Task 6a Informal Trial for Inquiry and Task 6B Critical reflections

I have chosen a few options for the informal trials from ideas given to us from reader 6.
The collection tools which used on my SIG's, friends and co-workers are as follows;

Observations;
This tool would to be very helpful as I am able to analyse the behavioural natures and differences between the target groups which I am hoping to use. For example, I would observe a class taken out by a professional to those members of the community who join in weekly as a way to keep fit and socially enjoy themselves. In comparison to a youth company dance class which has more focus and drive towards a specific show or event that may be coming up. These participants are all 16 years of age and over and so have found that within my proposed inquiry this is possibly the youngest age group I will be working with. Another observation would be taken out on the audience members who have paid to watch and enjoy a performance which has been put on by certain performers. As the theatre is open to companies all around the world to use for touring shows etc, I have to make it clear that for ethical considerations I will only be observing performances that are linked with the Pavilion Dance South West set up and not any other external companies. As I have mentioned ethics briefly, I have understood that the consent which will be needed for the different range of people within my proposed inquiry and have spoken to a co - worker at the facility who is kindly listing out what their legal requirements are for me to take a look at. One which I did not come across through my research was media consent. So this would be necessary if I was to take any pictures or videos though out my inquiry of participants which are taking part. I must be clear that any images used will be only for my inquiry purposes and shall be deleted as soon as my inquiry is over. The way in which I will record this data will be via written notes that I am able to evaluate and make sense of. This way I believe can come across less intimidating as opposed to sitting and filming with my camera phone. Consent for that can become more difficult than writing hand notes.
Because I have not been able to use the tool of observation properly, I have used a pilot though a friend of mine who teaches at a different dance school within the local area. As we met over coffee I asked her what she thought of my proposed inquiry tool and she gave me some feedback which I found extremely useful. 
As I start an observation, I should make it clear to all participants what my sole purpose of being sat in the room with them is and outline what I am trying to achieve. Without going into too much detail as this may then lead them into behaving differently than normal which can effect the outcome of my inquiry. She also made a point of making myself not obvious, so sitting at the back rather than the front of the class so that students/members of the community cannot visually see you. The use of imagery can become helpful however, I must keep referring to how I am trying to anaylise the levels of engagement of users through the users of the dance facility and so filming them or taking pictures may not actually help, or can it? My friend suggested that visuals will help evaluate a class atmosphere, smiling faces and expressions which I may capture could help me in my comparison phases. 


Interviews;

From reader 6, I began to see how the interview process would become helpful in my line of the inquiry. I am trying to find out what Pavilion Dance South West (PDSW) as a facility means to the users? The users can be categorised into;
Professionals,
Members of the community
Students (16 or under)
Teachers /Producers
Audience member
From recently piloting an interview process through a friend, I found that the data which I can be receiving can allow me to explore deeper into that person than possibly a survey or questionnaire could. Being personable is an important factor when taking out an interview and there are a few topics which are worth mentioning that I found out during this process. Because I am one on one with the participant, I will have to ensure that they are happy with the environment setting and feel comfortable. I have decided that possibly one co-worker at the PDSW may be present at the time of the interview process as this can also help ease any nerves if there is a familiar face for them to recognise. Straight away from carrying out an interview with my friend I realised how the questions and they way you approach them can determine the answers given to you. Interviews are a very open data collection tool and can easily probe responses which can investigate motives and feelings (Bell, 2005, pg157) , having this in mind, I must be careful on how I speak and ask the questions. How I recorded the interview was through voice recorder. This I felt worked well as it was not time consuming as we could move on to the next question without wasting time writing down hand written notes. This can also provide an accurate data collection as notes which I write down may be interpreted differently as I would be conscious of time etc. From the reader, I considered the different ways in which the questions can be put to the individuals involved and chose a formal type of questioning for my pilot. Because I am wanted to find out specifics on them as a user of the facility I felt this was the most accurate way, however on reflection I am considering the option of a focus group interview which can allow a more open talking session that can get the mixed of opinions there and then. The idea of us all sat in a circle with a recording devise in the middle sounds like it could possibly be effective. As I plan to ask the same set of questions to each of the different types of users, I may give them a chance to see how someone else's idea is totally different to someone who is sat next to them. Because the PDSW is based on opening up dance to be apart of every ones lives within the community, a focus group interview may promote this feeling across the board. However, I have also weighed up the considerations to this. Because I am trying to focus on different types of users, it may be difficult to track them all down to one place at the same time. Not only this, I have a concern that some may only be agreeing with someones opinion or point of view without giving their own? In this case, one on one interviews has the impact that you are on the spot, without feeling uncomfortable, but are able to give answers without the influence of others in the arena. 
I will insure that in an interview process I will comply with the ethical confidentiality, through consent forms and a full explanation of what I am trying to achieve through doing an interview for my own data collection.

