Reader 6 and Skype Session

Reader 6 and Skype Session

Upon reviewing reader 6 and taking part in the group Skype session, I have gained an understanding of ways in which I can utilise various research tools in order to formulate my inquiry plan. I am aware of methods used to collect varying forms of data, depending on it's purpose. Reader 6 has enabled me identify how will I go about obtaining the information I need, considering how I will record and the archive this. With regards to part 5, I can apply knowledge of ethical practice to my research to ensure I do not cause any negative affliction to others.

I feel the nature of my inquiry requires a predominantly qualitative approach as a lot of my research will be based around people's opinion's and personal experience. However I feel a degree of quantitative research will enable me to collect less complex statistical forms of data and reach a wider audience. In order to to gain a wide perspective of my topic, 'Artistry In Performance' I propose to arrange interviews with professionals in varying roles to inform my research, these include; My employers, colleagues, ex students, Drama Teacher, Ballet Pianist, Examiner, Company Director and a Company Dancer. I am continually developing my questions for the roles of these individuals through the interaction of like minded professionals .

I plan to conduct class discussions and observations with my students, upon being given permission from themselves, my employer and parents (ethical practice). I feel it would be an ideal time as we are working towards exams and I will tackle the inevitable anxiety that students often experience affecting performance under pressure. During this process I will be keeping a work journal allowing me to reflect and record my findings. My school also have their annual production coming up in June so it will be interesting to analyse the degree of performance skills in varying ages and abilities of students during rehearsal and performance.

A survey will allow me to discover popular opinions of teachers and dance professionals, this information will enable me to analyse trends and variations. A survey is a useful tool as I can send it out via post, email and share it on social media sites, again considering the ethics relating to this tool.

I like the idea of conducting a focus group, however it would take careful organising to ensure that participants were all able to attend, given the location and time. I think a focus group would be useful as it's a more informal approach to gathering research, based more on discussion. As detailed in Reader 6, it can encourage the more self conscious individuals to voice their opinion. It would be interesting to analyse what conclusions arise from this method of research.

In the group tutorial we spoke about the importance of creating a time line in order to enable to formulate a schedule to organise ourselves, this allowed me to plan my time realistically as I must confess I am always one of those last minute students in a big stress at the end of term! At present I am currently catching up on a few previous tasks as well as formulating my plan. I feel my literature reviews will be ongoing as I continue to discover more and more throughout my ongoing research on particular topics that relate to my inquiry.