Dissertation Diary 1

So, I haven't written any posts recently as my surveys were live and I didn't want to confuse people who were accessing my blog to complete them. Many thanks to all of you that did take time to complete them the results are very interesting.

I have also been very busy recently juggling my dissertation with my PGCE application, student finance forms, ISTD applications and two jobs. This whole semester is really teaching me how to manage my time and I personally think I could do it better. I have had to prioritise whats more important and unfortunately everything had a deadline before my dissertation.

Now everything else is pretty much out of the way I have more time to focus on my dissertation. I have sent chapters 1 & 2 and my analysis from my surveys to Peter for feedback, as I am doing two part research I have had to analyse my surveys so I can come up with further research questions for my focus group that takes place on Sunday 17th. Im looking forward to my focus group as I really want to know in depth answers to what I found from my surveys. I have secured the venue, bought refreshments, advertised the session and drafted contracts for ethical purposes. So, until my focus group I have to draft the questions that I want to ask and check my audio recorder as I will be audio recorded for future reference to my dissertation all of which is explained in the contracts. I also need to write up chapter 3 as soon as my focus group is complete as this also needs to be sent in by the 19th October which is the deadline for these chapters. I hope to get this written by the 18th so I can ask questions about all of my chapters at the campus session with Peter on Tuesday 19th October.

I am unsure how I feel about my progress so far, at first I didn't know where to start, I found it very overwhelming as I knew what I wanted to write, and what I needed to include. This is something that i'm passionate about so you would think it is easy to sit down and get on with, however I found it difficult to start as I felt like everything sounded like I was repeating myself and this put me off writing anything, then I felt bad when I didn't do anything at all. Finally I found my way and words became to flow because of Peters feedback on the literature review. This got me going as I had already got a decent amount of literature reports from last semesters project proposal.
In one way I feel like I am ahead as I am writing my analysis from my surveys, however in another way I am behind because I can't write chapter 3 because I haven't done my focus group yet. Doing two part research I feel is very beneficial to my learning and my research, however I don't know if this could also hinder my deadlines or my word count until I have got further into my dissertation. Only time will tell and I don't like that I don't know the answer to that yet.

I feel for now I have done all that I can, I could start to edit and add to my previous chapters but think it would be more beneficial to receive the feedback first. So until Sunday I am going to plot my questions and cross my fingers that Sunday goes well.

Dissertation Surveys

Ladies please take a few minutes of your time to fill out my surveys. They both must be completed, please be as honest as possible.

If you know other ladies between the ages of 18-35 who will be interested in these surveys please feel free to direct them to my blog to take part.

our form

Take my Perceptions of Sport Online Survey

online surveys

Take my Perception on Pole dancing in relation to participation Online Survey

Project Diary 1

So, I have finally started to make progress on my project.
I have designed my two questionnaires and will be sending the link within the next day or two. I have also started to write up my literature review, as I found a lot of literature for my proposal I have just got to write why it is useful and of course why it isn't.

I am struggling with my introduction, as i am unsure if I am writing it as something I want to do, or if I am writing it as something that I have done? So if anyone can answer this then progress can be made here to.

The next few weeks will be difficult as Peter is away so he will be unreachable, therefore I will be requiring the help of other advisors and the rest of my fellow blog buddies.

I plan to get my questionnaires up and running so I can collect and analyse the data so I can start to plot questions for my focus group session.

So far I am pleased with my progress however I have barely scraped the surface of what is expected of me.

The Cost of Injury

I am officially injured, for the past six weeks I have been dealing with a bad back, so I took myself off to the chiropractor http://www.gonstead-uk.com After my consultation and an x-ray it is apparent that my pelvis has been rotated. This means the left side of my body is slightly twisted putting a great strain on the position of my spine and the nerves attached. I also found out that my left leg is 7mm shorter than my right, so it’s already altering the alignment of my body. Diet is also a really important part of my visits to the chiropractor, I have to produce a diary of what I eat! I don’t think he will be impressed. Grahame the chiropractor then explained to me what adjustments he will do to alter the alignment of my spine and start to relieve the pain. Great.

Adjustments.

The adjustments don’t hurt, however If I’m honest I find the whole process horrific. The noise of the cracking of my bones made me speechless. As a dancer it’s something I’m used to, I also have complete control over what’s cracked, at the chiropractor’s you don’t, and when they want to alter your body complete trust is required.

Being injured costs, not only general costs of specialists e.g. the chiropractor but the cost of reducing your workload. The chiropractor so far has cost me £205, and its £40 per visit from now on for 6more visits, enough to make me feel ill . Since being injured I have had to reduce my workload as its adding stress to my body, I have had to cancel hours of pole classes and parties and reduce the hours at my part-time waitressing job that keeps me going through the summer when there are no dance classes.

Being injured is stressful and affects your self esteem. The worry of the never ending costs to heal but the need to work is a constant battle. You would think that it would make you motivated, to get on with things that need doing; things that you never get round to doing or starting when you’re not injured, however in my experience I don’t think that it does.

