Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy
Summary
The paper constitutes a proposal for quantitative research method in investigat-ing culture change. The proposal outlines steps to be taken in order to assess source usefulness: Identifying categories in culture studies, creating lists of source avail-ability, listing representation of sources, deciding on source usefulness, further re-search or supplementary data collection.
Keywords: car culture, knowledge management, quantitative methods in culture research 1. Introduction
Throughout the recent centuries culture has been shaped not only by non-material phenomena and achievements of artistic nature but also by products of human inventiveness and science. The examples of the process are cars and computers that made a huge impact on the development of civilisation. Car culture is one of the particular notions that gave way to research in many countries. The context of knowledge creation constitutes a promising environment for material culture exploration. The aim of this paper is to propose the method for author’s classification and categorisation of literature concerning the influence of motoring on culture change in the UK obtained so far. The question of knowledge importance and its prospects in business and social life have been thoroughly investigated beginning from classical concepts of knowledge proposed as early as in ancient times and most recent implementations of knowledge management at enterprises (Drelichowski 2004). The presentation of the whole research problem in knowledge environment has been proposed at the conference of the Polish Association for Knowledge Management (Adamski 2008).
Car culture has been defined from different perspectives. Car culture studies include general considerations concerning the phenomenon of car in modern societies (Gierczak 1994), particular aspects of culture where a car is a dominant motif (Thoms, Holdem, Claydon 1998) , (Wollen, Kerr 2002). Besides, modern car research includes also proposals for car culture research (Miller 2001 in: Miller 2001). In general, a car has become an indispensable element of our everyday life. Regardless of the place around the world, a car is primarily perceived as the means of transport. Cars replace even public transport in such a way that buses or trains journeys are cancelled. However, by the increase in car use, the traffic is heavier and some roads are almost always jammed. But a car gives a chance for comfortable, independent travelling and moving in the space according to personal preferences, plans, schedules. Travelling by car gives a possibility of arranging travelling time, direction or company at own discretion the only limitation lying in the load of belongings one can carry in the car. A car can be compared to a silent servant and friend being an aide in daily chores. In broader terms, a car is an element of architecture and organizes the space around us. On the other hand, analogies were drawn to show that cars as examples of
mobile architecture may serve as a model for erecting immovable components of architecture – buildings. Another question of the car phenomenon in our contemporaries concerns personal emotions connected with the “automotive life”. It is said that physical and emotional distances between people travelling together in one car are shortened. Moreover, car travelling is connected with sensual perceptions of pleasure, danger, let alone sensual media of sight (visual perception of the interior, road, et), sense of hearing (perception of sounds coming from the mechanical parts or from the traffic), sense of smell (the smell of interior or petrol). What is more, a car is an extension of home. Car as such is not only an extension but also may be called a satellite of home. Care directed towards car’s technical condition, long journeys taken in some countries and a strong emotional tie with the family car resemble such relations to a considerable extent. Car use is also related with compensation feelings (travelling to the country compensates urban inconveniencies). Finally the need for speed and freedom are embodied by cars and fast travelling. The feelings connected with pleasure or discomfort connected with speed vary from one person to another (Gierczak 1994). The classification of human activity and social processes, works art, gender roles are visible in the collections of essays devoted to car cultures. Researchers, very often from different countries, present particular aspects of car impact on societies, i.e. impressions from German car production plant, motoring in the Soviet Union or car use in Havana(Wollen, Kerr 2002). Motoring in Britain in humanistic aspect has been explored by O’Connell (1998) but only in the period of 1896-1939. The subject of the monograph is the role a car played in shaping British society in the 20th century. The author concentrates on the interrelation between car, motoring and gender. Popular culture connected with cars in Britain was explored in a collection of essays (Thoms, Holdem, Claydon 1998). Researchers focus on motor car ownership in Britain, British sports cars phenomenon or war and the car. Besides, the relations in British car industry are also presented as a very important input into industrial culture change.
The above-mentioned presentation of sources concentrating on car cultures is only a sample of the car culture research undertaken in various fields. The research in car culture in Britain and the impact of car on British culture can be discussed on the basis of the sources gathered.
2. Research method for categorisation of sources
The above-mentioned presentation of sources concentrating on car cultures is only a sample of the car culture research undertaken in various fields. The research in car culture in Britain and the impact of car on British culture can be discussed on the basis of the sources gathered. New knowledge creation or knowledge perspective requires the identification of material available for research. In order to create a representative portfolio of material for further research, it is indispensable first to come up with subject research areas that will constitute headings under which sources will be ascribed. A primary set of headings includes:
1. Input of British motoring into general progress of motoring 2. Social issues
3. Motoring in British literature 4. British motoring in visual art 5. British motoring and journalism 6. British motoring and the law 7. British motoring and marketing
8. British motoring and film 9. British culture
10. The culture of technology 11. Philosophy of technology 12. British motor sport
13. History of British motor industry 14. British motoring and the Internet 15. British motoring and music 16. Psychology and the car 17. Heritage and British motoring 18. Other
The set of headings has an impressionistic nature. It was the choice of the researcher that decided upon the inclusion of headings. Of course, it is possible that the list is not exhausted. The aim of the table with headings is to provide a picture of the research sources and materials gathered so far.
