Patrick conducted an online survey of Irish traditional music in North America during his fellowships in Digital Studies and as a Tech Impact scholar in 2019. A total of 528 people took part in the survey, with a completion rate of 100%. The typical time spent on the survey was 16 minutes, 11 seconds.
This survey was aimed at musicians, dancers, singers and enthusiasts in North America and explored the many ways in which digital access to audio might be transforming engagement among the wider Irish traditional music community. Performers, teachers, students, promoters, archivists, enthusiasts, etc. may use and interact with Irish traditional music on the internet in various ways. This research enabled the researcher to better understand and explore the current role that archival collections have with this genre of music, song and dance across North America.
Qualitative research is currently being conducted in order to ground the approach to the survey in the value systems and categories of people in North America. What people do and say is context sensitive, therefore everyday discussions and situations will be documented (Stock 2003).