Diagnóstico de las aptitudes musicales: el Test de Aptitudes Musicales de Seashore

1.0. Aiding Interdisciplinary Research

This section justifies the organisation and structure of the thesis to assist the reader to access the thesis. This thesis can be seen as an aid to interdisciplinary collaboration, consequently, the thesis is structured to facilitate access by

practitioners and researchers from a number of paradigms. Overall the thesis can be considered in two halves - chapters one to six which provides a review of literature and outlines the methodology for the research, and chapter seven providing the conclusions. The research data is given in Appendix F.

The literature review consists of chapter one which takes a sociological perspective, chapter two which considers rationale for the research from the ethical point of view and chapter three, which reviews current practice in inclusive sea kayaking. Chapter four is pivotal to the thesis and allows the reader to access a snap shot of the key themes from the literature review and presents the hypothesis and research objectives. The methodology is presented in two halves again to allow the reader access to fieldwork considerations in chapter five independently to the methodological perspective given in chapter six. Chapter seven provides the results from the ten studies which are

complimented by associated appendices which provide logistical and

background information to each study. Chapter seven is designed to allow the reader to access the conclusions to each of the studies and the context to the conclusions to the research.

A suggestion for a lightweight read would be chapters two, four and seven.

Those requiring a detailed summary of the research may consider reviewing chapters two and four to gain an overview of the key themes. A selection of either chapter five or six could then be made depending on the reader’s interest

in either fieldwork protocols or methodology respectively. The reader could then conclude with a detailed review of chapter seven.

1.1. Summary

This section summarises the research providing an outline of each of the chapters. The research starts with a review of literature, Chapter one, from a range of paradigms including; the sociology of disability, disability sport, inclusive design. It also places the research theoretically against key issues in sports development, coaching, and outdoor practice including expeditions and fieldwork. Chapter two looks at the importance of the research against other societal needs, considering the ethical standpoint for this research on social development and equality through design. In Chapter three, the current state of play is discussed with regard to specialist seating systems for disabled people.

The hypothesis, research aim and objectives are outlined in chapter four.

Chapter five considers the issues of fieldwork safety, including both physical and emotional safety, as well as issues to do with inclusive logistical practice and teamwork for the research team in the field.

The methodology for the research is outlined in Chapter six, which commences with a summary of the problems facing designers when searching for inclusive design methodologies. The chapter moves on to review a number of research approaches, which form a toolbox for the design research. Following this there is a summary plan of the research, followed by detailed plans of all ten studies and their evaluations. Chapter six concludes with a detailed description of the research methodology. The methodology utilises a people-centred action research process. The foundations for the research approach are from social research, facilitation or development training and performance coaching. The

research utilises a functional model of disability as the common language, and suggests a model of opportunity development in order to provide a metric of success for the socially minded inclusive designer.

Chapter seven concludes the research, in relation to the success of both the design outcome and the development of methodologies for the inclusive sports equipment designer. It also provides a summary of the results and discusses themes for future work. It is followed by the Appendices, which contain the full data and fieldwork reports.

The ten studies and their evaluations are outlined in Appendix F. Each case study is presented, in turn with logistical considerations presented in the

appendices so that the reader is able to access the data. The main study focuses on an iterative product design and development process, which brings together feedback from a user group of sea kayakers with spinal cord injury. The

fieldwork phase of the research consists of a review of preliminary studies undertaken on a range of international expeditions, many of which were supported by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). The main study is framed against these preliminary studies. Additional preliminary field data is drawn upon from field visits to the Paralympic Scientific Congress, and to the Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000. It also draws from the author’s

involvement in the Inclusive Fitness Initiative. The final design is evaluated against a range of criteria taken from all sections of the work. The key sections are; rationale, inclusive design criteria, usability by the user group, usability by the market identified in the functional model of disability, usability in the proposed environment. Additionally the final product is seen against the potential commercial viability when placed on the market, to help create new opportunities.

The stylistic emphasis of the PhD is to use the standard academic practice of critical analysis, balanced with structured reflection based upon interactions with the key fieldwork elements and with pragmatic approaches. Interactions with the outdoor and expedition worlds has been driven by annual presentations at national conferences (1996-2009), such as the National Institute for Outdoor Learning Conference and Explore, the annual expeditions and fieldwork

conference run by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). The research has also formed the philosophical cornerstone of a charity, Equal Adventure, which is now placed to tackle the broader problem of creating resources for inclusive adventure.

Elements of the thesis have been submitted for peer review publication at conferences such as Cambridge Workshop of Universal Access and Assistive Technology, 2006 (herein referred to as CWUAAT), Include 2005 at the Royal College of Art (herein referred to as the RCA), and the International Sports Engineering Association (ISEA) conference, 2004.

Philosophically, the work asks if design is simply learning for both the researcher and the athlete or participant, and poses questions for the design community about its vision of humanity. For the expedition and fieldwork community, the work suggests a methodology which can be used for people-centred fieldwork studies. For the kayaking world, the research presents a new canvas for exploration at sea by disabled people, through the presentation of a modular design. For kayak coaches, the thesis brings a deeper understanding of how performance is modified as a result of impairment or disability, by asking a fundamental question about sports performance: ‘Where does the equipment stop, and coaching and performance start?’

This study has shown the link between the coach, performer and the designer. It has demonstrated the use of a new set of tools for designers when considering inclusive sports equipment development, which draws on the work of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The study has illustrated a link between coaching and outdoor leadership issues and occupational models of performance, creating models which can be used to train sports coaches and inform designers, which help to ensure that all agents in the development process are better able to cater for the needs of disabled people.

The study has also helped to define a model of interrelationships between athletes and supporting agents, such as designers and sports scientists, to

promote the best use of limited finance within this area of human performance.