I understand why some people come out of the profession as the need to make money is essential and the cost of being a dancer is expensive. I am a workaholic and not being able to work much is something I have not adjusted to. However I am hoping that because I am fit and healthy my treatment will not be for long. Fingers crossed!!!

Back to school!!!!!!!!!!

Ok people, it's time to get down to the serious stuff. Project time.

So it's been a lovely few months chillaxing and not doing anything that involves the word 'project' or 'proposal' however now I feel it's time to get a move on. I have been putting off doing anything because of the pressure I feel to do well. I have high expectations of myself and I dont think this has helped the situation.

However, I have been busy with some basic foundations to my project. I have landed myself some more pole teaching work. I now work for three pole dancing company's.

1. Pole Confessions http://www.poleconfessions.co.uk

2. Northern Pole Divas http://www.northernpoledivas.co.uk

3. Poletastic http://www.poletastic.com

So, I have been busy, busy, busy. What’s great about my new jobs is I get the opportunity to work with girls aged 14-16 and get them interested in vertical pole training, because if Pole dancing does become a future Olympic sport they will need to be trained from a young age. At Poletastic It's great as I get to access the latter age group that I want my project to be focused on the 30-35 bracket.

I get booked for regular work with Poletastic and mainly Pole parties. Pole parties are commonly for lady’s hen nights or women’s birthdays that want to see what it’s like. They are great fun, the women get a great experience, gain some confidence by being surrounded by their friends and get an idea what it's all about.

The access to these women will benefit my project as I can get my questionnaires filled out by plenty of women, some who will want to experience the fun of the lesson, some who are there because they have to. It will also be a good way to meet people and invite them to my focus group.

So, Although I have not yet started anything on paper for my project I have been busy laying the foundations. So watch this space................................................

Reflection or Curiosity?

Many, many months back, whats seems like nearly a lifetime ago, we had to write about something in three different writing styles. If you remember my chosen subject was Andrew LLoyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. My academic piece touched on Phantom's sequel Love Never Dies and if a sequel would ruin Phantoms reputation?

Well, as it was something I was genuinely interested in, I have took upon myself to continue and complete what I started by reading some reviews of the sequel to possibly summarise the publics thoughts.

I personally haven't seen it as time is always against me, however I would love to hear from anyone who has seen it to share your views.

Love Never Dies, The Papers v The Fans

So what did the papers say?

There is no doubt that Love Never Dies seems like a relic of another age. Gloomy-doomy, largely through-sung musicals like this have in recent years been superseded in public affection by a welcome return to musical comedy in such shows as Hairspray, Sister Act and the latest hit, Legally Blonde. In the midst of a recession, will audiences fork out top dollar for two-and-a half hours of dark Gothic imaginings, seething passion, and in the final scene, sudden violent death?

I haven’t got the answer to that, and only time will tell. What I have no doubt about whatever is that this is Lloyd Webber’s finest show since the original Phantom, with a score blessed with superbly haunting melodies and a yearning romanticism that sent shivers racing down my spine.

Charles Spencer from the Telegraph 9th March 2010

There is much to enjoy in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical. The score is one of the composer's most seductive. Bob Crowley's design and Jack O'Brien's direction have a beautiful kaleidoscopic fluidity. And the performances are good. The problems lie within the book, chiefly credited to Lloyd Webber himself and Ben Elton, which lacks the weight to support the imaginative superstructure.

In short, the show has much to commend it and the staging is a constant source of iridescent pleasure. But, as one of the lyrics reminds us, "diamonds never sparkle bright unless they are set just right". Although Lloyd Webber's score is full of gems, in the end a musical is only as good as its book. With a libretto to match the melodies, this might have been a stunner rather than simply a good night out.

Michael Billington from The guardian 10th March 2010

Love may never die but West End shows will come perilously close to disaster unless they have some oompf and bongo — and preferably a decent tune — in the first 15 minutes.

Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to Phantom Of The Opera, is as slow to motor as a lawnmower at spring’s first cut.

It doesn’t really smoke into life until the 20th minute and even then it splutters for a while. Finally, the singing and the ingenious staging combine to show the Lloyd Webber orchestration to its full glory, but, boy, it takes an age.

Quentin Letts from The Daily Mail 10th March 2010

So what did the fans say?

http://www.loveneverdies.com/members-area/phan-reviews/

What do you think?

The Half Way Point

So guys, 60 credits gone, 60 to go, we're half way there now, no turning back (you must be crazy if you do) this is where the real fun begins. THE PROJECT!!

So, after a well deserved break it's that time again and for some reason this time i have found it the most difficult to be motivated. I just want this pre-summer holiday to keep going I really think it's because i have scared myself into a position where i feel my whole grade relies on my project, it has to be fantastic. So no pressure or anything right!!

I also know that the end few months of completing this project are the busiest for most people on the BAPP course and things could get a little stressful, for me having three jobs, xmas shows, xmas bookings and my degree project could quite possibly make me unpopular in my house!!

