Page 15 - CL How to Read a Case Study

Is the problem simply that the woman is lost? Or are there

issues with travelling by hot air balloon in terms of direction,
other than up and down, and journey duration?

Judgement

Communication

In a personal example, I once had to find the location of a

caravan factory in a rural village called Stoneyburn, at a time
prior to having satnav. Arriving at the village I saw a man

carrying milk and a newspaper. A local I thought! I stopped

the car, leaned out the window, called to the man who
stopped and asked him ‘do you know where the caravan

factory is?’ The man looked at me, thought for a second, and

then said ‘aye’ and then continued on his way.

Formulation of the question both in the Stoneyburn example

and that of the balloonist would seem to be of critical

importance.

However, for the balloonist even knowing where she is was

unlikely to be of use if she does not know the direction of

travel she must take and how far she should travel, assuming
that she could control the flight path and speed of the

balloon to get there.

Consequently, asking the right question is critical. However,

assuming stereotypical characteristics of respondents and

their influencing on answers given is fraught with danger. But

nevertheless, does provide a frisson of humour from these

characterisations.