Alys Davies BAPP Blog

                                               Photo: Brett Jordan via Unsplash.com In my previous blog I discussed the concept of acquiescence in interviews, and so I wanted to continue to research how the oppressive side of dance culture can manifest itself in other research methods, such as surveys.   I’ve been thinking a lot about the ethical aspect of surveys in relation to my inquiry topic. Given the taboo discussing money within the industry (and in British society in general) I was wondering whether more dancers may feel more comfortable completing a survey as opposed to  partaking in an interview. I still am keen to interview dancers since I feel this will give me a greater understanding of and provide context for any opinions and points of views expressed. However, I am slightly fearful that I will have difficulty finding dancers willing to talk to ...

  Photo: Vladislav Babienko via Unsplash.com During the methodology aspect of my research for my inquiry, I came across an idea within the article ‘Survey Research’ by Jon A. Krosnick that caught my attention, that of acquiescence. Within the article, Krosnick discusses how respondents answer surveys and interview questions within a variety of different scenarios and structures, and he touched upon the importance of acquiescence amongst respondents, gauging that people responding to surveys and interview questions feel an innate need to agree with the supposed stance of the interviewer/survey creator. This need is supposedly exacerbated when the interviewer/survey creator is perceived to be of higher social status, as illustrated below,     “When researchers and interviewers are perceived as being of higher social status, respondents may defer to them out of courtesy and respect, yielding a tendency to endorse assertions apparently made by the researchers and/or interview...

                                                  Photo: Riccardo Annandale via Unsplash.com During my research into my inquiry topic one idea has been cropping up time and time again, that of artists (and thus dancers), sharing numerous qualities with entrepreneurs. The main reason for this according to the literature seems to be that the high level of self-employment among artists naturally fosters an entrepreneurial attitude, since artists have to actively seek employment and they primarily gain this through self-promotion.    The definition of ‘entrepreneur’ according to Cambridge Dictionary is as follows:   “someone who starts their own business, especially when this involves seeing a new opportunity”   (Anon., n.d.)   This definition feeds into the idea of dancers marketing their skills to potential employers, but also marketing them...