Response to the research conducted by Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis

I would like to use this publication to point out a few things with regards to the research done by Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis as published in the article “No link between Dancehall and violence among Youth - UWI study shows link statistically insignificant”, published Sunday, December 27, 2009 by Mel Cooke, The Jamaica Gleaner which is completely wrong and is flawed beyond any point of being scientific.

Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis is yet again palming off her own opinion as fact, this time by wasting money from the Office of the Principal at the University of the West Indies (UWI), through the Special Initiatives Research Fund.

Her research is not only unscientific, but typical of her gender  there is obvious bias in this research, based on her previous public utterances, making the learned John Public dismiss her research as not being worth the paper or column space wasted to print it in the first place.

It is already obvious to the Public, from a Common Sense or Anecdotal point of view, those violent and sexually explicit lyrics of dancehall music are having an effect on not only the young but also the rest of society as obvious from the increased expressions of violence and general social disorder from its members.

This latest tirade in the public only serves to prove that academia cannot be trusted to do research in a fair manner, as it will always be biased towards their own opinion and usually be opposed to what laypersons know from experience, insulting the ordinary man’s thinking and making him wonder how these academics, sitting lofty in their high Chairs, look at the rest of society when they spew out these dictates in public space, often that which we wish not to hear or worse we understand already and are having re-explained by these academics, as if we did not understand it before.

It is well understood by most people why Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis would use a sample size of 300 within the age range of 15-24 year-olds in Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon between June and August in 2009 as it saves money, labour and time as stated in “Social Methods in Social Investigation”, authors Sir Clause.A. Moser and G. Kalton, published by Heinemann Educational Books, 48 Charles Street, London, WIX 8AH (1975), p. 56-58).

What troubles us “well thinking Jamaicans” who do not have a PhD is the research period as specified in the article, as this is way too short to be scientific. Behavioral studies on people are usually conducted over a five (5) or ten (10) year span of time, so as to ascertain if the actual effect of the material to which the subjects are exposed to is actually making any marked difference in their behavior versus a control group who are assumed to be unexposed to this material that is influencing this behavior.

During this period of time, the research is usually done and then redone to gauge its effects on the sample population, as each time the research is done, it is basically seen as a snapshot of the sample and by extension the population, which the sample is held as being as such a faithful representation.

The fact that the time period was so short makes the survey questionable, as enough time did not pass to show up any measurable observable changes in their behaviour after being exposed to the violent and sexually explicit lyrics of dancehall music.

Also, most troubling about Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis research methodology was the fact that she relied on the usage of questionnaires only. There apparently was no attempt to makes sure that the information garnered from the young people in her sample was the fact the truth i.e. polygraph tests, multiple samplings, anonymous random sampling methodologies, etc., as obviously young people, seeing as they were the focus of the research, they would naturally give responses that would be seen as favorable and not against the status quo as set by adults, as well as to avoid possible problems by their peers.

The young people in Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis sample may have even viewed this research as a means of bringing them back into line, effectively a form of social control as stated in “Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective”, authors Peter L. Berger, published by Doubleday and Company Inc, Garden City, New York (1963), p 68 - 92.

Thus, albeit questionnaires are a scientific method of data collection, it is prone to flaws, as in sampling, as according to Sir Clause A. Moser, the sampler has “good reason to believe that the material they are sampling is so homogenous or ‘well mixed’ that the sample will adequately represent the whole” as stated in “Social Methods in Social Investigation”, authors Sir Clause.A. Moser and G. Kalton, published by Heinemann Educational Books, 48 Charles Street, London, WIX 8AH (1975), p. 57.

Thus the reader of her research is left to wonder what would have been the result if she had just simply asked for more money and done her research properly over a longer period of time, using every school in Jamaica instead of focusing on a handful of students (possibly the children are friends or the children of friends of hers?) in parishes that seem conveniently juxtaposed for ease of travel (possibly research students had limited fuel in their vehicles?). This all looks a bit too obvious and easily planned.

But there is another concern. There is the fact that, as Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis has said, she has “after being in the eye of the storm for about 10 years," has decided finally to publish, or make public this body of research. Is it that all this time she was unchallenged and everyone was basically swallowing her opinion, brandishing her PhD this way and that to all who would dare oppose her educated opinion?

Or is it an indication of laziness on the part of the University of the West Indies, which merely sees the current social malaise as an excuse to throw one of its brightest stars into the public spotlight to indicate to the public that they had been doing research all along and they were, after all, capable of scientific discourse on a subject that was originally brought to light by someone outside of their ranks – Mrs. Ester Tyson, the Principal of Ardenne High School – in an unscientific manner?

Possibly even the University of the West Indies, in its coy play with the media, is merely bending to public pressure placed on them by the public, after the deafening silence from them, to prove that the violent and sexually explicit lyrics of dancehall music was not affecting the young people and society at large.

Even worse is the fact that Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis has done research herself, funded by the University of the West Indies and not the Broadcast Commission, making the research work appear to be a work of fiction, paid for by the University of the West Indies to back one of its brightest star PhD’s who is biased towards opinions previously stated in public that violent and sexually explicit lyrics of dancehall music do not affect the young people in her sample.

Consequently the young population within the age range stipulated, which by itself would invalidate her research in the eyes of John Public and the Court of Public Opinion.

Thus I segway to another point of concern: the affect on the society at large. Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis focuses her efforts on researching the effects of the violent lyrical content of dancehall music on the young, as aptly represented in her sample group of 300 within the age range of 15-24 year-olds in Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon between June and August in 2009.

Yet nowhere in her research does she indicate the possible effects of this type of music on the rest of the population, who are, from a Common Sense or Anecdotal point of view, are the more active perpetrators and organizers of crime in Jamaica.

Thus the most likely to act in a violent manner, violence that should show a marked increase once they are exposed to the violent and sexually explicit lyrics of dancehall music, as Anecdotal and Common Sense understanding would indicate.

This is of greater interest, as it seems that Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis has allowed the comments of Mrs. Ester Tyson to make her become myopic in her research and focus only on proving that there was no correlation between violent and sexually explicit lyrics of dancehall music and the effects [violence] among young people and completely ignore its more potent effect on the section of society that perpetrates the most crime: adult people.

In concluding, I would, from my expertise in the area of analytical statistics,  recommend that Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis get some real money and do a longer term study, as this one (1) study over such a short period is nothing more than a snapshot, as any good Social Sciences student would kindly inform her.

Also, to make the study more scientific, a baseline could be established by taking ECG (Electro Cardiograph) Readings of the young people in the sample in her study before and after their exposure to the violent and sexually explicit lyrics of dancehall music and compare it to that of people exhibiting violent behaviour and establish a medical correlation.

Polygraph tests, multiple samplings, anonymous random sampling methodologies, etc, could also be added to the research mix. Better yet, the study could be funded by the Broadcast Commission itself, thus creating the appearance of fairness in the research process.

This as to the layperson, it appears that her research is biased towards her own personal opinions and that of the University of the West Indies, which one would suppose is desperate for a little attention in the media, as we are, indeed, in a free country.

I would definitely pay JA$10 towards seeing her research being done in that way, as it would be of greater entertainment value than hearing Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis pass off any more of her opinions on the public as fact without a proper, scientific long term study being done, as we are not all so easily lulled to believe her when Common Sense or Anecdotal information states otherwise.