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CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In the first cycle the focus groups followed the drama lessons by one or two days, this was introduced so the younger participants of these lessons should not be too exhausted after the two hour sessions, but this also gave them time to reflect on their experience. In the second cycle the focus groups were conducted immediately following the final session, because of logistical reasons. In these cases online guestionnaire made it possible for participants to have time for further reflection. Questionnaire Anonymous questionnaires were used to ensure that all participants in every lesson got the opportunity to give feedback and to help identify central moments of each drama lesson. The survey was different in the first cycle and the second, while it contained more Likert scale items and a few open-ended questions with younger participants in the first cycle, the questionnaire for the secondary school age-group contained more space for detailed responses. The variation between different types of questions made it possible to get results in different spheres of the research.*”? The questionnaires were filled in by students at the end of the series of lessons to reflect on the whole sequence rather than just individual lessons. In most cases time for completing the forms was scheduled into the lesson, but unfortunately it was not possible to complete the filling in of the form in some cases when we ran out of time. These questionnaires were collected by teachers and handed over to me. I explored the use of online questionnaires with some groups of secondary students. While the return rate was somewhat lower in these cases, the data provided by participants was much more in quantity and more refined in quality. In the first cycle, where the focus group interviews followed the lesson by one or two days, the interesting reflections or particular tendencies appearing in the questionnaires could be investigated further in the focus groups. Observation — Video Recordings The research included data from two kinds of observation. Where it was possible I asked teachers known by the participant group to observe the lesson and give feedback. Teachers were specifically asked to not intervene in the lessons and their reflections were collected as interviews at the end of the sessions. The teacher-observers had no experience of drama, with exception of one case which is indicated in the table of lesson details above. Neelands used this method in drama research because he believed “these observers will give me 53 Gordon Rugg — Marion Petre: A Gentle Guide to Research Methods, Berkshire, Open University Press, 2007, 151. + 164 +
