Critical Reflection on Pilot Survey

As a starting point for collecting information on my chosen topic, i think doing a pilot survey was a great idea. It helped me to see how many people had taken a Street Dance exam, how many had taken any dance exam and how many had never taken an exam at all. Most importantly, the survey allowed me to see how many had thought an exam was beneficial to enhancing their dance careers and how many disagreed with this. I was able to get the personal opinions of those who completed the survey which was definitely a bonus.
 From the results, i was able to see that only 20% of those who had taken the survey, had taken a Street Dance exam compared to the other 80% who had taken an exam in another dance style. The 20% who had taken the street Dance exam explained that it was Freestyle, meaning it did not focus on any one area of the Street dance Technique.
Questions such as, "do you feel (taking an exam) has enhanced your development as a dancer," allowed each participant to give a qualitative answer, effectively allowing me to receive more in depth answers that could be analysed like those of an interview.
Using social networking sites such as Facebook and the Ba Professional Practice Discussion page, i was able to share my survey and generate a greater response. I think this tactic is a lot better than trying to approach dancers on the street as firstly you can never be sure who is and secondly this tactic would involve time, which many people do not have. This would also mean the dancers filling out the surveys would be from a much smaller demographic. By posting the survey to a social networking site, i was able to get answers from males, females, dancers of all ages and most importantly dancers from different backgrounds.
The most interesting finding from this survey was the fact that the majority of those who answered, were all in favor of exams for various different reasons. This was exactly what i wanted to find out. Are exams needed in order to enhance your development as a dancer?
The general census i got from this survey is YES exams are beneficial. So how does this this relate to Street Dance? I have seen that exams enhance so many different dance styles but what about Street Dance? Although as a dance style it may not be right for it to conform to formal exams, due to containing self-expression and creativity, I am starting to discover that there must be a way of giving Street dance students something to focus on, develop their technique and retain the fundamentals of their style, whilst still fueling their creative and choreographic skills.
In doing this questionnaire, i have have already gathered some much needed and very important information which just shows how effective a pilot survey can be. I still think that most of my in depth research will come from my pilot interviews but i will definitely use surveys as a basis for research in the future.

Thinking about an Award Title.....

Looking at the type of questions asked in both interviews, i have tried to make the questions as relevant to the subject of inquiry as possible.
These being:
Can a dancer develop without the use of exams?
Is a syllabus needed to further development of Street dance within the community?
Should Street dance be formalized within education?

Award Title thoughts:
Ba (hons) Professional Practice Community Dance Development?
BA (Hons) Professional Practice Street Dance Development?
BA (Hons) Professional Practice Developing Dance in Education?

I focused my award title on the word development as i feel that my inquiry is leading me into the development of a dance form and trying to take it places through progression.
I do teach dance in schools but also in community and private settings. I don't want to limit myself to just education as this could become to formal. Instead, i want to focus more on community and the development of Street dance learning and it's progression.

Proposed Interview questions for Ricardo Small

An Interview with Ricardo Small

Artistic Director of ABYSS Street Dance Crew

(Questions)

What inspired you to create a Street Dance crew?

How was ABYSS founded?

What is your role?

What skills are needed to be an Artistic Director of a Successful Street dance Crew  such as ABYSS?

Have you ever taken a dance exam in any dance style?

Would you say it is important to be a member of an examining body such as the IDTA, in order to run or teach within a dance company? Please explain your answer.

Do you think exams are important to measure the development of a dancer and what are the alternatives?

As a Choreographer and director of ABYSS, you have assisted your dancers developing them technically and mentally. How is this achieved?

Throughout the past years, Community Street Dance teachers have managed to maintain their art form without any major support from the industry and without being able to gain a qualification to prove their level of competence in their field of expertise.

If you were to create a Street Dance syllabus, what would be the most important fundamentals included?

Is formalizing a dance form within the education system the best way to maintain the real history of the pioneers and their contribution to dance?

Proposed Interview questions for Beverly Glean

An Interview with Beverly Glean

Artistic Director of Irie! Dance Theatre

(Questions)

What inspired you to create a community dance company?

How was Irie! Dance Theatre founded?

What is your role?

What skills are needed to be an Artistic Director of a Successful dance company such as Irie! Dance Theatre?

Would you say it is important to be a member of an examining body such as the IDTA, in order to run or teach within a dance company? Please explain your answer.

Do you think exams are important to measure the development of a dancer and what are the alternatives?

Can you talk briefly about how the Foundation Degree (Dance FDA), created by Irie! Dance Theatre, in partnership with London Metropolitan University, was put together?

Is formalizing a dance form within the education system the best way to maintain the real history of the pioneers and their contribution to dance?

PILOT SURVEY AND INTERVIEWS SO FAR

Within the last few days i have conducted a pilot survey and have proposed questions for two pilot interviews.
So far, i am happy with the information gathered but still feel that i need to know more in order to aid my line of inquiry, hopefully the the pilot interviews will do this.
By conducting a survey i have managed to gather varied information, more so as statistics. This does help my inquiry in a way but i know i need more in depth answers if i am to get any closer to solutions.

I have conducted the pilot interviews via email which has allowed my interviewees time to read through the questions, answer them and then email them back. I will then be able to analyze and evaluate each question asked.
I chose to interview Beverly Glean Artistic Director of Irie! Dance Theater and Ricardo Small, Director and Choreographer of Street Dance Crew Abyss. Both are at different ends of the spectrum in terms of Community dance. Glean, has already founded her company and gone on to co-create a Foundation degree which focuses equally on Ballet, Contemporary, African and Caribbean dance forms. Small directs and co-choreographs a community Street Dance Crew which over the past few years has progressed immensely and is still growing.

Once the interviews have been returned to me, i will be able to blog fully about which research method i found most suited my inquiry.

http://www.iriedancetheatre.org/

http://www.streetdancers.co.uk/video/abyss-on-the-street-dance-xxl