Researcher wants island shopper dockets

A University of Queensland (UQ) media researcher wants to look at people’s ordinary supermarket or general store shopping dockets.

The researcher, Dr John Cokley at UQ in Brisbane, Australia, needs this information as part of his newly funded work on how island communities around Australia stay in touch with the mainland and with each other.

“It’s all part of finding out what people want to buy and can afford,” Dr Cokley said.

“It’s important for media organisations – even local community groups – to understand this so they can publish what people want to hear about.”

Dr Cokley’s previous research work has looked at media for communities in Antarctica and the remote western Queensland Outback and he is also researching media for the remote space communities of the future.

The current research project focuses on Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, Hamilton Island and Bathurst Island, and people who live on or near those islands.

It aims to collect shopping dockets from December and January but the research will continue for several months after that.

Residents will also be surveyed during 2006 about their media needs and preferences.

Please send a week’s worth of your original shopping dockets c/- Dr Cokley at the following address: School of Journalism and Communication, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia. (It will help the research team if you include your name and address, but unfortunately, dockets cannot be returned so please keep a copy if you need one. Participants will not be paid or identified by name or address.)

For more information: contact Dr John Cokley PhD Journalism and Communications researcher j.cokley@uq.edu.au (07) 3365 3381, or Mobile: 0413 004 138.