Surveys & Questionnaires; 

This approach to collect data would be very useful to me and what I aim to achieve from my inquiry. I want to be able to see who uses the PDSW, why they use it, how they use it and what it means to them. This is a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data that I am able to process for my evaluation and a survey stood out as one of the obvious options to take. 
I used the Survey Monkey website to design a survey which I put out to my SIG (special interest group) as a way to grasp some feedback on the questions which I asked. As this is a pilot survey to fellow students, I did make it clear that the survey is specific to the users of the PDSW and so not to get confused on how to answer the questions because they have no idea what the facility is, but to see how I can improve my questions for the process later down the line. I suppose initially I found it difficult to come up with the questions as I need to ensure they will cater for all the different types of users at  the PDSW. 
I am still awaiting feedback from my SIG on my survey, however on personal reflection I feel I must have a more structure to how I will present the survey. Because I am not opening it up to the whole community, I want to be able to express a fair and equal view from each 'type' of user. Therefore I will hope to choose individuals to take part in my survey, I will do this through speaking to the head of dance at the PDSW as grasp an opinion as to how the best way to approach this would be. I did wonder if possibly blending the interview process with the survey could work as a way of developing my questions. This was it is the same selection of people and by using these two collective data tools together can result in an more in depth approach and possibly definitive answers. Through ethical approaches which I will use in my survey tool, a cover letter explaining what I am trying to achieve will enable the participant to feel relaxed and aware of the exercise. 
I hope to use the feedback from my SIG to see how I can possibly change some questions or approach to questions for the reprensation of what I am aiming to achieve. Because the nature of a questionnaire is to be checked as soon as completed, I suppose I will have to think a bit more about how I will ensure the confidentiality of their answers, like I spoke previously about the media consent. It is a way of allowing the participants to be aware that all information which I am taking from them will be used only for the purpose of my inquiry. This information will be stated in my cover letter which will accompany the survey/questionnaire. I have now since thought about how I would analyse the answers given from the survey or questionnaire and this can be done in a matter of ways. Coding example given from the reader 6 shows a way that I can identify similarities and differences in the answers given, this approach can be helpful to me as I evaluate the users of PDSW ; for example - 3 out of the 4 participants answered the question on how many times a week they use the PDSW the same which was 2 -3 times a week. By coding the questions on a spreadsheet will help me visually see the answers and how they compare.
Another avenue to take when using questionnaires is a separate question sheet for the individuals to answer after the main questions have been completed. I feel this may possibly be more useful in a interview setting, this would include questions on how they thought the interview went. Was it too long, too short, was it relative to them, was it helpful to them.. etc. This again is a way i can evaluate the individuals engagement process when being asked questions relating to dance and how they may personally feel about being asked about it.

Reviewing Documents; 

Documentation which I have reviewed during this stage of the inquiry have been helpful in my own understanding of the professional arena which I am working alongside for my inquiry. The Pavillion Dance South West facility has its own website which I have referred to previously in my other blogs and showed to my SIG. The reason I find this documentation relevant is because it shows me how its self promotion on up and coming events, dance classes that are available, student learning opportunities can help in their quest to spread dance awareness across the community of Dorset and Poole. It allows all types of users of the facility information there and then. I am interested into finding out who is in charge of the website and what documents have to be considered in order to promote them. Using a journal or diary in this process has begun to become extremely useful. I have logged the dates, times, dance classes that I have assisted in and noted down and behavioural differences that I may have seen through students. As i look at the reader, they suggest that possibly a review of a journal of a worker possibly at PDSW would provide me with information which could help relate to my inquiry. At this time I have not explored this idea with anyone at the facility, however I am looking at how they document workplace activity. This could be simply through a computer log system, how they show the differences between how many people use the facility a day and what the purpose of their visit is. I will then hope to look at how they evaluate on a weekly/monthly basis comparisons. When speaking to a co-worker at the facility, I understand there are documents that have to be filed in case of a health and safety incident, behavioural incident, or any incident that may have put another individual in danger. I am yet to delve into more detail of this subject however know it is an area which I can find out more on how this particular system works as it may be slightly different to that of a school.

These methods which I have outline I believe are the best tools for me to explore my question of inquiry. I want to find out what dance means to the users of PDSW. Through observation, interviews, survey and documentation I firmly feel I can evaluate the differences in opinions but also the similarities which is what the facility is aiming to achieve. The togetherness of the community through dance. 
There is a lot of extra researching and findings out which I need to do in order to re assess my data collection tools and I look forward to any ideas from my SIGs and fellow BAPPs students.


References

Reader 6

Bell, 2005, pg 157

Survey Monkey website https://www.surveymonkey.com/collect/?collector_id=77190927

Pavilion Dance South West website http://www.pdsw.org.uk