Major catch-up post

So, where were we? Oh yes. .. PhD in progress. It is, at least, still in progress. I passed my first year viva in November last year, and am currently working on two aspects of the research. My first year report is here.

1. Longitudinal sample

The very nice man at findachurch.co.uk gave me a method by which I can use the database to assemble a random sample. I am collecting 100 each of Anglican, Catholic, Methodist and Baptist churches across England. I will track these churches at regular intervals over the next couple of years to see if the presence or absence of websites changes.

2. Content analysis

The major meat of the project is the content analysis of websites. What are churches saying about themselves and their faith? And are they doing it nicely? So I have been pulling together the kinds of elements considered by other research, and a few ideas of my own, to create my content analysis tool.

I’m also carrying a couple of articles and a text book on research methodology around with me, with the intention to start the justification for why I think CA is the best tool for the project. But sadly I keep falling asleep on the train home and not reading them.