Exploring data collection tools

The past week has been a bit of a battle: enjoy the sunshine v explore data collection tools. With the weather firmly back below 15 degrees, I have no excuse today! 


My proposed inquiry question depends very much on audience opinion. Whilst finding out the preferences of current audiences, I think it will be important for me to discover why some people have never watched a ballet and/or have come to the conclusion it is not for them (that's assuming that is why they don't want to watch ballet and there could be a plethora of other reasons).

When I initially started to investigate the different methods of data collection, a few immediately jumped out at me. 

Interviews seemed like a good method because I felt that people can give a very personal insight into their thoughts and expand where they deem appropriate. Most importantly I liked the idea of being able to collect "expectations and attitudes that are very difficult to collect by any other means" (BAPP Handbook, p41).

Initially I thought a focus group would be ideal because I could collect a lot more opinions at one time but still allowing the participants to expand on their thoughts. On closer reflection though, I decided that I didn't want to find my participants were swayed or influenced by others in the group or that certain strong voices dominated. I needed to find an approach were the participants felt safe to give their true opinion.

Surveys and questionnaires were the next methods to pop into my head. By using a mixture of quantitive and qualitative questions I think a balance could be struck where by participants have the option to expand whilst keeping their opinions private and safe. It's also the least time consuming (for both parties) approach I considered so far. 


I made a pilot survey using Bell's (2005) suggestion of writing out questions on stickie notes and then rearranging to find the best order/structure. 

A close friend tried the pilot first and gave me useful feedback which resulted me working on the wording of my questions. A few trial runs later, I was happy with the feedback but I was aware that everyone who had tried it so far was a dancer/watched dance a lot. Worried that someone with no interest in dance would be a bit lost, I tried it on one of my brothers. He found it okay, although some of the terminology was not so clear for him... Here it occurred to me that although he is not a fan of dance, I've dragged him along to performances before so he had more knowledge than I gave him credit for. 

I then considered making a guided interview for someone who has no interest in dance. This idea fell through when I came to writing the pilot and realised that this situation had the potential to be uncomfortable and intense for the interviewee because of the negative nature of the questioning (on ballet).

Ann from module 3, made a suggestion that I had also been considering. Why not make two surveys that cater to both sets of people. Last night I tested my pilot for "normal people" on a friend. He made a good point that one of my questions ("do you agree or disagree with this statement: 'Ballet is a dying art form'" could have swayed him to put a 'disagree' answer because of it's negative phrasing. I think he has a point, but I liked the idea of having this same question on both surveys to compare the response. I would appreciate any thoughts on this question! 

So with the surveys as methods of data collection I am leaning towards, I thought again about how useful an insight from the past could be. I hadn't given much thought to reviewing documents before but I now think this could be a useful tool. I am considering looking at past reviews and comments on forums (reviewing performances) in order to compare the opinions of audience members from the past to compare to the data I collect from audiences today. 


Module 2 Handbook (2018) BAPP Arts, Middlesex University, London: Middlesex University
Bell, J and Waters S (2005) Doing your Research Project, first published 1987. England: Open University Press