Manchester, England
November 2002

The Comparison and Contrasting of Equine Techniques in the United States and England was performed by two students from Ohio University Southern’s equine program . These two students, Nikki and Meredith, were trained in the practice of folknography on a previous trip to Mexico (see the report on the Montemorelos Project).

Their interest of research came from their background in Equine Studies. The two were heavily involved in the equine program at Ohio University Southern’s Horse Park. Readers might be surprised to learn that Ohio University Southern maintains a large and comprehensive equine studies program, complete with a series of riding arenas, artificial insemination and breeding programs, riding meadows and paddocks, and numerous horse stables.

From this successful program, the two undergraduate students approached Dr. Lucas about a dream they mutually held. They wanted to compare the equine program in the US with equine practices in the UK. Dr. Lucas enthusiastically said. “OK!”

Working in conjunction with his colleague Connie Mays, the director of the equine program at Ohio University Southern, Dr. Lucas and his colleague designed a program for the students to make the study. Working directly and closely with the students, Dr. Lucas and Ms. Mays helped the students draft questions, plans, and related topics critical to the investigation. The two undergraduate students engaged folknography as the research method and design.

This particular study proved the flexibility of folknography. The two undergraduates grasped the concepts of the method and applied them without instructor oversight during the data collection and the website posting exercises. The two students worked carefully from the UK via electronic mail and website exchange with the two instructors based back at the OU Southern campus in the US. Analysis, editing, and evaluation provided opportunities for transnational research activities. The data collected from this interesting study would later be used by instructors in the curriculum at the Equine Center in the OUS Horse Park.

This research activity stands as another benchmark. This is the first time undergraduate students performed significant research without the direct supervision by the instructors. This remote advisory posture taken by the instructors allowed the students to execute serious research by following the fundamentals of the method and learn by experience the necessities of rigorous data collection.

Studies like this one demonstrate the immense flexibility and applicability of the research method folknography. Undergraduate students can take this method and perform research outside the direct oversight of instructors. The method proves to be valuable for many and various academic disciplines.