be as significant for the funeral industry as assumed.

Could Big Data Predict Funeral Work?

    One of the most common annoyances of the funeral industry is the lack of predictability for the work.  However, recently I was in a class on quantitative research where we discussed 'big data' and I realised how it could possibly apply to the funeral industry.  That this new form of qualitative research might be able to accurately predict specific details about funeral work.

Which would be quite a benefit to many companies and individuals!

Blog Stats - 13/05/13

    I'm rather busy at the moment, so a breakdown of the blog stats will have to do for now.  Hopefully I'll have more content up soon, but until then you can read over the stats.  Yes, I do like reading stats like this, guess my psychology and social science background is a big part of who I am.

Research Participants Needed !!!!

UPDATE: Surveys are now CLOSED and interviews are no longer being conducted, thank you to those who participated!

HREA Panel B approval no. 13 031

The Public & Private Domains of Everyday Life: Social Sanitation & Australian Understandings of the Funeral Industry 

    I am looking for people to participate in my honours project!  This project seeks to develop a better understanding of our society through the modern Australian funeral industry.

    To do this I will need people to participate in interviews.  There are two types of participants I am after; those who have direct experience working in the funeral industry (funeral staff), and others with no experience working in the industry (the general public).  This project is part of honours in anthropology at the University of New South Wales and has received ethics approval (approval no. 13 031) from HREA Panel B at UNSW.

If you, or someone you know, is interested then contact me: 

theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Selection Criteria (for funeral participants):

• Currently based in Sydney.
• Work within the funeral industry, past or present.  This can include any role with direct funeral experience.  Such as an undertaker, crematorium staff, transfer crew, mortician, gravedigger, celebrants, and so on.  You do not need to be directly employed by a funeral company as long as you have direct experience working within the funeral industry in some capacity.
• Aged 18 to 70.
• Potential participants who have experienced a loss of a family member or friend within the last 24 months will be excluded.

Selection Criteria (for non-funeral participants):

• Currently based in Sydney.
• Very little to no direct experience with funeral industry procedures.  As in, never employed by a funeral company.
• Aged 21 to 60.
• Potential participants who have experienced a loss of a family member or friend within the last 24 months will be excluded.

Other Important Information:

• All interviews will be conducted between the 25th of June and 30th of August.
• Interviews will last 30 minutes.
• Voice recordings and written notes will be taken, no videos or photos will be taken.
• Interviews are face-to-face and semi-structured.  This means there will be a set of open ended questions which the participant can direct.
• It should be noted, this project is separate from the blog and its own project done through the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

If you, or someone you know, is interested then contact me: 

theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

    There is a copied of the project flyer below which has more information about the project.  You are welcome to share this flyer (and post) with anyone who might be interested in participating.

Funeral Industry Study

Hello, my name is Peter Minucos, and I am conducting a study exploring perceptions of the funeral industry in Sydney. This study will be looking at the public and private aspects of what happens after death and people’s attitudes and understandings of the industry. 

This study is for the purposes of my Honours research project in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of New South Wales, and this research has received ethics approval (approval no. 13 031) from HREA Panel B at UNSW. Through this study I hope to gain a better understanding of ‘social sanitation’ within society, how undesirable processes are removed from the public. I also hope to learn more about the funeral industry itself, from how it operates to why it works the way it does. 

I am seeking people and organisations willing to participate in the project and discuss their views on this topic. 

Anyone interested in the funeral industry or this topic is free to participate. I am seeking anyone who might have experience relating to the funeral industry, such as having attended a funeral, or work in a funeral company. But I am also looking for anyone curious in the funeral industry. The interviews should go for no longer than 30 minutes, and there will be no compensation from participation, although it will be greatly appreciated! 

If you are interested in participating please contact me with the information provided below OR if you know someone who may be interested please feel free to pass on this flyer. If you are interested you can contact me for more information on how you can participate to this research. 

I can be contacted on the following:

Email: Peter Minucos at theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com 

Or you can contact my research supervisor, Dr. Amanda Kearney.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration! 

Blog Stats - 28/01/13

    Time for another blog stats breakdown, as I continue to find this interesting and useful.  This moth was actually quite surprising in a few ways.

Survey Reminder !!!

    Every month I am going to have a reminder about the surveys, to gather up as many respondents as possible.  At least until I get what I feel is enough.


    All are relatively short, and take an average of 10 minutes or less each.  As always, the surveys are completely anonymous and confidential.  If there are any issues or questions do not hesitate to contact me: theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com.


First Survey - Funeral Company Knowledge:
    The first survey looks at how well people know the funeral companies operating in Sydney.  In this survey I explore memory (both recognition and recall) to see if people actually know and remember different companies.

    Anyone can do this survey, as the focus is on Sydney companies yet mand are national brands.  It is also applicable for both funeral staff and non-funeral staff.

    You can complete the survey by following the link below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDdJS0tOUVBMTEVyMlAySlBvdWJURWc6MQ#gid=0

<> Unfortunately you have to copy and paste a url for certain questions.  I cannot embed the image, I understand it's not ideal, but it's the best I can do <>

    This survey might be most interesting to funeral companies, to see if their methods actually work.  Although it has several limitations, the point of this survey is to see if a certain concept is worth future exploration.


Second Survey - Funeral Attendance:
    The second survey is aimed at exploring funerals people have attended as a mourner.  There are a few things at work in this survey, the results could be rather useful.  While anyone can do this survey the focus is on the role of the mourner.

    You can complete the survey by following the link below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGZ2VHl1dUFDTDNWTjMteTh5UlcybFE6MQ#gid=0

    This survey is fairly simple, and aimed only at those who have attended a funeral as a mourner.  With luck the results might be quite informative of funeral practices and attitudes.


Third Survey - Age & Working Funerals:
    The third and final survey looks at age and funerals.  How we perceive the age of staff working in the industry and how age plays a role.  This survey is for funeral staff only, those who currently work or have worked in the funeral industry.

    You can complete the survey by following the link below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGZZUHMyUTdsalZsalo5M21fVHNLM0E6MQ#gid=0

    This survey explores a rather important and common issue in the industry.  Age and the funeral industry are contentious topics, so it would be interesting to investigate things like ageism.


Other & Future Work:
    If you are interested in participating in future research, as an individual or on behalf of a group/company, please email me: theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com.

    I am always looking for people willing to participate in a variety of studies about the funeral industry.  If you or anyone you know are interested in this please email me: theothersideoffunerals@gmail.com.  As always all information and participation will be kept confidential, no personal identity or details will be recorded.

    Alternatively you can leave a comment on this post, I will read all comments left on the blog.

An~~

Blog Stats - 26/11/12

    Time for the monthly breakdown of views.  I find doing this is actually interesting, and helpful in many ways.  Hopefully others find it as interesting or informative as I do!

NSW funeral home search terms

    This is just a short breakdown of search terms used to find funeral homes in NSW through google.  I looked at a few terms people use to find funeral homes.  As part of exploring how people think of the funeral industry.

    Originally this was just background research and possible evidence.  But I thought it interesting enough to get its own post.

Blog Stats - 28/10/12

    I thought it would be appropriate to update the blog stats, so this month can be compared with last month.  I don't think this will become a regular thing, but this month has been particularly interesting.

Blog Stats - 27/09/12

    This is just a breakdown of blog statistics.  Things like who views the blog, how the views have changed over time, most popular posts and so on.  I find it interesting and that it possibly says something about those who are interested in reading this type of thing.