THE ROLE OF THE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SOCIETY: RESULTS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE

MEMBERS of the Photogrammetric Society, both individual and corporate, were sent a questionnaire during December 1985. The content of the questionnaire touched upon many aspects of Society activities and it is intended that the substance of the replies should help to direct the Society in the future. An analysis of these responses was presented to the Thompson Symposium at the University of Birmingham on 19th April. 1986. It is rcproduced here, together with a summary of the discussion which ensued on that occasion. Readers are encouraged to add their comments to those which follow. sending them to the Editor of The Photogrammetric Record or to the Honorary Secretary of the Photogrammetric Society.

BACKGROUND I t is axiomatic that a learned society must strive to provide an ever improving

service to its members, in terms of both activities and products. Equally crucial goals are maximisation of the involvement of members in the society and optimisation of communications between the society and its members. Moreover, a society must have an attractive image if it is to draw in new members to replace losses through natural wastage and changing interests. These comments are directly applicable and relevant to the Photogrammetric Society and Council has become increasingly conscious of these issues. In our case, however, there is extra urgency. Photogrammetry exists in a rapidly changing world and we are all aware of the radical transformations which mapping and measurement are undergoing. The Society must not fail to respond. Also, Council has been blessed with an evangelical thread for some time and the feeling exists that it is incumbent upon us to go out, seek potential applications of our discipline and sing its praises where appropriate. There are more specific factors, too. which led Council to form the opinion during 1985 that action must be taken to determine the future directions of the Society: thanks to the expert stewardship of the current and previous Honorary Treasurers, the financial position is relatively secure, so limited funds can be made available for new ventures; secondly, despite enthusiastic recruiting in some quarters, the level of membership has been stagnant for some years at around 600 individual and 50 corporate members; and, finally, various officers of the Society have attended seminars at the London Science Centre and have returned better informed and more enthusiastic about the need for progress.

Thus, in September 1985, Council decided that a questionnaire should be circulated to members. This was prepared by the Technical Committee and the Honorary Secretary and distributed in early December. By the deadline of 3 1 st January, 1986, 123 had been returned and a further 10 arrived in time to be included in the analysis presented at the Thompson Symposium in April. This represents an overall response rate of 20 per cent, though the figure was twice as high for individual members as for corporate, and higher for UK members than for overseas. This paper is a summary of that analysis and is accompanied by an account of the discussion which ensued during the presentation. The report on the activities of Council on pages 244-248 of this issue of the Record indicates that Council acted on some of the findings of the questionnaire in May 1986. The full effects will take a considerable time to diffuse throughout all aspects of the Society's affairs, but members will hear a report during the President's Address at the Annual General Meeting on 18th November, 1986.

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MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION The questionnaire began with a series of questions seeking information about

the respondents. It was decided to analyse all responses separately for UK and overseas members, since the sections on meetings were of little interest to the latter, whereas the questions on publications were of extra relevance since most overseas members receive little else in return for their subscriptions. 71 per cent of respondents came from UK, the remainder being scattered across the globe.

Most respondents were Ordinary Members between the ages of 3 I and 60. It is a worry that only 10 per cent of respondents were under 3 1 ( 1 2 per cent in UK, 5 per cent overseas) and suggestive of a need to redouble advertising and recruitment. Only two UK respondents and one overseas one were female. 30 per cent of respondents had belonged to the Society for 1 1 to 20 years; UK respondents in this category accounted for 33 per cent, but an interesting anomaly emerged: the modal response for overseas members (34 per cent) was 6 to 10 years, whereas UK respondents in this group dipped, with 13 per cent sandwiched between the 33 per cent mentioned above and 24 per cent in the t 6 years category. Perhaps the Society does not retain its UK members after their early enthusiasm wanes?

The questions on occupation, status and description taught the designers of the questionnaire that their art was as yet embryonic, for many respondents took the opportunity to tick more than one of the boxes provided. This had not been anticipated and did not simplify the analysis! The clear message from the occupational profile was the overwhelming public sector component of our membership: 36 per cent of respondents were in government (including multiple responses) and another 36 per cent in the academic world. The public sector component overseas was even larger. Commercial survey came a poor third with just under 20 per cent and manufacturing and industrial measurement were identified by less than 10 per cent in each case. The question on status also attracted several multiple responses, but the main points were not clouded: 40 per cent of respondents claimed to be directors or managers and 32 per cent, lecturers or professors. Again, the response rates in these categories were higher for overseas than UK respondents. Doubtless, in organisations where membership of the Society is a scarce privilege, it will be allocated to senior staft equally, senior staff may be most likely to return a questionnaire. But even in the UK only 17 per cent of respondents were supervisors and 7 per cent, operators. Is the Society not attracting the “rank and file”? If it is not, then it is failing seriously. Most intriguing so far, only 20 per cent of respondents (excluding multiple responses) described them- selves as photogrammetrists! 24 per cent preferred to be called land surveyors. This sad state of affairs improved, however, when multiple responses were included; 56 per cent ticked photogrammetrist, 53 per cent land surveyor, 19 per cent remote senser and 14 per cent cartographer. Of those who ticked “other”, many gave additional descriptions of themselves which did not exclude them from the mapping community, though a few were primarily from other disciplines, such as physics, geomorphology, photography. Are there enough remote sensers in the Society?