So, what am i going to do about it? Well this post if a first, and many people have been asking me about my project as it was the main subject of conversation a few months ago, whats good is Jess has even booked herself on a pole course so i was having some effect on the public. I am off to get some questionnaire questions down as that is the first thing i said i would do in my proposal, i'm sure things will go from there. I have done well so far and not prepared to let myself down, so here goes, good luck everyone

Abbi :-)

Award Rationale

My Rationale for my award title

The award title I would like to receive is a BA Honours in

Professional Practice (Human Movement & Education)

The study of Human Movement traditionally incorporates areas of Physiology (living systems), Psychology, Biomechanics (analysis of athletes) but also includes other topics such as Diet, Nutrition and Performance analysis.

There are a number of influences that have helped me to determine my choice of award title. I have thought about all my previous qualifications, knowledge and work experience. I have considered my highest previous qualification which is a Trinity National Diploma in Musical Theatre. I obtained this award after I studied at the Northern Ballet School for three years and gained this rewarding qualification when graduating in July 2004.

I then went onto Preston College where I studied my Foundation in Dance Instruction award and my Certificate in Dance Education in Modern Dance and Ballet qualification. To complete these I had extensive learning of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance syllabus, I was required to demonstrate understanding and learning of Health & Safety and Lifespan Development. I had to demonstrate my capability of teaching my chosen genres (Ballet & Modern Dance) considering different abilities and conduct a class in front of an examiner. Upon completion this now means I am qualified to teach people how to dance and educate them about the dance environment whilst entering people for exams.

Upon completion of my dance qualifications I teach children/students and adults how to dance, I have choreographed many dances for performances using my experience from the Ballet school, I have educated A-Level Dance students from a Grammar School about the dance environment and entered many children and students for exams where they have all gained extremely good results because of my dance knowledge. I have also been working for Monarch education recruitment for four months where I am a teaching assistant, I educate children and assist teachers in primary schools all over Manchester.

Whilst studying these dance qualifications I also completed an A-Level in Physical Education, I have always loved sport from an early age and played for all the sports teams at school, however it was whilst studying the A-Level where I became really interested in sport history, diet and nutrition. During the two years I learned about sport promotion, sport performance, sports science and sport psychology all of which I use my knowledge and experience when teaching.

My proposed project title is another influence for my chosen award title. I wish to study “The public’s perceptions on Pole Dancing as a Sport”. I will be using my work experience, knowledge and previous qualifications to help me to study this. I feel that my project and previous experience and qualifications are related to Human Movement. Human Movement is a related scientific discipline that studies human movement in all contexts including that of sport.

I have strongly considered my title award as after my degree I wish to do my Postgraduate Certificate in Education. I feel that my award title is justified by my past experiences, my present professional work and research and my future aspirations, goals and qualifications.

Whoop

At last, no more stressing about this module. My hard work is on it's way to Middlesex as we speak.

No more writing, sleepless nights, stupid printers that don't like printing, folders that aren't big enough and countless amounts of reminder notes..............................for now!!!! Bring on the project!

:-) xx

Literature

School gets pole-dancer to perform for pupils
January 29, 2009 4:51 PM

Education bosses have been bombarded with complaints from teachers after inviting a pole-dancer to perform for school children.

The pole-dancers were invited to give demonstrations as part of a 'Be Healthy' initiative at South Devon College in Paignton.

But after 1,000 pupils aged 14-19 watched the demo the complaints started to roll in - from teachers who hadn't seen the act - claiming it was inappropriate and indecent.

Isn't it odd that the complaints are coming from teachers rather than the 14-year-old boys?
Dancer Sam Remmer - who teaches pole dancing as fitness classes - said on her blog: "On querying the nature of the complaints I was told that most of the complaints had come from members of staff who had not actually seen our displays but had just assumed that they were inappropriate for their students.

"I was annoyed to think that mainstream pop group such as the pussycat dolls seem to promote inappropriate behaviour far more than my pole dancing classes.

"If anything my classes empower women and therefore encourage them to be in control of their bodies."

http://newslite.tv/2009/01/29/school-gets-poledancer-to-perf.html

Literature

Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:02 pm EST

Will pole dancing be the newest Olympic sport?

By Chris Chase

If the founder of the International Pole Dance Fitness Association has her way, an activity popularized by strippers will one day become a medal sport in the Summer Games.

Although such an event would make rappers, athletes, and bachelor-party guests very, very happy, there's no chance it will ever happen.

As the Associated Press reported Monday, some members of the pole-dancing community (yes, there's a pole-dancing community) are dreaming of one day showcasing their ability to hang upside-down on a metal pole in the Olympic Games.

To call their pursuit an uphill climb would only suffice if said hill was Mt. Everest. Pole dancing isn't recognized as a sport by the IOC, doesn't have any uniform judging regulations, and, most important, is pole dancing.

This doesn't stop IPDFA founder Ania Przeplasko fromdeluding herself hoping that the sport could get into the Summer Games as soon as possible. "There will be a day when the Olympics see pole dancing as a sport," she told the AP. "The Olympic community needs to acknowledge the number of people doing pole fitness now. We're shooting for 2012."

