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RESEARCH DESIGN
ideas of the informants, rather than the characteristics and preferences
of the researcher""" to enable the confirmability of this action research.
Transferability°® has also been an important guideline for the research,
this has been achieved primarily in the sharing of the findings that can be
employed in the wider field of drama education. These measures warrant
the trustworthiness of the investigation.
As the research was conducted in a variety of settings it was important
to remain flexible in both data collection sources and methods. The primary
data collect tools were focus group or individual interviews, questionnaire,
the facilitator’s reflective diary, video recording and observation of the lessons,
and also any drawings, objects or written material produced as a part of
the lessons. I present these in detail below. A thorough reflection on the data
collection methods can be found at the end of the next chapter, following
the data analysis, where the critique of the research design builds
Focus Group and Individual Interviews
Focus groups are extremely useful as they can “yield data on the uncertainties,
ambiguities and group processes”.®*” This flexible technique of data collection
was used to ensure in-depth, focused data from various sources in different
phases of the research. I have used semi-structured interviews because
they constitute a good transition between set protocol and flexibility,°” this
ensured that gathered information served the research aims but also left
space for alterations according to individual interests. The semi-structured
interviews also made it possible to compare and contrast the information
gained from different interviewees.” Students participating in the lessons
were the primary subjects of the interviews, but where it was possible
I interviewed the observers of lessons as well. The mode of choosing the focus
group members varied in different scenarios and with groups of different
dynamics. Participation in focus groups was voluntary in every case, but there
were differences what number of participants were offered the possibility,
whether anyone from the full group could volunteer or specific members of
the group were invited to participate. In both case the aim was to collect
varied responses from participants engaging differently with the drama
lesson; in different groups this was facilitated by different solutions.
568 Shenton: Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness, 72.
56° Tbid., 69.
50 Michael Bloor — Jane Frankland — Michelle Thomas — Kate Robson: Focus Groups in Social
Research, London, Sage, 2001, 4.
Irving Seidman: Az interjú mint kvalitatív kutatási módszer, Budapest, Műszaki Könyvkiadó,
2002.
572 Catherine Dawson: Practical Research Methods, Oxford, How To Books, 2002, 21.
571
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