Each heading carries a broader meaning behind in terms of capacity of subject matter. (1) refers to events and developments in general progress of motoring (inventions, new ideas and concepts). (2) consists of the materials related to the British society and its history in the context of motoring, e.g. men and women and their cars, cities and countryside shaped by the advance of motoring, etc. (3) comprises the motifs of cars and motoring in English literature. (4) provides elements of visual art in Britain where the main theme was a car, driver or motoring or motor sports as such. (5) includes motoring journalism and motoring journalists in Great Britain, either motoring journalism for the elite or for the masses (such a distinction can be drawn). (6) explores legal issues connected with motoring in Britain as a part of the social development (legal regulations for drivers, crimes connected with driving a car, etc.). Marketing and selling cars (7) concerns advertisement methods, language and visual aids employed to sell cars to Britons. (8) is in a way connected with English literature because the sources for film adaptation lies very often in literature but here the car as a member of cast will be investigated (either an English car or any car in an English film. British culture (9) in a culture-driven research is indispensable for creating a background of the whole work. The culture of technology (10) presents technology, a non-humanistic domain, as an inherent part of culture and constitutes another plane for background material (cf. (9)). The same background information lies under the philosophy of technology heading (11). (12) evokes rich traditions of British motor sports and British sports cars. (13) constitutes the skeleton of the whole work providing explanation for the emergence, rise and decline of the British motor industry. (14) shows the presence of cultural aspects of British motoring on the Internet – promotion, raising awareness and protecting the national motoring heritage. (15) investigates the motifs of an English car in music. (16) gives an overview of attitudes towards car ownership and use in Britain, including emotions connected with driving. (17) refers to the motoring heritage that is widely present in Britain (e.g. National Motor Museum). (18) includes some cross-boundary issues not included under any other headings. The excerpt of the table with sources looks as follows:
Table. 1. Cultural categories representation in sources Category Item Input of British motoring into gen-eral pro-gress of motoring Social issues Motor-ing in British literature British motoring In visual art British motoring and journal-ism British motoring and the law x 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 +
In the context of the analysis of influence of British motoring and the presentation of sources of knowledge enabling to investigate and identify the most important motoring impact on a wide range of cultural conditions of the United Kingdom, various sources of knowledge can be identi-fied. These are direct and indirect sources. In scholarly environments it is often said that a given culture can be best explored and described by a stranger because of their objectivity in assessment. It is particularly true in the case of Norman Davies, a British historian who wrote a very popular book covering history of Poland – God’s Playground. However, this opinion may face objection because such an exploration can be prevented by such factors as great distance, problems with ac-cess to the sources of knowledge and financial constraints. In the case of the thesis the principal goal concerned finding a place where it would be possible to get information connected with Brit-ish motoring history. It was not possible to assimilate with the BritBrit-ish motoring environment for a longer period of time to experience motoring phenomena in the form as they really are.
The sources gathered so far facilitate the preparation of main sections of the dissertation (Adamski 2007). The sources that are discussed in this chapter will serve only as example of pos-sible and already available sources of information and knowledge for the said dissertation. Printed and online sources cover the important aspects of the provisional outline presented below. The sources of knowledge are of various kinds – ranging from historical books on the history of motor-ing in general: Dzieje samochodu by Witold Rychter published in 1983. However old the source may seem, it was prepared meticulously by one of the greatest Polish motoring historians. Another item is The rise and decline of the British motor industry by Roy Church is a critical analysis of a complex event of the motoring industry collapse. The historical background is necessary for fur-ther presentation of cultural implementations of the motoring motifs. A completely different source of information are diaries of motoring enthusiast journalists and creators of motoring centres in the UK – Drive On! A social history of the motor car by L. J. K. Setright: “a Wittgenstein of the mo-toring press. A separate place will be granted to “gutter” momo-toring press practiced by Jeremy
Clarkson, the host of a popular TV program on motoring. Next important source are British motor-ing magazines: Top Gear (paper version of Clarkson’s TV series) and some past issues of Autocar and Motor from the late 1940s (purchased in Internet auctions). Of course, the latest issues of Brit-ish motoring magazines will be used as a source for information about the condition of the contem-porary British motoring journalism (Car of the 1990s and 2000s). With respect to the car ads in Great Britain, it is possible to get sources from newspapers but also from a series of postcards with old car ads. The presentation of sources available to the author shows only an exemplary part of materials gathered till now, the library that is being supplemented constantly includes also other materials connected for example with art (catalogues of auto work of arts sold by auction houses – Auto Art) and studies of motoring influences on British literature (The car in British society. Class gender and motoring 1896-1939) by Sean O’Connell).