That the schedule for the 2012 Olympics has already been set is only the first of thousands of things wrong with this statement. The next three that come to mind are: A lot of people do yoga for fitness and you don't see Denise Austin lobbying the IOC; it may be tough to envision Olympics where Derek Jeter can't participate but Savannah can; and, again, pole dancing.

How would you even judge such an event? Would there be a compulsory routine set to "Pour Some Sugar On Me"? Could competitors earn deductions for not getting a tip from the creepy guy with the mustache? Will the U.S. trials be held at Crazy Girls? And would Pacman Jones be allowed to judge?

We appreciate all that pole dancers do and respect the moxie of its community to set such lofty goals for itself. But we sadly don't ever see the activity in the Olympics. Unless, of course, Scotty Lago ever gets put in charge.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Will-pole-dancing-be-the-newest-Olympic-sport-?urn=oly,221369

Critical Commentary

The idea of this module was to learn and understand different research methods and techniques for our next module which is our project. We have been asked to learn about the different methods of research and understand, what they are, advantages and disadvantages and if they are useful for the title of our projects.

During the module I have been unable to attend the campus sessions due to work commitments so I have relied a lot upon good solid information from other students such as Danielle Stacey and Sophie Gilbert as well as posts from the advisors that have been very useful. I have also relied a lot on the module book that we were supplied with as this has a wide range of information about the different methods of research, and it gives you many other websites to look at for guidance however in certain areas such as putting the module together for assessment I found confusing. The book that we were advised to get “Doing your research project” 3^rd edition by Judith Bell I found extremely useful and I have used a great deal of information from the book as its very relevant to what we have been asked to do and I found the structure of the book incredibly handy.

At first my main focus of this module was about the title of my project. I spent days on end thinking about what I wanted to base it around knowing that my degree title was going to relate to it. When I toyed with the ideas of titles I decided on “The public’s perceptions on Pole dancing as a sport. Once I had decided my title I started to learn some of the different ways to research as part of my research and development notes.

Throughout this module I have had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t actually doing the research and that I was just finding out how to research. This sounds easier than it actually was as it was easy to start piloting interview questions and writing down lists of what I wanted to do for my project, rather than just writing about all the different methods of research. I found that the research methods started to make more sense as I started to understand what methods would be useful to complete my project. I have understood that there are many different research methods and techniques some I already knew about like interviews, questionnaires and surveys and many I had never heard of before such as deskwork, fieldwork, reliability and they all have advantages and disadvantages depending upon what you want to research.

Through the research process I found the activities fairly easy to complete as the handbook equips you with plenty of information of how to do them. I found the internet helpful for other ways of describing key words throughout the handbook which helped me through Activity 1. I understand the role of a worker-researcher and have explained my role as a worker-researcher in my project proposal as previously I had never heard of the term. Since designing and completing my own survey on www.surveymonkey.com which I found incredibly enjoyable as I like to see results.

Before starting this module I had not studied or considered the importance of ethics. As I will be collecting data learning about ethics has been especially important for me as it is essential. I believe I have the knowledge to proceed with my proposal after understanding the ethical considerations within my work based learning study.

I have found this module challenging as my work commitments have increased and have had less time to complete this module than the previous one. I also feel that I have quite often been confused in what was needed from me in certain tasks and how to actually put the whole module together as I don’t think the handbook is very clear in certain areas, I do feel that others felt the same. I have had contact with my advisor through email on many occasions and a phone call to discuss my project proposal and rationale for my degree title. I think I would have benefited from a clearer understanding in the exact criteria and maybe if I was able to attend the campus sessions then this would have been clearer.

I am a perfectionist and getting an average result is not acceptable. I have worked extremely hard on this module and put many, many hours in to ensure that I get the results I have been achieving. I hope that I can maintain my results with a good mark for this module.

Ethics Statement

To complete this module and start my project I have to demonstrate that I understand what ethics are to be considered, and that I understand the procedures and information required to go about asking for permission to collect any data.

I have learnt about lots of different ways to collect data and have understood that data collected by conducting interviews, holding a focus group, performing an experiment/case study and any observations need to have consent from the person it involves. From an ethical point of view the person wishing to collect the data will be required have consent via a contract that is signed by the person giving/releasing the data and the person collecting the data. Anyone who is under the age of 16 would need to have consent in writing by a parent/guardian. Consent needs to be authorised before any action takes place as this will not only be respectful to the person giving the data but also will protect the person collecting the data in case any problems arise during the process.

