Skype Session with Mod 3 Focus: 29.09.20

Interviews

Our first topic of discussion. that all the module 3 students naturally gravitated towards, was the carrying out of interviews. Although we enjoyed discussing our interview techniques with each other, Adesola pointed out that in giving someone definitive advice such as "I did this" suggests that there is only one way of presenting interviews. We assume that our perspective is correct. In order to change our discussion flow, we began by expressing our experiences without defining right or wrong methods. 

Some key ideas about interviews that were shared:

- To reflect upon your own interview technique (Learning from Strangers by R. Weiss is a good book for this)

- Be aware when focus groups just tend to agree

- To not purely ask the questions to get the answers that you want 

- Some answers from participants may not be genuine. They may feel pressure to say something smart, and impress the insider-researcher and try to benefit the inquiry. 

How to stay on top of all the notes?

Split into categories, highlight key repeated words, use the reflective journal regularly to jot down ideas, find themes and use triangulation when all information is gathered. Also remember, no data is still data. 

Ethical Considerations

I believe that ethical considerations is the most tricky part of the course. Throughout my learning process, the skills I have developed helps to discover, or even just be aware of, ethical considerations yet it is still a difficult idea to articulate. The first thing I 'do' is look inside of myself. Notice my assumptions, bias and place within the inquiry. In module 2, when I planned my inquiry, I was aware that I, being an insider-researcher, could affect my data collection and analysis process. The ethical procedure part is somewhat easier to distinguish, because it is a solution. But being aware of the potential cause is another thing. We all touched upon the idea of PRIVILEGE. 

- The privilege to practice my practice!

- The privilege of using laptops to Skype the interviews instead of face-to-face, due to Covid-19

-The privilege to feel currently relatively financially stable 

- The privilege of having a network amongst other artists on the degree course

- The privilege of not being in a complete lockdown at the moment 

I am not entirely sure that my ethical considerations are going down the right path, but these are my current thoughts.