Sometimes these people annoyed the God of Data Analysis (or GDA0101) as he became known. Occasionally they had a spark of things unable to be categorised or quantified. Neither he or his network of data seraphs could process these strange glitches in the machines. They were called ‘emotions’ or sometimes ‘feelings.’ They were baffling and a nuisance.

As time went by GDA0101 noticed that his view from Mount Numerous was not the same as before. The colour had drained. His citizens were becoming slower. Sometimes they behaved in erratic ways that did not fit his carefully honed model. The projections derived from the tracking systems did not always prove correct.

He called on his data seraphs. ‘Tell me what is happening!’ he commanded. ‘And what to do about it! I need to know what causes these people to behave so out of accordance with how the data indicates that they should.’

The Spreadsheet Seraph crunched her numbers and created graphs, but came up with no answers.

The Spirit of Loyalty Cards swooped in to track and monitor and profile. She could tell GDA0101 what was happening, but could not explain why.

The Econometrics Angel modelled and profiled and projected, and produced numerous theories as to what the citizens should be doing – but nothing to help explain why they sometimes didn’t.

Finally, the Cherub of Connection floated along. He was a little bit scared. He knew that his idea would appear radical. ‘How about…’ he ventured, ‘we talk to your people.’

‘Wonderful idea!’ boomed GDA0101. ‘We have some great software for just this.’

‘No, I mean, with words.’

‘Words?’

‘Yes, like a conversation. We could ask them why they do the things they do. Understand the people better.’

GDA0101 was not convinced. What could talking tell him that data couldn’t? How could the word ‘why’ – only three letters long – help him out when he already knew what, where, when and how.

But he was desperate. He granted the Cherub of Connection permission to go out and try his method. as laughable as it seemed.

The Cherub of Connection was gone quite a long time. GDA0101 was monitoring. Conversation was a lengthy process. And not always predictable. Some people had a lot to say, others very little. Some citizens found it easy to talk about their feelings, and others hated it. Some knew why, others had never considered it before. Words were messier than numbers, that was for sure.

Finally, the Cherub of Connection returned. He sat down and spoke of emotions and feelings and passions and motivations. Why proved to be powerful. Words seemed to show something that the numbers didn’t. They weren’t perfect on their own, but when thrown into the mix with when, where, how, what, data, digits, analysis and monitoring, why and words proved to be the missing ingredient. The magic spark.

There was a fizzle, and a crackle. The colour came back. The people smiled. They didn’t always smile as planned and projected of course, but that was ok. GDA0101 understood a little better. The God of Analysis he called himself now. Some data, some discussion.

The world was good again.

—

If you want to know more about how I can help you wade through the mud and tell clear and compelling stories about your brand and business, get in touch on fbaker@live.co.uk or here. I’m a content writer, marketer and communications consultant – and have had plenty of experience with data!

I started blogging due to my love of writing, and desire to be a journalist. It seemed an easy way to start out in the field of features and reporting, gaining experience but in my own time and without having to intern in an expensive city and earn no money. Everything I do comes from my core values – communication, connection, curiosity and creativity. And So She Thinks is me, my passions, my skills, and my plans; a place to share my thoughts and the things that I discover.

Blogging is mainstream

Now, everyone is a blogger. And the growth of blogging has been blamed with bottoming out the journalism industry, due to the plethora of people willing to write, and often for free. Disparate social media means that creating and publishing is now open to all, user generated content allows people to publish on mainstream sites, and constant communication and commentary is available to everyone. There’s something democratic about this, but can also mean that there’s a lot of bad writing, boring ideas and poor quality content out there. That’s before we even mention fake news. With news writing bots and the prolific rise of automated listicles, bloggers could see their work being pushed aside, and lamenting the good old days just like the journalists do. I hope that good quality content that has longevity will again be considered to be more valuable that low quality, click bait Buzzfeed style pieces that spark only a brief moment of interest before becoming out of date.

Bloggers as brands

Blogging for most remains a hobby, but for some, it’s a lucrative career. However, rather than to share their views, report on issues or comment on ideas, it’s to sell. Blogs and social media are a brand package and many businesses and corporations are factoring them into their content creation plans. As a result bloggers as brands will continue to grow as another marketing channel, moving away from their roots as a personal journals to lifestyle branding outlets. Like Priya Dabak who blogs at Tabula Rasa, I believe that ‘A blog is a wonderful platform to interact with like-minded folk and gives one the luxury to carve out a new virtual identity.’ Also like Dabak, it’s true that the increased appeal of blogging is its commercialisation and monetisation. Once money starts to talk loudest, it’s pretty difficult for things to shift, and I don’t see the blurring of blogging and branding leaving anytime soon.