I wish to conduct a focus group, the focus group will have a minimum of ten people, me and someone taking notes. It would take place at my house as I have access to a pole where my demonstration will take place. To make sure that I don’t miss any of the conversations and topics been discussed I wish to record my focus group and video my demonstration to see any body language or facial expressions as this will prompt further questions towards the focus group in the next session. To do this I will need permission. To get this permission I will provide all of the focus group with a contract. The contract will include everything that is going to take place in the period of time that was agreed. It will state that the data is been collected for my university degree and a general interest/passion, that it will all take place at my home address. It will clearly state when it will take place with the agreed dates and times, importantly the contract will explain how the data will be collected which will be the asking of questions for perceptions in full detail. Finally it will state everyone that is involved and this will be all the people including themselves, me any anyone who is videoing or writing notes for me. These things are essential and the more information about the process, the clearer it is for the person reading and signing it. My contract will lastly include how the data will be recorded and how it will be stored and deleted. It will also include that at any point of the procedure even if the contract is signed that they may withdraw any information covered in the focus group.

It is important that these regulations are put in place, if they are not followed then my project could face illegal problems and could cause huge confliction between me and the people involved, this could then limit the depth and facts of my project. I am fully aware of the regulations and processes I need in order for me to collect data for my project and have put great time and thought to consider all of the ethics that are involved in completing my project properly and professionally. I have researched numerous websites to find examples of contracts that would be required for my focus group and will use one of them as a guide.

As you could be videoing, observing a person or any of the above methodologies the contract must include everything that is going to take place. It should state why data is been collected, where it will all take place, when it takes place with the agreed dates and times, how the data will be collected in full detail and who is involved and this should be all the people including themselves, yourself any anyone who is videoing or writing notes. These things are essential and the more information about the process, the clearer it is for the person reading and signing it.

From what I have researched all contracts should include how the data will be recorded and how it will be stored and deleted. It should also include that at any point of the procedure even if the contract is signed that they may withdraw any information or future interviews, videos ect from taking place.

If these regulations are not followed then any project could be illegal and could cause huge confliction between yourself and the person involved, this can then limit the depth and facts that any project requires.

I am fully aware of the regulations and processes I need in order for me to collect data for my project and have put great time and thought to consider all of the ethics that are involved in completing my project properly and professionally.

How to do a Perceptual Map

Perceptual Mapping is a data analysis tool that is used to represent the varying relationships that exist between one or many marketplace competitors. The mapping attempts to measure the factors that consumers use in making their purchase decisions. Using a perceptual map has become a popular tool for data analysts to use when briefing upper management on complex issues because it can represent complex relationships graphically.
Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Step 1
Select a product or service and pick three or more companies that produce the material or provide the service.

2. Step 2

Take a piece of paper and draw one vertical line that splits the paper vertically and another line drawn horizontally which also splits the paper so that they visually look like a 'plus sign'.

3. Step 3

Create two questions about the product or service to ask consumers. The question should directly ask questions about how company a's product compares to company b's to company c's. A minimum of six people should be asked the questions. The vertical axis of the paper drawn on in step two will represent one of the two questions and the horizontal axis the other question. This represents the perceptual map.

4. Step 4
Plot the answers to the two questions on the perceptual map labelling the company's name where the consumer's answer to the question best fits the perceptual map questions. For example, a question might be, do you find Ford or Chevrolet vehicles sportier? The top of the vertical axis would be labelled sporty and the bottom labelled less sporty. You would label the top of the axis Ford with the number of answers that were that manufacturer and put the number of Chevrolet answers in the applicable spot on the perceptual map.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5038528_make-perceptual-map.html

Research methods learning diary 7

Overall Reflection

I have learnt so much over the past few months and have recently just researched focus groups, perceptual mapping and designed my own survey all are really important as they will be the main body of my project. I have often fallen in and out of love with this module as at times I have loved doing all the research and writing up my findings and then hated it when I can’t find words for my proposal. There has been many times where I feel I have been on top of my work and so many times where I have stared at my computer waiting for a miracle.

The last few weeks I didn’t feel very confident about my work as my project proposal feedback hit me that it wasn’t very focused, this was a knock to my confidence as I realised how much more work I had to do hence falling out of love with the module. However the last few days I have been able to focus and fall in love with it again as I do feel very confident about my work, I have worked very hard to complete this module and have put in many hours to get it to the standard I now feel happy with.

The area I found the hardest was actually writing my proposal as I thought my first draft was good however my feedback proved that it lacked focus, after editing a lot of my word count I then struggled to write anything as I constantly reminded myself not to write anything unnecessary. If I am honest, on many occasions I just wanted to actually start the project as I am so interested and passionate about my title. I took a few days off from my proposal and when I got back to it the words came flowing. This is something that I have learnt, I need to take time away from an area I find difficult so that I can start again with a clear head.

It has only been recently that I have been thinking about the rationale for my degree title, I always wanted it to have education in it somewhere and it wasn’t until speaking to Peter that we agreed on Human Movement & Education. I have to be honest, I had no idea what human movement was but Peter explained what it was and I also researched it and I have to say I am very happy with it.

If I could do it all again I would defiantly try and get time off work to get to the campus sessions as being able to discuss things with people is a way that I learn. I like and feel comfortable when I write lists of things that I need to do or ask and this then benefits my work. I have gathered that the campus sessions have been very helpful as people have been able to do this.

