Know exactly what you are planning to do and why you plan to do it

Know exactly what you are planning to do and why you plan to do it

I am intending to do two interviews. One of a current female ballet dancer in the corps de ballet and one of a dance teacher who has previously performed in the Royal Ballet Company corps de ballet within the past 10 years. This method will be useful to gather data as it will allow me to follow up on ideas, probe responses and investigate motives and feelings. I intend to use a semi-structured approach with open questions because I want to gather as much information as I can.

The interview with the dancer is likely to be more informal than the one with the dance teacher, as the questions will relate more to the way she has felt about her performance in different contexts. I will be asking her in which environments she feels she thrives best in. The other interview will have set questions to do with the varying success of the dance teachers’ previous performances.

I would like to carry out the interviews in person as I believe I will get a better understanding of the participants opinion and emotion, but I may have to use Skype to carry out a video interview if this is not possible.

I have an upcoming performance with my company in Vancouver, Canada called ‘Uno’ which is where each member of the company performs a solo. This will create a special interest group, they will have previously signed a consent form in response to my invitation stating that they are willing to perform in the show and complete a short questionnaire afterwards, giving their views on how they felt their performance went. This focus group will give me an insight into how dancers feel about the success of their performance within a stage context. I will also be able to assess how different ages my affect a dancer’s self-criticism. I will analyse the responses with a coding system.

I am an Insider-researcher as I already have knowledge, relationships and ideas about the inquiry itself. I must be conscious to critically reflect on my own values, actions and position in relation to the research. I must not have any pre-conceptions going into my interviews and take everything said to myself with face value, ensuring I do not presume anything. Upon completion of these interviews I may find it useful to create a short vlog (video blog) on my thoughts and observations from the interview in relation to myself in the research process. Additionally this will also enable me to capture reflections during the inquiry process.

                                            

Bibliography;

Black, Thomas, (1999) Doing Quantitative Research In The Social Sciences: An Integrated Approach To Research Design, Measurement And Statistics, London: Sage Publications Ltd

Module 2 Handbook (2018) BAPP Arts, Middlesex University, London: Middlesex University

What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative research? (16/09/2011). Available at: https://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/qualitative-vs-quantitative-research/ Accessed 20/11/2018

When and How to Use Ethnographic Research (no date). Available at: https://www.spotless.co.uk/insights/ethnography-when-and-how/ Accessed 20/11/2018