Tools For Research

Observation

A key advantage of observation research is that often the participant is unaware that they are being observed, allowing their behaviour to be observed naturally.

Observation will be an important tool for me to use in my research as it’s very appropriate to work based learning and I will be able to gather information from the professional field that I work in.

Observation can be very time consuming, but as I will be conducting mine during my normal teaching hours I won’t find this such a problem but will have to ensure I have time afterwards to analyse and interpret what I have seen. I believe the sooner after the event I can do this the better, when everything is still fresh in my mind. I will make field notes throughout my observation time, but may also use a video recorder on some occasions. (Perhaps towards the beginning and then at the end of the research time to record and differences in my findings)

I will be undertaking insider research, as I will be observing students that I teach on a regular basis in my workplace I have already broken down some of the barriers and problems that you are faced with when beginning participant observational research. I already have a role within the group, I have established relationships and have acquired the participants trust; therefore I am already “accepted as a natural part of the culture in order to assure that the observations are of the natural phenomenon"(http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualmeth.php). 

My presence should not impact on their behaviour and I have insider knowledge on to how the group normally behaves and what individual’s strengths and weaknesses are.

I have already gained verbal permission from my employer, but I will also get this in writing and I have their full support in my research project. They will not be present throughout the observations but may come in from time to time to see how I am getting on. I don’t believe this will impact on my research as it is part of their role to check up on classes from time to time so it is only natural that the participants would expect to see them there.

I will obtain full permission from the participant’s parents as they are all minors, and address confidentially issues before hand also.

I need to be aware that as an insider research I have a dual role to perform, that as a dance tutor and employee and that as a practitioner researcher. I must also be aware of:

• Any personal bias about the issue

• Preconceived ideas I have about the issue

• Defining my role as researcher and being able to look objectively at the participants. 

Interviews

Interviews will be a useful research tool when I want to get more specific information from participants or work colleagues. The most appropriate point during my research to use this tool will be after I have collected my survey results. I will then be able to use interviews as a follow up to certain responses or issues that come out of the surveys.

My preferred interview would take place face to face as I feel this is a more personal approach and would take on the format of being semi structured. I would include set questions; with sub questions should they be needed, be flexible for the interview to follow any interesting or immerging issues around the research theme. I would use the same approach for all interviews so that I can easily analyse and compare results.

I would try to hold the interview on neutral ground, somewhere that the interviewee would feel comfortable with as few distractions as possible. I would use a tape recorder during the interview, but also take notes on anything that really stood out for me or on the participant’s body language or actions that would not be picked up on the tape recorder.

 If interviewing children I would try to keep the interview short and would use language that was easy to understand.

Benefits

·        Interviews will allow me to seek further information that is not possible to achieve through a questionnaire.

·        I will be able to collect detailed responses

·        Participants can ask for clarification son questions should they not understand them

·        I will be able to find out people’s opinions on specific topics, what’s they feel as well as what they think, collect the facts and hear about peoples own experiences.

·        The majority of the people I interview will know me and so will feel comfortable in my company, and will have trust in me.

Limitations

·        Interviews can be time consuming

·        Keeping to my role as ‘Interviewer’, and not my role as teacher, employee or friend.

I could influence people responses:

• " interviewees desire to please interviewer
•  saying what they think the interviewer wants to hear e.g. gives the official viewpoint rather than their personal view
•  desire to create a good impression i.e. not answer ‘honestly’
•  the tendency to say something rather than nothing if they cannot answer a question or have nothing to say on a topic
•  interviewers’ own views coming across and influencing responses e.g. expressing surprise or disapproval. " (http://www.bera.ac.uk/data-collection-interviews-in-research/)

Focus Groups

Focus groups would be a good tool for me to use with children that I would like to get views and opinions from. They would perhaps be better than a one to one interview for some children as they would feel more secure and comfortable in a group environment than by themselves. It would be a good way of seeing how participants react to each other’s views and how they interact together.

It would be very important to make sure that each participant got to express their view. Strong personalities may “..influence, and in some cases actually take over, a group and make it difficult for the less assertive members to speak” (Bell, 2005, p. 163). Participants with a differing view to the majority may not want to express it for fear of being ‘different’.

Focus groups may be hard to manage as an individual researcher, participants may go off topic or talk over each other so you would have to try and keep on top of what was being said as well as taking notes for yourself and making sure everyone got a turn to speak.

Before starting any discussions all participants would need to identify who they were on the tape recorder in order for you to know the different voices when you analyse. If using a focus group as a research tool, especially with minors I would limit the number of participants and talk about respecting each other’s opinions and giving everyone a turn at the beginning before starting any discussions.

Surveys and Questionnaires

Questionnaires will be a great way for me to get information from a large number of people. Within the organisation that I work it will enable me to make sure I gather information from the different age groups, different sexes and from both pupils and staff. Questionnaires can be taken home and answered in the participants own time and own environment, I will use a deadline to ensure I have as many back as possible by a certain date in order to leave me time to analyse results and conduct further research depending on the outcomes.

I will keep my questionnaire anonymous so that participant’s feel they can be as truthful as possible and not be judged for the answers they give. I will make sure I use language that is easy to understand, I will keep questions simple and make sure they flow in a relevant order. I will also use a range of questions types, depending on what information I would like to get, including; multiple choices, scale ratings, yes/no answers, open opinion boxes.

The major downside to questionnaires is having a poor response level or people leaving questions blank. Due to the fact I am conducting my research within my work place I am well placed to promote a good response rate so I hope to overcome this issue.