Overall I have mixed emotions of this module but I defiantly feel ready to start my project.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Analysing my survey, what I have read and understood!!

Perceptions

The two male recipients said they don’t see it as degrading however everybody that agreed it was degrading were women!!!

Male’s pole dancing?? Would this change the perception of pole dancing? Do a survey!!!
Agree confidence but need the confidence to do?? Agree but if you saw a demo would you change your mind?

Mainly dancers/dancers between 19-29 that agreed with pole dancing, Others didn’t agree, is this because they don’t understand?

Not for the 30+? Why not I have many in my class, do an interview of them and then see if it changes peoples mind!!

Depends what context it was in (club/class)

Sport/Olympics

Do see it as a way to keep fit and why not an Olympic sport.

Don’t want to see it as a Olympic sport, need to find out why!!

Similar to gymnastics, however said they don’t see it as a sport? Is gymnastics not a sport??

Why don’t people think it should be considered an Olympic sport, answer rather than yes or no!!

What I need to find out.....
What do people know about pole dancing?

Do they understand why pole dancers wear little clothing?

Find out why they say gymnastics is a sport but pole dancing isn’t when they agree it’s similar!!!

If it would change their mind it males did it?

If they were to see a typical class demo would they change their mind?

Perceptual Mapping

Perceptual mapping is a graphics technique used by asset marketers that attempts to visually display the perceptions of customers or potential customers. Typically the position of a product, product line, brand, or company is displayed relative to their competition.

Perceptual maps can have any number of dimensions but the most common is two dimensions. Any more is a challenge to draw and confusing to interpret. The first perceptual map below shows consumer perceptions of various automobiles on the two dimensions of sportiness/conservative and classy/affordable. This sample of consumers felt Porsche was the sportiest and classiest of the cars in the study (top right corner). They felt Plymouth was most practical and conservative (bottom left corner).




Perceptual Map of Competing Products
Cars that are positioned close to each other are seen as similar on the relevant dimensions by the consumer. For example consumers see Buick, Chrysler, and Oldsmobile as similar. They are close competitors and form a competitive grouping. A company considering the introduction of a new model will look for an area on the map free from competitors. Some perceptual maps use different size circles to indicate the sales volume or market share of the various competing products.

Displaying consumers’ perceptions of related products is only half the story. Many perceptual maps also display consumers’ ideal points. These points reflect ideal combinations of the two dimensions as seen by a consumer.

The next diagram shows a study of consumers’ ideal points in the alcohol/spirits product space. Each dot represents one respondent's ideal combination of the two dimensions. Areas where there is a cluster of ideal points (such as A) indicates a market segment. Areas without ideal points are sometimes referred to as demand voids.




Perceptual Map of Ideal Points and Clusters
A company considering introducing a new product will look for areas with a high density of ideal points. They will also look for areas without competitive rivals. This is best done by placing both the ideal points and the competing products on the same map.
Some maps plot ideal vectors instead of ideal points. The map below, displays various aspirin products as seen on the dimensions of effectiveness and gentleness. It also shows two ideal vectors. The slope of the ideal vector indicates the preferred ratio of the two dimensions by those consumers within that segment. This study indicates there is one segment that is more concerned with effectiveness than harshness, and another segment that is more interested in gentleness than strength.





Perceptual Map of Competing Products with Ideal Vectors
Perceptual maps need not come from a detailed study. It is questionable how valuable this type of map is. Often they just give the appearance of credibility to management’s preconceptions.

When detailed marketing research studies are done methodological problems can arise, but at least the information is coming directly from the consumer. There is an assortment of statistical procedures that can be used to convert the raw data collected in a survey into a perceptual map.

Some techniques are constructed from perceived differences between products/services, others are constructed from perceived similarities.
I think that this will be a useful way to record, analyse and collect data and will be using perceptual mapping for my project.

http://www.answers.com/topic/perceptual-mapping

Focus groups

I have just recently researched “Focus Groups” another way to collect data from people. It is pure qualitative data, Peter explained to me that it would be another useful way for me to collect my data as I want to find out people’s perceptions. I found this website that explains some advantages and disadvantages and explains a little more about them http://focusgroups.pbworks.com/Issues-including-advantages-and-disadvantages

The advantages of focus groups

The Authority Role of the Moderator
The face-to-face involvement of a qualified moderator can ensure that the conversation is always on track, and encourage participants’ engagement without one individual dominating the meeting.

The Ability of Group Participants to Interact With Each Other
When participate are stimulated to discuss, the group dynamics can generate new thinking about a topic which will result in a much more in-depth discussion.

The Dynamic Nature of the Methodology
Due to the dynamic environment the moderator can modify the topics, which are prepared before the session to make the topic more suitable for the purpose.

The Ability to Involve the Client Personnel in the Research Process
In traditional focus groups it is possible for the client personnel to watch the whole discussion behind a one-way mirror. The client personnel can provide their thinking to the moderator, which may help the moderator better handle the direction of discussion, and improve the quality of output.

