If you can’t measure it, does it still exist?

I love research.  It is probably my 2^nd most favourite thing in the whole wide world, and so I have made it my mission in life to promote research as one of the most fun, entertaining and inspiring uses of one’s time. (So here it goes). 

I don’t know if you have ever seen the diagram about knowledge It goes like this: there are the things you know you know, the things you know you don’t know, the things you don’t know you know and finally the things you don’t know you don’t know.

The most important box is in the bottom right.  In this box is a whole world of interesting and exciting things (and you have no idea what they are). Research is all about getting lost in this box.¹

The best way to get lost in this box is to talk to people (especially strangers).  This is why research is so interesting because fundamentally it is about telling people’s stories, and people know and do the most unimaginable things.  Mark Twain famously remarked “truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction is bound by rules”; the narratives of human life are so unbelievable that they often defy imagination.  People are a portal into the box of unknown unknowns.

There is a reason I have chosen to divulge in a moment of topical preference.  A core part of my job this year at Rag Tag n Textile is to complete a research project.  More specifically I must complete a Social Impact Report; this basically involves attempting to analyse the activities of Rag Tag n Textile, proving the impact and subsequent value this has on the communities and individuals involved.

Rag Tag 'n' Textile is a social firm working with people who have mental health issues, teaching traditional textile skills in a therapeutic environment.

However (my line of enquiry goes) do the activities and environment at Rag Tag, improve your mood, your feelings about life and the world you live in?

I know this does – for me – and many other people, but how can I be sure?

There exists a collection of stories and narratives that reveal the secrets of Rag Tags value and impact.  In my short time here I have had the privilege to hear numerous moving stories of people who have been impacted by the activities of Rag Tag, experiencing an improved sense of wellbeing through actively partaking in their recovery journey here.  But how do you measure this?

I may know this; have seen and experienced the effects of this; but this is different to measurable, objective value.  How do you measure a story?

Life is messy and so are people.  Work at Rag Tag is embedded in both people and life.  It doesn’t follow a linear path that can be lined up against a yardstick; measured; quantified; and valued.

We have stories, and if stories are data with a soul, we will listen to the stories, measure the data and share our soul.

So we can show the powers that be, objectively something most people already know.

Rag Tag works.

1.     1. If I jog my memories back to secondary school science class, I appreciate the purpose of experiments was to prove a hypothesis i.e. something you think you already know. However I would argue that the most interesting research in science occurs when the results don’t fit into the hypothesis and you are forced to confront the unexpected i.e. something you do not know

To find out more bout the work of Rag Tag n Textile pleas visit our website www.ragtagntextile.org.uk