The modal response (f 15 000-€20 000) to the question on gross salary attracted 24 per cent of respondents. 2 1 per cent were in the f 12 500-f I5 000 category, which was actually the UK mode (26 per cent compared to 25 per cent in the higher category). 16 per cent were in the E20 000-f 25 000 range ( 1 1 per cent in UK, 29 per cent overseas which was their modal class). This says two things. UK photogramme- trists would do better overseas (as would practitioners of most other professions) and the questionnaire has certainly not been answered by “shop floor” staff.

The question on membership of kindred societies generated a wide range of responses. 39 per cent of respondents belonged to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, both in the UK and overseas. Much greater spatial variation obtained, however, with respect to other societies. 32 per cent belonged to the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (24 per cent UK; 50 per cent overseas), 26 per cent to the British Cartographic Society (3 1 per cent; I6 per cent), 23 per cent to the Remote Sensing Society (27 per cent; 1 1 per cent), and

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17 per cent to the Royal Geographical Society (20 per cent; 8 per cent). Nearly all other listcd societies accountcd for between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of respondents. 38 per cent of respondents. however, belonged to one unlisted society (26 per cent; 68 per cent). the high ovcrseas figure reflecting niembership of national surveying and mapping societies. I 7 per ccnt belonged to two unlisted societics (8 per cent; 37 per cent). The range of societies named by respondents testified to a remarkable heterogeneity of membcrs’ interests: i n addition to the more obscure mapping societies. organisations were included catering for photographers, geogra- phers. soil scientists, civil cnginccrs. mathematicians and various other more or less kindred spirits!

EVENING AND ONE-DAY MEETINGS The analysis of the sections of the qucstionnaire on meetings is restricted to

U K rcspondcnts. though Council will no doubt take on board the wishcs of some nienibcrs to hold meetings in Australian state capitals: “ . . . there’s some corner o fa foreign held that is for ever England.” A detailed study of the responses on cvening and one-day meetings is unnecessary, because an cncouraging consensus emerged. The present formula is largely acccptablc and there is no mandate for change. The designers of the questionnaire. however, quickly became aware of another shortcoming in their work. Docs the phrase “more one-day meetings” refer to an increase in frequency, or mcrcly to continuation as opposed to discontinuation? The respondents weren’t surc eithcr and all that could be inferred from the results was overall support for these events. Of greatest interest were the responses to questions about meetings away from London. Except for its one meeting each year in Glasgow. the Society is as guilty as most other British organisations and institutions of depriving thc provinces i n favour of London, though there is no doubt that a very high proportion of its 1JK members reside in London and the south east. 33 per cent of U K members were willing to attend evening meetings away from London, whereas 66 per cent were willing to travel for one-day meetings. The venues ticked or named in this respect arc mapped in Fig. 1. These maps are a happy hunting ground for the regional gcographer. The London area is bare because members there are already served with nicctings: provincial demand for meetings falls into clear regions (central Scotland, Newcastle. the M62, the Midlands, the western end of the M4 corridor, and Southampton). Council is charged with meeting this disaggregated demand. 16 per cent of respondents were willing to organise a meeting: many of these volunteers were London based, but those from Leeds and Newcastle who identified themselves will be hearing from Council! 60 per cent were interested in tutorial or workshop events, certainly enough to suggest some experimentation by the Technical Committce. No substantive changes to the format of evening meetings were forthcoming.

It is interesting that the modal response regarding attendance at evening meetings was four (21 per cent); a further 43 per ccnt attended two, three or five. This again suggests that the respondents to the questionnaire were the keen and active members. Have we heard only from the converted rather than the members for whom we ought to be making the Society more appetising?

THOMPSON SYMPOSIUM Once again, maintenance of the status quo was the order of the day: the

Symposium should continue to be. held biennially, on a weekend near Easter, in Birmingham, without organised social events. The technical programme should continue to be wide ranging rather than focussed on a limited theme. The Technical Committee will, however, have to take account of the 5 1 per cent support for small group discussions.

It might be argued that the threshold between satisfaction and complacency is a narrow one, but so strong is the support for the current formula that one must counsel against meddling with success.