The Capability to Utilise Non-Verbal Behaviour As A Research Input
The expression, attitude of individual, the intensity of the conversation etc. can be perceived by the researcher, which can modify the moderator’s decision and also can be counted in the research result.

The Level of Participant Involvement in the Research
Because every participant is under observation by the moderator and everybody knows the process has been videotaped, it is easy to make participants fully engage even during non-discussion time.

The Greater Security Associated With Traditional Focus Group Research
The possibility to screen each participant lets the researcher know who have been involved. This ensures that for example your competition is not involved.
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The disadvantages of focus groups

Focus groups are not the optimal technique for all research situations, the criticisms below have been mentioned by people who promote some other qualitative research methods.

“Focus Groups tend to become influenced by one or two dominant people in the session thus making the output very biased”
The moderator plays an essential role in handling the situation, but if the moderator is not experienced enough, it is very easy for the whole discussion to be dominated by a few people.

“Focus Groups are not as effective as individual detailed interview’s when dealing with sensitive topics”
It is difficult to have the participants share their real feelings towards some sensitive topics publicly. This can in turn influence the output data.

“Focus Group output is not projectable”
If a great deal of consistency in the results from a series of focus groups have been identified, then it is very likely that the results from these sessions probably can represent a larger number of people. We can’t expect focus groups to be projectable in the same way as quantitative study findings can be.
Furthermore, traditional focus groups can only be held in a few cities, unlike some internet and telephone focus groups which could be organized in various situations without limitation of time and location. This also makes data from focus groups less representative of the total universe.

“Focus Groups are a very artificial environment which can influence the responses that are generated”
This is frequently the argument that ethnographers will use when recommending their methodology versus focus groups. Researchers using the ethnographic technique will situate themselves in the real environment, this is unreachable for focus groups. In focus groups people are collected in a meeting room, thus they might behave differently from how they behave when they are not watched and it will affect the quality of research results.
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The special features of Focus Groups

In qualitative research, focus groups have some differences from other survey methodologies.

• Insight not Rules
Focus group can provide trustworthy naturalistic data that also lead to important insights about human behaviours by allowing all participants to say anything they would like in front of the whole group. Meanwhile, researchers listen not only for the content of discussions but observe something beyond talking, such as tone and emotions which help them to learn or confirm not just the facts but the meaning behind the facts.

• Social not Individual
In a focus group session, conversation among participants results in discussion data. In this way, focus groups elicit information that paints a portrait of combined local perspectives because the research may seek ways to fit all together. It is possible to gauge a groups’ overall reaction to educational materials, but not on an individual basis.

• Homogenous not Diverse
Focus group researchers select and invite 20-25 people with similar characteristics to a single session. The goal is to fill the room with a minimum of 10-12 participants that are similar (Krueger and Casey, 2000) which is supposed to increase the quality of the data.

• Flexible not standardised
During the course of a two-hour session, we can see a natural conversation will be produced because individuals are allowed to laugh, tell personal stories, revisit earlier questions, disagree with other research, the moderator only needs to lead the conversation on track by applying his prepared interview guide. Actually, a well-designed guide encourages group members to relax, open up, think deeply, and consider alternatives.

• Warm not Hot
Focus groups do not produce reliable data on topics that produce extremely strong feelings (Krueger and Casey, 2000). Because conversation in some cultures are of a sensitive nature will not be discussed thoroughly.

• Words not Numbers
Focus groups rely upon words spoken by participants. A report based on focus groups will feature patterns formed by words, called themes or perspectives. Researchers must use specific methods to analyse patterns in spoken language (Creswell, 1998).
A focus group method isn’t meant to create generalisations of this type and its procedures offer none of the protections that would permit them to do so (Fern, 2001). Numerical analysis is not a preferred technique. In fact, it is inappropriate to report a result of focus groups by percentage.
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Sources

Creswell, J. W. 1998. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

Group plus. June 2003. retrieved April 5, 2006 from: http://www.groupsplus.com/pages/Respect3.htm

Fern, E.F. 2001. Advanced Focus Group Research. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage.

Krueger, R. A., and M. A. Casey 2000. Focus groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research (3rd edition.) Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

Survey on Pole Dancing

Hello, I have created my first survey on Pole Dancing, if you havnt already taken part in my survey please could you. You will find the post in March's archive, it only takes a few minutes to answer the questions

Thankyou :-)

This is for Lantern Creators of beyond measures

There are people following your blog, and i have tried to leave you many comments over the past few weeks as i feel you need a little guidance hence your recent posts "cry for help".

Your blog does not actually let you leave a comment as when i write the comment and send it, it does not save. I have tried to leave comments, tried all the butons below the comment box and yet nothing happens, i have resorted to leaving you a message on my own blog.

Try and find out why you cant leave comments as communicating with the rest of us will make you feel better about whats going on. When you have sorted it i will be more than happy to help you.

Glad to hear you have come up with your project title :-)

Please Comment!

