Research on the Importance of Art Media Skills (1997)

Investigator: Anne Morrison

Population: Graphic and commercial artists

Identification method: Artists information gathered from companies that employ graphic and commercial artists. Companies involved with the graphic arts industry were selected from the 1997 Southwestern Bell Greater Houston Area Yellow Pages (Swabyp's).

Sampling procedure: Participants were selected randomly by choosing numbers from a column cup and an order listed cup. Numbers were placed in the column cup according to the number of columns in that Swabyp's category: (a) Advertising Agencies and Counselors (9 columns), (b) Artists - Commercial (1 column), (c) Computer Graphics (3 columns), (d) Desktop Publishing Services (4 columns), (e) Graphic Designers (6 columns), (f) Graphics Services (1 column), and (g) Printers (18 columns). Numbers from 1 - 65 were constant in the order listed cup. No columns had more than 65 listings, if a non existing number was chosen for a particular column, another number was chosen until there was a listing in that column for that number. Random selection continued until there were 40 responses. Equal numbers of calls were placed in each category listed in Swabyp's. Reasons for excluding participants were: not a working number, no answer, recorded message, refusal to participate, no graphic arts department, and not reached after three call backs.

N and Response rate: One hundred and five calls were placed to obtain data for 40 cases. Additional information was unavailable in works reviewed.

Publication: Morrison, Anne. 1999. "Action Research to Determine the Importance of Traditional and Electronic Art Media Skills as Rated by Professionals in Companies with Differing Primary Function, Size, and Platform." Internet address: http://home.earthlink.net/~ahmorrison/ research. html#survey.

Summary: Morrison’s (1999) purpose is to help identify practical approaches to art curricula. The main objective is to obtain information from professionals in the field of graphic design in order to determine the importance of electronic and traditional skills in the graphic arts field.