Planning played an essential role in making sure I used my time in the
most effective way to gain the most effective results. I
used Action Planning as this enabled me to
identify the different tasks I had to undertake in order to make sure my
Inquiry included all the necessary elements.
After reading about the "Gaant Chart", I composed my own
schedule based on this model. This enabled me to keep to a time scale
whilst still allowing some flexibility. Designing the schedule in
weekly intervals worked very well and made sure I incorporated all the elements
of the Inquiry process within the given time frame. By planning the
research and activities it allowed me to visually see the tasks I needed to
undertake and also have a structure to follow.
At the end of Module 2 I chose the tools I thought would be most
effective for my Practitioner Research. These consisted of
Interviews, a Focus Groups and a Survey. I wanted to incorporate a
survey as I thought it would be useful to gather some quantitative data within
my findings. However, after considering this tool in more depth over the
summer, I realised a survey would not be as valuable as the other tools I had
planned to use. Therefore after reviewing my feedback I decided to
take a qualitative approach to gathering data as the information I felt would be beneficial to my inquiry was of a
qualitative nature.
I conducted three interviews, two with my current professional employers
and another with a fellow Freelance Dancer. I also arranged an
informal professional discussion with a Casting Director which was conducted
over “Skype”.
One employer in particular gave very detailed and elaborate answers and
I felt really embraced the interview and even on the closed questions this
particular employer would still elaborate on her responses. I feel
this is because I carried out this interview over a Skype call which allowed
the participant to feel relaxed in their own environment and schedule in the
necessary time frame required, allowing them to elaborate on their thoughts and
ideas.
However, in the other employer’s interview, the responses were not as
detailed and I felt they were not fully engaged in the interview and unable to
express their opinions spontaneously. This could have been due to
the fact the interview was to take place before leaving to perform a
show. I had previously arranged a set time for the interview to take
place allowing a sufficient time frame. However, the
particular participant was late and I felt this affected her responses and
thought processes. On reflection I would have given her the
questions prior to the interview to enable her to consider her answers before
participating.
Originally, I thought I would use a Dictaphone when recording my
interviews. I learnt from conducting the pilot interview that I remained more
focused and engaged with the participants if I wasn’t constantly writing notes
throughout the interview. However, after thinking about what I
wanted to do for my professional artefact and with the consent of the
participants, I thought it would be beneficial to have the option of using
visual footage. This worked well as it allowed me to focus on what
was being said in the interview and respond accordingly, which in turn made the
interview flow easily. This then enabled accurate transcription and from using
the recording I was also able to recognise the tone in which the participant
was speaking.
I also conducted a Focus Group made up of other Freelance
Dancers. I chose Freelance Dancers whom I currently work with and whom I
have worked with previously. I found the focus group a very useful tool
as it consisted of other Freelance Dancers who “have similar
characteristics or experience…or are known to have a professional concern about
and knowledge of the issues involved” (Bell,2005, p.162).
I originally planned to use four participants in my Focus Group as I felt
this number of participants worked well in my pilot focus group. However,
it was difficult to get all four participants available simultaneously. Even
when a time and date had been agreed and scheduled a work commitment would
occur for one of the participants involved and ethically I could not allow my
practitioner research to interfere with the participants’ work. Therefore,
I felt it was a good opportunity to practice what I had learnt throughout the
course and work collaboratively with social media.
I thought the most effective way of using social media would be to use a
private group on “Facebook”. This enabled me to ask the same
questions I would have asked in the Focus Group in person, however the
discussion would now be written instead of verbal.
I was unsure how effective carrying out this method through social media
would be after planning to conduct the focus group in person. However it worked
well as each participant shared interesting views, which in turn, triggered
responses from the other participants. The discussion felt very
relaxed and the participants could answer in their own time and not feel
pressured in front of the other participants. Although the data
gathered was valuable to analyse, I felt the focus group conducted in person,
would have enabled more interaction between the participants as it felt
slightly like a questionnaire.
I used a purposive sample of participants as I thought I would “choose
people who can answer the questions using defined criteria (qualitative) in
order to look at particular or situated phenomena”. (WBS3630:
READER 7)
I feel the decision to use a purposive sample of participants worked
well as it was a perfect opportunity to utilise my current professional work
community in order to help further my career and find out more about my
workplace. I wanted to get an insight into what
they look for when employing Freelance Dancers and question my own assumptions
and preconceived ideas. I was beneficial to interview my
employers as it enabled me to arrange a suitable time with them. I
also felt we were both at ease in the interview as we were known to one another.
I used a semi-structured format which allowed me to include my set
questions which I had prepared prior for the interviews. This
structure also allowed flexibility for any interesting issues that arose. This
structure was effective as it allowed the participant to speak about their
views freely, but ensured that they reverted back to the inquiry topic if the
discussion had strayed.
I also used a variety of open and closed questions. On
reflection, I feel the open questions were more valuable to my inquiry and more
effective as they required a more in depth response.
The Literature I used consisted of books, online articles,
Delicious, “Summon”, Reading Lists, Readers and Handbooks supplied by Middlesex
University. These have all been valuable and essential in developing my
own thinking and enhanced my inquiry.
The Books and online articles I have been studying have mainly consisted
of points of views, theories and advice from other professional practitioners
in dance. Their advice has been extremely useful in sparking topics
within my Inquiry topic.
In conclusion, I was happy with the tools I chose and felt they
were best suited to my Inquiry and the data I needed to gather. I feel
all the processes used for my inquiry complimented each other to give me very
valuable findings.
