PRELIMINARY REPORT OF SURVEY ON YOUTH ACTIVITIES DURING THE CARNIVAL SEASON

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INTRODUCTION
This Survey was conducted to explore the range of activities that young people participated in during the Carnival period in Trinidad. The survey was conducted during the weeks of January 1st- 10th 2012 and sought to answer the following questions: 1. What activities do young people engage in during the carnival period? 2. What is the perception of young people on the activities of their peers during the Carnival period? 3. What are the perceptions of young people on the implementation of a Carnival Camp as an alternative to mainstream carnival activities.

METHODOLOGY Research Design Qualitative research design was utilized in this study. This study was exploratory and investigated the perceptions of youth activities during Carnival and the perceptions of young people on the implementation of Carnival Camp as an alternative activity for young people during the Carnival period. Research Questions Three research questions guided this exploratory qualitative research study. What activities do young people engage in during the carnival period? What is the perception of young people on the activities of their peers during the Carnival period? What are the perceptions of young people on the implementation of a Carnival Camp as an alternative to mainstream carnival activities?

Sampling Method and Recruitment Randomized purposive sampling was used as the technique for selection of the sample for this study. Patton (2002) advises that the logic and power of purposeful sampling lies in selecting information-rich cases for study in depth. Information rich

cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of the inquiry, thus the term purposeful sampling.

Young people between the ages of 12-29 were surveyed. Each district Youth Officer was requested to administer 25 surveys to young people in their district. The completed standardized structured interviews were given to young people, both male and female to all nine administrative districts. Two techniques were used. The first involved a randomized selection of participants from the main streets/ roads in a high traffic area (such as Eastern Main Road or Cipero Steet). The second involved Officers administering the survey to members of youth groups or to young people visiting the District Youth Office.

Data Collection Procedures The standardized structured interview technique was selected for this study also because it allowed for the collecting of data from a larger sample in the shortest possible time frame.

Data Analysis Data analysis is the process of making sense out of data (Merriam, 2009, pg 175). Each survey was annotated for easier access in both the analysis and write up of findings. In order to maintain reliability, random quality checks was conducted on several segments of the audiotape and compared with their transcripts. The constant comparative method was used to analyze data. The use of the constant comparative method started with the construction of categories, also known as codes. This step began with reading the first survey. The construction of categories began with assigning codes to pieces of data. At the end of working through the entire transcript similar codes or themes was grouped together. Once the tentative scheme of categories is derived, the themes was sorted into categories or themes or findings. Open coding was useful in identifying the main categories or themes in the data and in organizing ideas into integrated sets of relationships. Axial coding was then used to determine further categorize the data. From these patterns, it was possible to group according to themes. This is the selective coding process. In so doing, the

researcher listed emerging themes and compared with the sub-sample at different points in the analysis. This lent to the rigorousness of the study.

FINDINGS
Introducing the Participants of the Study A total of 182 young people were surveyed between the ages of 12-29 from the nine administrative districts in Trinidad. These participants comprised male and female (48%/52 %) from rural, sub-urban and urban communities. 63% belonged to youth groups. The following represents a breakdown of the findings to the response to the research questions disaggregated by district:

Question: Do you belong to a Youth Group?

2. What do you usually do for Carnival?

3. Why do you not take part in Carnival?

5. Are you interested in a Carnival Camp?

SHOULD THE CAMP BE Residential and Non- Residential?

5. What activities would you like to engage in at the camp?

6. Should the Camp be issue specific?

7. How long do you think the Camp should be?

8. Should the camp be single gendered/ mixed?

9. What activities do your peers engage in during carnival?

10. DO YOU THINK YOUR PEERS WOULD PARTICIPATE IN A CARNIVAL CAMP?

11. What age group should the Camp target?

12. What type of activities would your peers like to participate in?

QUESTION #13 Do you think you can encourage peers to attend a Carnival Camp?