Task 6c.

The 4 inquiry tools have given me a real insight into what works and what doesn’t with regard to gathering data for an inquiry.

Initially, I used my pilot survey to pinpoint my target audience, so that I could interview relevant people. The recommended survey website, www.surveymonkey.com was great, although the free trial limits you to only having 10 questions per survey. I suppose you could write a number of surveys and link them together, but this is quite laborious and not entirely practical when thinking large-scale distribution.

I noticed some fellow BAPPers were using www.zoomerang.com for their surveys, and I found that I got on much better with this survey template– there is a higher limit to the question number and, like SurveyMonkey, it automatically compiled the data into percentages, which made it easy at a glance to identify how many people were of use to me in my inquiry. I mean, it would be pointless for me to interview someone who has had no dance training, or any injuries, because they wouldn’t be able to provide information on the subject.

Being an insider in an organisation that offers Performing Arts qualifications is great, because you have the opportunity to observe on a daily basis. You can even subtly question your students as part of the general class, and you find that their answers are often not what you expected. In a less formal setting to an interview, you can often retrieve information that students are only prepared to share when they are relaxed and comfortable. It also helps that they didn’t see me as ‘proper teacher’, in that I didn’t have the power to give them a detention if they said anything inappropriate.

Once I discussed ideas for my inquiry with the head of the department where I worked, she offered me the chance to hold a focus group with Year 11 dance students. I feel that this worked very well, in that the atmosphere was more relaxed than in an interview, and this allowed the students to feel more comfortable. They volunteered information, and fed off each other’s energy, which was great to see. I will definitely be using this tool in my official inquiry, as it made the job enjoyable and quite comical at times, with some of the statements that were flying about.

Two girls in particular gave some really interesting points, and I would like to interview them, once I have permission to collect data formally, and I have sorted out a letter regarding parental consent.

I did most of my interviews over Skype, for the plain reason that many of my peers live miles and miles away, some of them live on a cruise ship on the other side of the world, so a telephone of face-to-face interview just wasn’t practical! Skype works really well, because you can see reactions as well as hear answers to your questions. It was also a good excuse for me to have a catch up with my friends!

I do think that all of the inquiry tools worked well, for me, and I will be using them all during the next module.