Researcher(s):
Katherine Jernigan
ENVS course(s): 400, 499 Initiated: September 2014 Completed: May 2015 Go to project site
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This thesis focuses on the impacts that Australian economic and social policies at a national level have had on the producers within the industry. Through qualitative research analysis including narrative analysis and participant observation, it explores national identity, agriculturalist communities, moral weighting, and controversies in livestock industries.
Focus Questions:
How is the Australian wool industry impacted by product demand, animal welfare campaigns, and trade agreements?
What is the story of Australian wool as told by its producers and processors and why is it an important story to tell?
How do Australian wool farmers interact with their product and the sheep who are the producers of that product on cultural, personal, and financial levels?
Methodology:
I employed qualitative research methods, mainly participant observation and semi-structured informal interviews, to collect interpretive data. Most interviews were with wool farmers, although I also had a few informants involved in other parts of the industry: shearers and wool classers, as well as young people with farmer relatives who have chosen not to continue their family farms. I also had a brief interview with a representative from PETA Australia, an organization that has been a key player in animal welfare disputes within the industry.
I will use narrative analysis and content analysis to work with the data I have gathered. I have chosen to use interpretive interviewing methods in order to capture farmer and consumer perspectives and interactions. My goal is to uncover member meanings regarding the wool industry as a whole, human-sheep relations, marketing, and production methods. I also hope to learn about social networks and how farmers relate to one another.
I will code each interview and all of my field notes for specific information and themes. I will then look for patterns in the collection of interviews and compare and contrast various narratives. I will use these patterns (or lack thereof) as the basis for my analysis. I will code all of my field notes for themes in the controversies and theories, as well as larger narrative themes.