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PUBLICATIONS Predictably, the overwhelming consensus was that The Photograrnmetric

Record was essential. Few members read less that 10 per cent, most read a mixture of the content and most learned quite a lot. The real lesson here is for the designers of the questionnaire. Avoid bland, easily chosen options which save the respondent from thinking; and if a set of alternatives is to be presented, ensure that it consists of an even number, lest respondents lazily select the middle course and so bias the results!

The crucial question in this section concerned the number of issues per year. 47 per cent (52 per cent UK; 34 per cent overseas) preferred the current level of two, but the distribution was bimodal; 32 per cent (27 per cent; 42 per cent) wanted an increase to quarterly. That a quarterly journal was the preferred option of overseas members, of whom 1 1 per cent wanted even more than four issues per year, and was attractive to a sizeable minority of UK respondents, will need to receive the most assiduous consideration by Council. There is much evidence that members want a shorter lead time between submission and publication of articles and would like to read more news more often.

This body of opinion manifested itself also in the responses to the open ended question about content and style. 31 per cent (34 per cent; 24 per cent) of respondents wrote something in the blank space here and many of them expanded on the themes of greater frequency and more news. Happily, however, numerous extremely complimentary responses were received, paying tribute to the Record and its editors and there was no evidence that it was not thought to be a suitable flagship for the Society. There were several practical suggestions for minor improvements which should not be difficult to implement. These included expert review papers, naming of speakers’ organisations in the transcripts of the discussions from the evening meetings, page numbers on the spine, ISBNs in book reviews, master index and airmail distribution. More disturbing, though, was the small group of responses indicating that the appearance, and possibly the content, was a little austere and drab: steps should be taken to soften the facade, perhaps including colour. These criticisms are less easy to meet. Perhaps they are numerous enough to warrant a hearing, but represent too small a minority to justify major change.

A slight majority wanted profiles of corporate members, though overseas members were much less keen, presumably because they were unenthusiastic to read about organisations in the UK. from which many of our corporate members are drawn.

The analysis of the next question is especially important because it may well influence policy in the Society. 35 per cent of respondents wanted a newsletter and 52 per cent did not. This appears to be a straightforward mandate for the status quo, albeit with a sizeable disappointed minority. But when it is taken in conjunction with the bimodal response to the question on frequency and the number of comments on news and newsletters, the conclusion is more opaque. Perhaps the next question provides the answer. Council has raised the idea of a newsletter before on more than one occasion, but has always rejected it because no one has been willing to undertake its production. In fact, one UK and one overseas member showed willing: that, presumably, is enough but it is hardly convincing. Further- more, only 2 5 per cent of respondents were willing to contribute. Members have demands but lack the desire to be involved. Council’s task is to deal with this imponderable.

PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION A short section of the questionnaire asked five questions on publicity and

promotion and again a need for action has become apparent. 63 per cent of respondents felt that the Society should be more active in promoting itself, but of course the question did not ask them to state how this should be done. Only 32 per cent were in favour of the Society marketing a greater range of merchandise including ladies’ scarves. Now, it is true that most members of the Society are male and ties are already available to them so, lest it be felt that the writer is biassed in

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favour of the unfair sex, the responses to this question were also analysed by sex. And, indeed, 100 per cent of female UK respondents wanted more merchandise and 0 per cent of female overseas respondents were against it! Sadly, however, the sample size was three and action is hard to justify.

56 per cent and 62 per cent of respondents were in favour, respectively, of the Society supporting a scholarship and an undergraduate prize, though overseas respondents were less keen on the latter than UK. Council, therefore, must continue its debate (which has already been taking place for some months) on the use of some of the Society’s funds for these purposes.

The final question in this section was an open ended one inviting respondents to name possible contact areas likely to be beneficial. Eight respondents made suggestions. The most exciting areas mentioned were robotics, computer vision, electronics, computer numerically controlled machinery and real time measure- ment. More general comments encouraged contact with other professions, for example archaeology, medicine, dentistry and engineering.

FURTHER COMMENTS The fifth and final section of the questionnaire simply asked respondents to

make any further comments they wished and 30 did so. Many were complimentary remarks of the “keep up the good work” variety. Others praised the questionnaire, though the analysis has revealed that it was hardly without weaknesses. Many more simply reinforced responses made in earlier sections of the questionnaire, particularly with respect to workshops, newsletter and more promotional activities.

The remaining comments are the important ones. These are not easy to summarise. There is clearly a desire for more links with remote sensing and with the Remote Sensing Society. More should be done for supervisors and operators and more for younger members and new members. Most worrying were the few responses that suggested that the Society was somewhat stuffy and formal, that new and younger members were not made sufficiently welcome at evening and one-day meetings and that Council meetings were ponderous. Council and its committees will not lack food for thought.

A few minor improvements were proposed which are entirely practicable. Alterations to the By-laws were put forward and these will be considered by the Executive Committee and appropriate action taken. Several responses indicated that electors wished to know more about candidates in the annual Council elections; this can be done and Council will make a quick decision on the matter. Regional social events to enable the President to meet members will be considered by the Special Projects Committee.

