http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F9JD62T
Surveys are a great way of gaining mass result for a topic, however you are depending on people to fill them out, read the questions correctly and answer fully. My initial responses showed that sometimes the respondents did not answer in the manner I had expected, I think this is because of how some of my questions were worded. When I progress with my inquiry I will write surveys in a different manner. This will mainly entail asking a yes/no question and then asking for the respondent to elaborate on their answer. I think this will mean that the questions are answered in the manner I was expecting, my mistake was asking too many things in one question, for example;
3. If you answered yes to the previous question then what were you doing at the time? What age were you? If you answered 'no' then what has helped you achieve such a good balance? What age are you?
Looking back at this question it is a little confusing. I have really asked four questions in one. I think my survey was a good starting point and definitely a good learning curb, however I could greatly improve on this. My initial feeling was that if I asked people to fill in a survey with many questions it would put people off filling it in, however with hindsight I feel that maybe reading the questions, as they are currently written, would put people off.
Results, 8 Respondents
1. What type of performer are you? (dancer/singer/tribute/freelance etc)
3 x Dancers
1 x Dancer/Teacher
3 x Singer
1 x Musical Theatre performer
2. Have there been times during your career when you have struggled to find an acceptable work/life balance?
8 x Yes
3. If you answered yes to the previous question then what were you doing at the time? What age were you? If you answered 'no' then what has helped you achieve such a good balance? What age are you?
Rehearsals all day, shows in the evening
23/24 Working in a small team
at college
20/23
mid/late twenties, working unsociable hours
Teaching got in the way of performing
Auditioning
aged 22 working abroad
4. Could you describe yourself as a workaholic? How does this effect your personal life?
Yes x 4
No x 2
Maybe x 2
5. Do you feel the companies you work for could help you find a better work/life balance? What could they do to help?
Yes x 4
No x 1
Maybe x 2
N/A x 1
6. In your opinion can performers get careers advice from companies such as 'The Job Centre' or is industry specific advice required?
No x 8
7. In your opinion can performers continue to work professionally once they become parents?
8 x Yes
8. Performers often work short contracts and their work can be described as 'unstable', what effect do you think this type of contract to contract work has on you?
4 x answers were concerned with finances
Collating my answers show that many of my questions need work. In order to get better results I think I need to put in more yes/no answers and then ask people to expand on their response. Yes/No answers would give me solid results that I could put into charts and graphs. Expanded answers could be used for quotes, further thinking and further research. The types of questions I have asked, in my pilot survey, would work better in an interview situation.
Surveys are a good research tool for collecting mass data. I aim to use surveys early on in my inquiry process as I believe they are a good starting point to focus your research. If I can use a survey to narrow down the issues that I am looking at then this will give me a better basis for further research. I think a survey will be a good starting point to build on with interviews.
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