Multimedia

Words are still the pillar of blogging, but recordings, videos and images becoming more and more significant and present. As we walk away from desktops and big screens to consuming content on mobiles, and with apps increasingly being the portal through which we do so, a responsive and dynamic presentation matters even further. It’s no longer about writing articles and features, and in the disparate media landscape ‘Instead of blogging, people are posting to Tumblr, tweeting, pinning things to their board, posting to Reddit, Snapchatting, updating Facebook statuses, Instagramming’ as Jason Kottke says. Whatever the medium and whatever the channel, it will have to look good, and user experience and maximising the interface will become something that all bloggers have to understand.

Data delivery

More people will learn how to use data and analytics, with off the shelf drag and drop options becoming more sophisticated. Posts will be able to automatically reshaped and re-shared when search statistics reach a particular level, or targeted as with social media advertising. Algorithms will allow for localised delivery, or personalised design.

A return to authenticity

Although I’ve lamented the loss of authenticity above, elsewhere in the world there’s been a real yearning for it. Over the last few years there’s been a shift from worrying about ‘what’ you do to ‘why.’ It’s no longer about being the most successful or glamourous but getting back to basics. Just think of the growth of home baking, craft clubs and gardening amongst all ages. The blogging landscape is now saturated by people who don’t love to write, but instead feel that they ‘should’ have a blog in order to sell themselves. I hope that blogging follows the fashion of seeking sincerity and simplicity, and that the sphere is again run by people who just love to communicate. Who love to tell stories. Who love words.

Perhaps that’s just a wishful thinking. But that’s why I set up my blog. A place to share my thoughts.

This book, edited by Theo Stickley, associate professor of mental health at the university of Nottingham and expert on mental health, arts and health, counselling or nurse education, brings together three rather nebulous and difficult to define concepts – qualitative, art, and mental health – with the aim of proving, at least until the ‘common sense’ argument prevails, that the arts are good for people and should be valued and embedded in practice.

As well as definitions, arts for mental health faces a systemic difficulty. When it comes to healthcare, data is key. Funders and policy makers want evidence, and the form this tends to take is figures, laboratory testing, randomised control trials and money. But not only are creative and arts based interventions difficult to measure in this way, the individual patients and services users do not see the impact in terms of statistics but the effect on their own quality of life.

This book presents eleven key examples of arts-based projects that have sought to promote mental health. They include visual arts, craft making, writing, film-making and performance, and are given the term ‘participatory arts’.

Theo Stickley offers up diary extracts from his early days in the field, when as a mental health nurse in a ‘bleak…limited’ environment where people were ‘stripped of…independence and dignity’ when he set up a creative arts programme that went on to become Nottingham’s Art In Mind.

Asking the question ‘Is art therapy?’ Langley Brown explores the difference between art as therapy and non-clinical activity, and the role of the patient within this. The evolving programme in Liverpool is explored by Julie Hanna and Polly Moseley, with collaborative commissioning being identified as a key area for focus, and four schools are looked at by Edward Sellman and Anna Cunliffe, in a balanced report addresses dangers as well as benefits. Mick McKeown et al. and Shaun & Marian Naidoo both look at the role of film, one as an art form, and one as a research tool.

The final chapter by Helen Spandler and colleagues was undertaken as part of a national study to assess the impact of participatory arts provision for people with mental health needs, 20 and explores how arts can contribute towards a ‘recovery’ approach. Fostering hope, creating a sense of meaning and purpose, rebuilding identities and improving resilience are the hardest to standardise and measure, ‘yet may be the most profound and significant outcomes of participation in such projects’. Helen Brooks and David Pilgrim also consider the distinction between ‘transactional’ and ‘transformational’ change.

Effective art practice should not involve patients as subjects to do something to, but active creators along with artist facilitators, and so many of the chapters look at the perspective of the latter and their own experience. The research examples use various qualitative methods to capture the contexts and meanings of arts practice, with the aim of reflecting the voice of the participant through narratives discourse, ethnography or participatory action research. Researchers are by nature curious, and this curiosity should extend to exploring new methods of inquiry that are flexible and reflexive, truly reflecting the experience of the subject – but seeing that subject as a human being.

This, if anything, feels like the noble goal of Theo Stickley’s Qualitative Research in Arts and Mental Health: Context, meaning and evidence. To view art as a human experience in which the experience of humans matters. Identity, hope and resilience are all important attributes of a person’s life, whether they are deemed to have health problems or not, and arts based approaches offer a ‘unique and life transforming contribution to mental healthcare.’ this collection of research and documentation is one valuable step towards its recognition as such.