3. Quantitative data
The list of sources and the number of sources in table form facilitates the process of finding “blank spaces”. These are the categories where the representation of sources is insufficient for meticulous analysis of a given research problem. The method of source listing seems particularly useful for multi-aspect research problem. Furthermore, if a given category turns out to be represented insufficiently, it may be necessary to cross out a given category due to the lack of sources gathered. The 18 categories represented in sources may overlap in the categorization, i. e. one reference source may fall into several categories.
Table 2. List of categories and amount of sources
Category Total
1. Input of British motoring into gen-eral progress of motoring
4
2. Social issues 10
3. Motoring In British literature 3
4. British motoring in visual art 9
5. British motoring and journalism 31
6. British motoring and the law 2
7. British motoring and marketing 3
8. British motoring and film 2
9. British culture 4
10. The culture of technology 1
11. Philosophy of technology 0
12. British motor sport 3
13. History of British motor industry 13 14. British motoring and the Internet 0
15. British motoring and music 1
16. Psychology and the car 1
17. Heritage and British motoring 12
Another categorization that can be conducted involves the divisions of reference genres. The division includes monographs, collections of essays, diaries, papers downloaded from the Internet and magazines. The groups, in turn, can be divided into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include publications by the actors of British industry and car culture (e.g. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu: Wheels within Wheels. An Unconventional Life, Jeremy Clarkson: Motorworld). Next group, with very scarce representation, is the group with real life automobilia, this group could include also old prints – magazines from the first half of the 20th century (Your Driving Test. How to Prepare for It. How to Pass It. Ministry of Transport dated 1963; The Autocar – June 17 1949). Secondary sources include essays or papers in which references to other reference material are made. These are papers on various aspects of British cars and British motoring or general car culture (e.g. Mimi Scheller: Automotive Emotions: Feeling the Car.).
The representation of sources in genres can be presented in the table: Table 3. Representation of source genres Papers (online) Press magazines Collections of
essays/papers Printed automobilia Monographs 14 31 4 5 34 Total: 88
The table presents the overall amount of sources available so far. 88 items at hand divided into 5 groups give an overview of source availability and the distribution of the material gathered in various source genres. The scarce representation of automobilia does not have to mean that the source genre is not useful and should be excluded from the analysis. Such a representation results from the fact of local unavailability of such sources – thus, they may serve as artefacts and examples of the past motoring life and may constitute some material for further analysis and discussion.
4. Quantitative analysis shaping qualitative decisions
The quantitative method applied here facilitates taking decisions about usefulness of categories and sources in the research. The usefulness assessment can be assessed according to the following scheme:
Fig. 1 Decision tree in research category assessment
Source representation in culture studies 1. Sufficient for further rese-arch 2. Insufficient or unobtainable 3. Insufficient and obtaina-ble
In the paper the following method of analysis was proposed: 1. Identifying categories in culture studies
2. Creating matrices of sources availability 3. Listing representation of sources 4. Deciding on source usefulness
5. Further research or supplementary data collection
The method as such can aid a structured and systematic analysis of cultural issues and may constitute an objective tool for checking accuracy of judgements in humanities. However, in some cases, the source availability may be a decisive factor in including or excluding a given category from the research scope.
5. Literature:
1. Adamski, M., 2008. Knowledge Creation – Car In British Culture. Polish Association for Knowledge Management. Series: Studies and Proceedings No. 15. Bydgoszcz., pp. 5-11. 2. Drelichowski, L., 2004. Podstawy inĪynierii zarządzania wiedzą. Studia i Materiały
Pol-skiego Stowarzyszenia Zarządzania Wiedzą. Bydgoszcz., pp. 13-22.
3. Gierczak, J., 1994. Fenomen auta w przestrzeni. Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wro-cławskiej. Wrocław., pp. 4-155.
4. O’Connell, S., 1998. The car in British Society: Class, Gender and Motoring, 1896-1939. Studies in Popular Culture. Manchester University Press. Manchester., pp. 5-133.
5. Miller, D. (ed.), 2001. Car Cultures. Materializing Cultures. Berg. Oxford.
6. Thomas, D, Kolden, L., Claydon, T., Claydon, T., (eds.), 2002 The Motor Car and Popu-lar Culture in the 20th Century. Ashgate. Aldershot.
7. Wollen, P., Kerr, J., 2002. Autopia. Cars and Culture. Reaktion Books. London.
Maciej Adamski
Katedra Filologii Angielskiej,
Instytut Neofilologii i Lingwistyki Stosowanej Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy 85-601 Bydgoszcz, ul. Grabowa 2
