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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 * 163
