 |
|
|
Text from a sample observation request letter
Dear Reverend Smith,
Songs to Keep the Faith: Songs to Teach the Faith
My name is Elspeth Chantler. I am a professional church musician and liturgist, now in the final stages of my MA in Liturgical Music at Colchester Institute. My dissertation project, entitled Songs to Keep the Faith: Songs to Teach the Faith, is an in-depth study of children and religious song.
My research was born of the realisation that the children of today are growing up learning a very limited body of religious song. As a church musician I am frequently faced with the request that we 'sing something the children know', but on questioning the children as to what they know and would like to sing have discovered that they know very few hymns/Christian songs between them. I noticed that most of those who seemed to participate more freely in the singing in church, and who offered more suggestions as to what to sing attend church schools. What I intend to establish (given that it is important for Christians to be able to participate in sung worship) is how young people acquire a body of song, and to what extent schools, particularly church schools, influence this process.
To this end, my dissertation includes practical research. I need to make twelve observations (one visit to each of twelve local churches) to assess the level of sung participation among young people in various congregations in the local area. The resultant data will be analysed in relation to data collected on the musical life of the schools feeding the churches observed.
I would very much like your congregation to take part in the research. It would involve just one visit to your main Sunday service (not the family service or any other special service). The research team is made up of a maximum of five people, who would worship as part of the congregation, making notes when the congregation is singing. There will be no use of video or audio recording equipment, and the observations will made as unobtrusively as possible. After the service the team will be asking as many young people as possible to complete a short questionnaire.
The research will be conducted from May to October 2005. I am keen to make a start, and knowing how busy church calendars can get I would like to book a visit to your church to enable me to set a timetable and ensure I can make sufficient observations to complete my research.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions related to this research. In the next few days I will be phoning around all the churches in my proposed sample group to book appointments.
I look forward to speaking to you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Elspeth Chantler
Back to Top
|
|
|
|