Monday 13 April 2015

6a. Informal trial - Pilot Survey

After reading Reader 6, I feel two tools/methods I definitely want to use are an Interview and a Survey with a possibility of also conducting a focus group.  I feel these three tools/methods will all be very beneficial as they will all allow me to gather a variety of data in order to help with my Inquiry.  

I have never set up a survey online, so I wanted to get used to the programmes used in order to set up and conduct a survey.  I have used "Survey Monkey" for this task and after getting used to where all the options were, I found it really easy to use. 

I have posted the link to this survey below in the hope my fellow B.A.P.P students will complete the survey and give me some feedback.  I have also posted it in my S.I.G. 


I feel a survey will be beneficial, as it will allow me to gather data from a large number of participants to gain a wide range of opinions.  It will allow me to collect statistics, which I feel my Inquiry will need.  I also feel answers may be more truthful as it is an anonymous way of gathering data, therefore participants might feel like they can answer something they may not be able to answer face to face.  

However, even though I have left comment boxes within the survey to get some qualitative data as well as quantitative data, it will be interesting to see if I get enough information to help develop my inquiry solely on a survey and interviews.  In this case, I will look at using a focus group with my dance colleagues and professional community in order to make the information more in depth and personal.  

I am also going to conduct a pilot interview tomorrow with a friend, who is also a professional dancer in order to see what structure and techniques will work best and what I need to change in order to get the most out of this tool/method.

I will post my findings from the pilot interview on my blog tomorrow after it has been conducted.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Sian, i have just completed your survey :) In general i found the option questions easier and more appealing than the questions left open for long answers. In relation to time and effort, i did find myself reluctant to complete some of those questions. I think the questions are extremely relevant however, but could be designed in a format to allow users to select options, but then add a box at the end for further comments?

    For example, question 10 about an agent, you could have a yes/no option, and then a box to add why. Then people are more likely to still give you an answer even if they don't want to explain why and leaves it open to gain qualititiave data.

    I wrote for my answer on question 9 my feedback for that particular question! I found question 4 quite difficult to answer, but again it could just be the design of the question!

    I am by no means an expert on survey monkey and i have been struggling myself, but thats just some constructive feedback i had as a participant in the survey! But all in all, i think its a good idea and you will probably get really good results back! :)

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  2. Thank you for completing the survey and thank you for your feedback :) I appreciate it! As I have never used survey monkey or even created a survey before, your feedback is very valuable and has given me a good insight into how participants may feel when completing the survey.

    After revisiting the survey, I completely agree with what you have said and I will definitely change the structure of the questions so they mostly have options with a box for further comments. I think this is a good idea and will encourage people to answer the questions like you suggested.

    In relation to question 4, I guess it did force participants to choose between the two options given and this is what I wanted, however I understand some people may find them equally important and therefore I am forcing them to give an answer they don't 100 percent agree with. To solve this, I will re think what would be the best layout or wording for this question in order for the participants to find it easier to answer.

    Thank you again, you have been a great help :)

    Sian x

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  3. Hi Sian, I too have just completed your survey and agree with Sinead in that I wanted to comment further on certain questions.
    For example question 4 I wanted to tick both and explain my reasons behind both but as I could only tick one I ticked the one I felt was most important. Also question 8 I wanted to explain why I don't attend that many dance classes as I do not live in London and do not have the time having 2 jobs.
    I thought that your survey including various questions about the industry and it made me think about how dancers look in auditions as that has never occurred to me before.
    Hope this helps :)

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