The exercise:
Take an existing data collection tool and critique it, use the questions in activity 7 to analyse what you have found is effective and any faults that you have found in the tool.
I took interview questions designed and used by Julia Buckroyd when writing her book 'The Student Dancer' and here is what I concluded:
Critique of Interview questions used by Julia Buckroyd when looking into ‘The Experience of Professional Dance Training for Male Trainees’ Buckroyd, J, 2000, The Student Dancer – Emotional Aspects of Learning Dance (p218), London, Dance Books Ltd.
The interview questions proposed by Julia Buckroyd in order to indentify “distinctive issues for boys in professional dance training with the idea of clarifying how dance training could ensure those needs are met” (Buckroyd, J, 2000, The Student Dancer – Emotional Aspects of Learning Dance (p128), London, Dance Books Ltd) are well structured, thorough and are appropriate to the purpose of the investigation. Buckroyd has explored all imaginable areas of the emotional/ psychological aspects of a boy undertaking full time dance training however there are questions that may lead the interviewee to form a certain way of thinking, questions that could possibly lead to the identification of the participant and there are also a number of questions that may alienate the male student dancer.
The interview is well structured with all relatable questions grouped together for example all questions relating to weight and food issues follow one another. There are a few exceptions to this where a question does not precisely fit into the running them for example the question “Do you watch dance performance?” is situated among questions about the male dancer’s hobbies other than dance however these questions can still be encompassed in the general area that the surrounding questions and are simple, short answered questions and therefore they do not disrupt the flow of the interview. The questions are not only in logical groups but they also follow a structure taking the interviewee on a progressive journey through their training; starting with their experiences before their professional training/ information on when they started and concluding with life after their training and life after dance thus making a well structured interview. The questions are very thorough and appropriate to the purpose of the research, exploring all areas of the emotional aspect of a male dancers training however it is possible that there are too many and some unnecessary questions especially considering that Buckroyd allocated a time period of one hour for the interview. Some of the questions could be simple yes or no answers however many of the questions are written to prompt more in depth answers and therefore could take the length of the interview far beyond the allocated timescale, this combined with the volume of questions could make the interview more time consuming than anticipated.
Buckroyd has asked a number of difficult questions in her interview which although may be considered necessary to understand the emotional aspects of a male dancer undergoing training, they may also alienate the participant for example the question “What kind of social life do you have in comparison with your non-dancer friends?” may embarrass the participant as the question is making two assumptions; one, that the participant has an active social life and two, that the participant has friends outside of the dance community. These sorts of probing questions may cause the participant to feel uncomfortable and could affect the information that they divulge throughout the rest of the interview. The questions that Buckroyd has posed also stipulate a certain intellectual level with her questions assuming that the participant has a certain level of understanding about the ‘normal’ development of the adolescent male, which again could possibly alienate the subject due to feeling of in-adequacy. Buckroyd has been careful with most of her questions not to lead the participant into a specific way of thinking/ point of view however there are a few questions which could possibly do this for example the question “Do teachers treat you differently from girls” could lead the participant to over analyse something that otherwise may not have occurred to them. Buckroyd has appeared to have made the assumption that a boys experience will differ from that of a female student by the question that she has asked regarding the treatment of the participant compared to the girls in the class however, although these questions insinuate certain assumptions they are necessary to all possible emotional aspects of a professional dance education for boys. The opening question regarding age of entering the school, current age and previous experience when combined with school records may allow the participant to de identified however this is only when combined with the schools information and therefore does not present an ethical issue. Buckroyd also provided an example of her consent forms which clearly expressed her intentions of recording and ways of publishing the participants involved and thereby preventing ethical issues
Buckroyd has formulated a probing in-depth interview that will thoroughly investigate the experience of the male dancer. The interview is well structure with the interview following a logical progression of topics and all questions put into topic related groups however Buckroyd in her endeavour for thoroughness may have; asked too many questions, alienated the participant and led the participant into a certain way of thinking however the negative aspect to Buckroyd’s interview questions are only possibilities and are completely dependent on the views and experiences of the participant. Buckroyd has created an effective instrument for research which providing the researcher has an extensive timescale could prove extremely useful however if a researcher has a restricted timescale like that of our project Buckroyd’s in-depth style of interview may not be an effective and time efficient way of gathering data.
