Nicole's BAPP Blog

I took a look at Adesolas blog 'Thoughts on people and interviews' I have decided to blog about my views on the link in relation to my inquiry. https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_isay_everyone_around_you_has_a_story_the_world_needs_to_hear *My experiences lead to my inquiry idea *Using existing professional networks initially made the data collection possible for my research project. *The individuals used for my data collection formed a new layer to my existing circle of networks- The networking process has given me an 'in' to a number of dance captains who I could contact and reach out to for support if I develop to the dance captain position. *The use of networking as a community for dance captains is even more important from discovering the lack of literature available to look at about the position for guidance. Additionally the lack of support in the position in terms of a preparation and procedure carried out in the role or a transition period or even a handbook...

On march 12, 2019 Adesola described the central place of analysis by thinking about it as a 'meaning making process'. Module 2 highlighted that quantitative data is counting the numbers and putting them in a graph or pie chart to see what they represent. Qualitative data tries to understand what the information is saying and finding meaning of what I am doing for my inquiry. Analysis of the inquiry can be looked at from many perspectives some we discussed on the skype call: *How did I utilise the data collection tools *Reflecting on how I performed as an interviewer *How would I feel if I was the one being interviewed *What does the data indicate to me personally *Could I make an analysis chart/table *What information wasn't I expecting *What do I wish I had thought of before since completing data collection *Did the interview/questionnaire trigger past experiences  The analysis process is about recognising the information as it comes up, comparin...

  I completed all of the 4 interviews on 22nd February and I must say I felt such pride and accomplishment. The open-ended structure of the course sometimes makes me feel like im going around in circles, so the organisation and time scale structure of a Gantt chart has been very helpful. I also finished annotating the recorded interviews today so I feel well on my way to the analysis process! Reflection Deciding to distribute the questionnaires first was a useful change to my initial plan, some of the data I expected to obtain wasn't clear or detailed enough for analysis, therefore the questionnaire results altered my interview questions. In addition because I didn't get as many responses to my questionnaire I decided to interview 4 people rather than 2 like I initially planned.  I also decided to write 'Notes for Participants-  Please think about the emotions and feelings you had attached to the experiences you describe as a dance captain. Also try to expand on you...

As suggested by Adesola's blog I watched the TED YouTube video about 'The Power of Collaboration.' with Dr. Shelle VanEtten de Sanchez https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=387&v=VmQVNE-MbKI Networking is not always an easy task but it is so important to continue to get work as a freelance dancer. I never really saw it as a collaboration till I watched this video. The talk has encouraged me to look deeper into collaboration in relation to my inquiry: How do dance captains collaborate? Why is collaboration important? How can collaboration be improved? Dr. Shelle offered 5 essential tips which I have found really helpful... 1. Let go of your ego, let other people edit my ideas. In my professional practice as a freelancer dancer I believe I am good at adapting to change in each job I do and listening to suggestions how to make myself better. 2. Practice makes perfect, we can learn and practice and perfect how to collaborate as it is an ongoing process. D uri...

The skype call today was to see how how we were getting on with our inquiry. *Maria, the supervisor who lead the call reminded us to identify... 1. What is the problem you are addressing/ formed the inquiry title? 2. How have you choose to look at it? 3. Why is it important for your practice? 4. How are you going to use the analysis of the information? *The concept that the inquiry needs to be zoomed in on to make the inquiry more specific but could also cause a shift resulting in unexpected the questions evolving from the inquiry. Zoming in on the inquiry is important for framing the interview/survey questions and narrowing the literature search. *The literature review is a development from module 2, it can outline the original talking points of literature within the general field of the inquiry but it should also go into more depth in particular the themes emerged from data collection. * It is also important to zoom out too (especially if you feel stuck), looking at the i...

Making the questionnaire user friendly......... 1. Time is always limited in the arts industry so I have tried to make the questionnaire a completion time of 15-20 minutes. 2. I will aim to send the questionnaires on a Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday as I know these are common days off for theatres/productions. 3. I have designed the questionnaire so there is only one word answer or multiple choice to save time, this will also help me to compare the data quantitatively in a graph or pie chart format. 4. Many of the dance captains are not native English speaker, I have used simplistic language for those who have English as their second language. 5. I want to accommodate different mediums participants could receive and fill out the questionnaire. a) Print out the questionnaire to fill out circling by the multiple choice options and writing their answers in pen and then scanning the document back to me b) Not everyone will have access to a printer, therefore I have sug...

The most challenging area of module 2 for me was the Methodological framework so I am trying to straighten out my thoughts.... What is the theoretical underpinning of my inquiry? My beliefs..... I believe there are a set of skills that are required for dance captains to carry out their duties for the production. I believe this to be true because I have experienced dance captains and had the opportunity to observe their approach to the role. I also believe that the transition process from dancer to dance captain is the key time where the learning of the duties and the ability to identify and develop skills to perform the duties should form. I also feel from from the existing literature on Web 2.0 platforms that there is a lack of support or training for dance captains to transition successfully and therefore causing problems with the relationship between the dance captain and the dancers and the management team (from my experience). The assumption that because a person is good at r...