CONCLUSIONS A handful of weaknesses in the questionnaire have been identified in relation to

the way certain questions were posed, Equally unfortunate are the questions which were not asked at all! The questionnaire included nothing on conversaziones, overseas visits, level of subscriptions and administrative aspects (that is the performance of the Society’s officers). The broader issues of the Society’s influence on the profession and its possible regulatory role (through examinations and qualifications) were not addressed either. Nevertheless, a great deal of useful information has been garnered. In many ways the Society is operating satisfactorily, but there is room for improvement. Meetings seem to need change less than publications, promotion and intangibles like attitudes and image. Action can be taken in many cases on the basis of the responses and, indeed, Council will ensure that this occurs. This is all very reasonable, provided that the responses received are truly representative of the characteristics and wishes of the membership as a whole. Sadly, there is some evidence from the first section of the questionnaire that this caveat is unlikely to be met. This is a perennial problem in sample survey with random samples and unavoidable in our case. Yet to conclude that the question- naire has produced unrepresentative replies and consequently incorrect conclusions

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would be defeatist and nihilistic. How many opinion polls and pieces of market research would be wasted if such an attitude were universal?

No, indeed. The Society has reason to be grateful to so many of its members for taking time and making the effort to complete and return the questionnaire. It now has a duty to use the results effectively in order to improve itself, provide a better service to its members and promote photogrammetry to the world at large.

A. S . WALKER, Honorary Secretary

DISCl-JSSION

After Dr. Walker’s concise and entertaining presentation of the results of the questionnaire, participants at the Thompson Symposium examined the Society’s affairs and produced the following diagnosis. The Society is in a healthy state although showing signs of age. An injection of both younger members and female members would increase vitality. Several speakers expressed concern with regard to rnetnhership numbers and categories. Since the total membership is approximately static, the Society was urged to take on a more evangelical role to influence education and research and to gain members from non-traditional fields. However, because there has been an overall reduction in the number of people occupied in traditional photogrammetry, it has been an achievement to keep the numbers steady. At present the membership does not represent a true cross section of the photogrammetric world and methods of encouraging, for example, more instrument operators to join should be explored. The psychological effect of the rather formal attire worn by speakers at the Symposium was mentioned; it possibly contributes to the slightly stuffy and old fashioned image that the Society apparently presents to younger members. A request was made to members to provide nominations for Council; at the most recent election it was very disappointing that no names had been received from ordinary members.

The current format for evening meetings met with approval but it was proposed that some of the papers presented in London should be repeated in regional venues. The continuing provision of one-day symposia or workshops was advocated and the suggestion was made that, based on Norwegian experience, a higher charge should be made which should not prevent a large attendance. It was important to attract non-traditional users to such symposia and it might be convenient to have a one- day meeting immediately prior to a Thompson Symposium. A new format for a symposium could be tried to provide a platform for research students who could give short presentations on their investigations.

Although the distribution of a newsletter to members would be welcomed, there was a dearth of volunteers to edit such a publication. It might consist of about eight pages of photocopied typescript and could possibly be sponsored by corporate members. Advertising would probably be restricted to loose inserts. Since it might not be possible to produce a newsletter in the near future, it was suggested that The Photograrntnetric Record should have more issues and include more political comment and news of personalities. Overall it was considered that the Record maintained a high standard and contributed greatly to the prestige of the Society. These views reflected those expressed in the written comments added to the returned questionnaire.

With regard to the proposal that the Society should sponsor a student scholarship, it was reported that NERC, SERC, MRC and ABRC had been approached for their opinions. Although a rather unenthusiastic response had been received, it was proposed that negotiations for the scheme should go ahead but that it might take some time before it could be implemented.

A more controversial topic was raised when the relationship of the Photogram- metric Society to the Remote Sensing Society was mentioned. One speaker felt that it was a waste of resources to have separate societies, whereas another considered it was sacrilege to make such a suggestion at a Thompson Symposium since E. H. Thompson had opposed amalgamation. Membership of the Remote Sensing

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Society is currently increasing and it covers a field of interest which particularly attracts younger people. Since the traditional boundaries between related subjects such as photogrammetry, surveying and cartography were becoming increasingly blurred, the time was possibly ripe to consider whether there were too many independent societies in existence. Response to the questionnaire showed that a considerable number of members of the Photogrammetric Society were also members of kindred societies and the written comment was made that an inter- society co-operation pilot scheme should be set up.

As the discussion was brought to a close, the consensus of opinion was that the Society should concentrate on what it already does well, but should not become complacent. The voluntary nature of its organisation was emphasised and it would be difficult to expand activities for members without a full time employee (for which sufficient funds were not available). The President promised that Council would take note of all the points raised.

V. BROWN, Assistant Editor

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