Hello Girls and Boys, please take a little time to complete my survey if you havnt already, and if you wouldn't mind checking my post called "Power to the Male and Female Race", i would be very interesting to hear what you all think,

Thanks Abbi x

Ethics explained

Since I was unable to attend the last campus session on Ethics I have decided to do some research to complete my research methods. After further reading I understand that there are many ethical issues, below are two of them with an example taken from the slideshow on Rosemary’s blog,

“You must always drive on the left hand side of the road in England”

This is legislation- a rule which is cohered to in order to prevent accidents.
This is called PRAGMATIC ETHICS

"A pragmatic ethic employs criteria without being criterial. It is objective without being absolutist. It acknowledges that ethical judgments are relative, without being relativistic. And it tolerates – indeed, welcomes – some moral differences, without being irresolute." (Hugh LaFollette, date unknown: “Pragmatic Ethics")

“Adults must not have sexual relations with minors”

This is called MORAL ETHICS

"Moral ethics can be defined as those principles on which our moral decisions are based. Ethics are the sense of right and wrong, good and evil, values and responsibility.
Moral ethics are formed from the obligations and duties of a person in the society. Nobody can force a person to adhere to moral ethics. For e.g. if a person sees an accident victim lying on the road it is his moral ethic to help out the victim but if he chooses to not do so then no social institution can punish him for this unwillingness. Thus these ethics are relative and subjective." (Priya, 2007-2010: What is Moral Ethics?)

I found it hard to find anything but these quotes after searching http://www.google.com/ and http://www.ask.com/

Ethical considerations:

* Be ethical in the questions you set. Don’t show bias.
* Be aware of deliberate fraud to produce desired results. DO NOT LIE.
* You must state how you define confidentiality and anonymity to avoid misconceptions.
* Carefully consider what you are promising to participants-particularly when considering the previous point.
* Consider any risks to humans when conducting an experiment-if in doubt would you be prepared to do it yourself? This may have to be an option.
* Be aware of potentially sensitive subject matter- e.g. eating disorders and private experiences.

Important factors

It is important to obtain consent from participants in your research. This is usually a signed consent form that provides sufficient background information of your proposal. Minors (under the age of 16 years old) need careful consideration and attention.
As your participants are voluntarily partaking in your research, it is important to advise that they have the right to withdraw any comments at any time even after data has been gathered.

As a researcher, you must also very carefully consider confidentiality and respect of participants’ privacy.

* How will I avoid identifying individuals, for example, in a small organisation-be aware of using easily identifiable titles such as the teacher/organiser/dancer.
* How will I store any data I gather? In a locked drawer? On a computer with a password?
* What will I do with the data after I have finished with it? Do what you promised the participants you would do with it. E.g. shred it/delete it/wipe it off the Dictaphone (and delete any transcripts).
I have used many people’s blogs and the internet to help me with this post which I am truly thankful for. I now understand what these two terms mean, however I now need to consider what I must do in order for my project.

Sources

http://rosemarymcguinness.blogspot.com/
http://www.hughlafollette.com/papers/pragmati.htm
http://www.blurtit.com/q582323.html
http://sophiejgilbert.blogspot.com/2010/03/learning-diary-entry-5.html

Research methods learning diary 6

Again I couldn’t make the campus session as I have started my intensive training at my new job. It has been a stressful week as I have so much to take in at my new job and in the back of my mind I am constantly thinking of uni work and wanting to be up to date. I feel a little behind as I feel I have not researched all areas yet, and haven’t decided what methods to use.

I wanted to attend this campus session as the topic today was about Ethical dimensions and Ethical permission. As I was unable to attend I have looked into Sophie Gilberts diary as she always produces information about the campus session from a student point of view and I have read posts delivered from Rosemary and Peters.

The lecture commenced with Peter Bryant informing us about a website called Survey Monkey which I and Sophie have previously encountered and designed a questionnaire. It is an extremely helpful website and it is free. I feel it has developed my skills for designing a survey/questionnaire because it allows all types/formats to be used e.g. multiple choice questions, one word answer only, scaling etc and then allows you to read the answers given by participants so you can analyse them. After reading them I have come up with many new questions that I will deliver in a post very soon.

I do remember being told briefly about conducting a pilot (practise) questionnaire/interview etc to eliminate any problems, bias or ethical issues before our ‘real’ methodology is actually put into practise. For me it has enlightened me on another area of research that I will later discuss. Survey Monkey is also going to help me complete Activity 7 which is going to be the survey I have created and critique it.

I have learnt that during the session Rosemary went through a series of slides educating the students about Ethical Issues in Research.
Rosemary firstly highlighted the importance (when analysing a questionnaire) of taking the whole sentence to avoid taking it out of context (see Rosemary’s blog for a good example). You must ensure you are attributing fairly. http://rosemarymcguinness.blogspot.com

I still feel that this is an area I don’t feel fully confident about, and I will have to do further research on Ethics in order to understand it fully, this will then allow me to complete an Ethics Statement.

Over the next few hours I aim to do some research on ethics using other student’s blogs, Bells book and the internet.

Wish me luck!!!