The interview questions proposed by Julia Buckroyd in order to indentify “distinctive issues for boys in professional dance training with the idea of clarifying how dance training could ensure those needs are met” (Buckroyd, J, 2000, The Student Dancer – Emotional Aspects of Learning Dance (p128), London, Dance Books Ltd) are well structured, thorough and are appropriate to the purpose of the investigation. Buckroyd has explored all imaginable areas of the emotional/ psychological aspects of a boy undertaking full time dance training however there are questions that may lead the interviewee to form a certain way of thinking, questions that could possibly lead to the identification of the participant and there are also a number of questions that may alienate the male student dancer.
The interview is well structured with all relatable questions grouped together for example all questions relating to weight and food issues follow one another. There are a few exceptions to this where a question does not precisely fit into the running them for example the question “Do you watch dance performance?” is situated among questions about the male dancer’s hobbies other than dance however these questions can still be encompassed in the general area that the surrounding questions and are simple, short answered questions and therefore they do not disrupt the flow of the interview. The questions are not only in logical groups but they also follow a structure taking the interviewee on a progressive journey through their training; starting with their experiences before their professional training/ information on when they started and concluding with life after their training and life after dance thus making a well structured interview. The questions are very thorough and appropriate to the purpose of the research, exploring all areas of the emotional aspect of a male dancers training however it is possible that there are too many and some unnecessary questions especially considering that Buckroyd allocated a time period of one hour for the interview. Some of the questions could be simple yes or no answers however many of the questions are written to prompt more in depth answers and therefore could take the length of the interview far beyond the allocated timescale, this combined with the volume of questions could make the interview more time consuming than anticipated.
Buckroyd has asked a number of difficult questions in her interview which although may be considered necessary to understand the emotional aspects of a male dancer undergoing training, they may also alienate the participant for example the question “What kind of social life do you have in comparison with your non-dancer friends?” may embarrass the participant as the question is making two assumptions; one, that the participant has an active social life and two, that the participant has friends outside of the dance community. These sorts of probing questions may cause the participant to feel uncomfortable and could affect the information that they divulge throughout the rest of the interview. The questions that Buckroyd has posed also stipulate a certain intellectual level with her questions assuming that the participant has a certain level of understanding about the ‘normal’ development of the adolescent male, which again could possibly alienate the subject due to feeling of in-adequacy. Buckroyd has been careful with most of her questions not to lead the participant into a specific way of thinking/ point of view however there are a few questions which could possibly do this for example the question “Do teachers treat you differently from girls” could lead the participant to over analyse something that otherwise may not have occurred to them. Buckroyd has appeared to have made the assumption that a boys experience will differ from that of a female student by the question that she has asked regarding the treatment of the participant compared to the girls in the class however, although these questions insinuate certain assumptions they are necessary to all possible emotional aspects of a professional dance education for boys. The opening question regarding age of entering the school, current age and previous experience when combined with school records may allow the participant to de identified however this is only when combined with the schools information and therefore does not present an ethical issue. Buckroyd also provided an example of her consent forms which clearly expressed her intentions of recording and ways of publishing the participants involved and thereby preventing ethical issues
Buckroyd has formulated a probing in-depth interview that will thoroughly investigate the experience of the male dancer. The interview is well structure with the interview following a logical progression of topics and all questions put into topic related groups however Buckroyd in her endeavour for thoroughness may have; asked too many questions, alienated the participant and led the participant into a certain way of thinking however the negative aspect to Buckroyd’s interview questions are only possibilities and are completely dependent on the views and experiences of the participant. Buckroyd has created an effective instrument for research which providing the researcher has an extensive timescale could prove extremely useful however if a researcher has a restricted timescale like that of our project Buckroyd’s in-depth style of interview may not be an effective and time efficient way of gathering data.
You don't need to right it all out in an essay like I did (this is what I thought Activity 7 was) just annotate a photocopy or printout of the questionnaire/ interview questions and see what you come up with and what you can learn from this.
Melissa, thank you very much for posting this, it has helped me so much. Where did you find the interview? Did you use the internet to search?
ReplyDeleteMichelle
The interview questions were an appendix in the book which I had already from when I completed my FDI Ballet with this ISTD. Though I think it may be available electronically on the uni learning resources with Athens. They have multiple copies of the book in the Trent Park library.
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa! A number of people have ben having problems finding examples of inteview questions - this should be helpful to read.
ReplyDeletePaula