Filtering the Data: Sieves
I chose to firstly narrow the amount of data I am using, as the richness and quantity that this qualitative research method generated was, when I began by reading through the transcript, overwhelming (Curtis and Curtis, 2011), selecting just the section relating to the intervention designs themselves, from 14:34 – 31.33. Though there is lots of rich data in the first half of the focus group, I do not have capacity to process and synthesise this data in a meaningful way within the timeframe I have left.
To “focus, capture, and distill meaning” (Gray and Malins, 2007, pp.101) efficiently I am using a simple, deductive colour code (Linneberg and Korsgaard, 2019).
I always wanted to be able to:
- draw comparisons between the response to each intervention design
- distinguish how positively or negatively the students responded to an intervention design idea
- utilise the data to develop the designs further
The participant to participant conversation within the focus group led to another type of remark which was distinctive from ‘a positive review’, ‘negative review’ or ‘idea’ about the intervention. This took the form of a discussion around the student’s feelings about an underlying issue.
As the aim of this project is related to creating the right conditions (or, environment) for students to practice costume more sustainably (or, flourish), I am using the analogy of a garden in order to visualise my coded data.
I combed through the selected section of the focus group transcript, highlighting one phrase per ‘remark’ or ‘comment’, and categorising it accordingly:
- Positive remark – Yellow
- Negative remark – Pink
- Idea or suggestion – Blue
- Underlying issues or challenges – Grey
Synthesising the Data: A Garden as Spectacles
I have created a key, below, which will allow me to use my data to visualise an overall ‘garden’ landscape of responses to each intervention design, in order to evaluate, compare, and disseminate it.
SUN (Yellow)
The sun represents positive responses to the intervention designs. Each ray equates to one positive student response.
POLLUTING PARTICLES (Pink)
The polluting particles represent negative responses or barriers to the intervention designs.
SLUGS (Grey)
These represent responses which indicate underlying issues which may create barriers to students engagement with an intervention. They are part of the ecosystem, but must be addressed and managed in order to students to flourish towards sustainable practices.
CLOUDS (Blue)
These represent ideas or suggestions generated by the students, which do not directly respond to the intervention design presented, but could be used to further develop it.
A ‘healthy’ environment will have plenty of sunshine rays and clouds, no pollutants, and few or no slugs.
Evaluation
Here are the intervention design data gardens, below:
Salient data
The images clearly show that there is a student preference for intervention idea number one, and intervention design number two.
Contradictory Data
The ideas and suggestions generated within the discussion of intervention idea number two revealed ways in which the idea could be developed to be more engaging for students. The initial data shows that there are also lots of negative remarks about this idea – however, within the focus group, three separate ideas were discussed: handouts, posters, and digital downloads. When these are separated out, further, more specific evaluation and analysis could take place. Perhaps this idea could be investigated further in additional data collection.
Another interesting contradiction is that the students were not interested in the sustainability resource created by Maisie Bidwell for the Theatre Green Book, but they were interested in the suppliers map. This is interesting because these could be categorised int he same way – visual posters that aid students in working towards more sustainable practices. However, Maisie’s flow chart is perhaps less ‘practical’, and more about instigating deeper, broader thoughts about a project.
Stumble Data
The images also show that intervention idea number three brought up a disproportionate number of negative feelings about the underlying issues at play. It would be interesting to delve into this and collect further data on time management, confidence, skills, and some of the other themes that emerged from that discussion. Taking the literature into account, and my own experience, this might be best done through qualitative means, such as in-depth, unstructured interviews with students and both academic and technical staff, alongside some observational methodologies through some projects.
Within the time limitations of this project, this is not possible to do meaningfully. However, developing and further researching the specifics of the intervention ideas with more positive initial feedback would be pertinent and useful.
Findings
- Students reported to prefer visual sustainable suppliers posters or displays that they can take photos of, over physical handouts or digital downloads via moodle.
- Students reported to lack of confidence in their own skills and abilities, which may prevent them from entering the space, and/or accessing technical support in sustainable costume realisation processes
- Students reported interest and enthusiasm for practical sustainability skills workshops
- Students reported a lack of interested in visual poster displays of sustainable costume realisation processes
I would like to take intervention designs one and two forwards for actioning and investigation, as these should create meaningful data, but are plausible to action within the timeframe. I would have also been interested in taking tutorials and project planning forwards, because it brought up so many feelings and thoughts about confidence. There were no projects I could have managed to do this for within this time frame, however, this data can still be used in my overall analysis, and could be investigated further beyond the scope of this post grad.
References
Gray, C, & Malins, J (2007) ‘Interpreting the map: methods of evaluation and analysis’ in Visualizing Research : A Guide to the Research Process in Art and Design. Taylor & Francis Group, Abingdon, Oxon. pp.1349 – 158. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [Downloaded: 05 December 2024]
Curtis, B. and Curtis, C. (2011) In-Depth Interviewing – the Interactive Base. In: Social Research: A Practical Introduction. 55 City Road, London: SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 27-54 Available at: <https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526435415> [Accessed 06 December 2024].