Thoughts on my Pilot Survey

I would like to thank all those who managed to find the time to complete my survey.  My survey consisted of 8 questions.  I decided on this amount because once I drew up a series of questions, these were the ones I felt needed to stay in my survey.  Plus I felt 5 was too few and 10 would be too many for my particular enquiry.

  The results I received were just what I was hoping for.  Some of the questions received the same response, however others differed which is what I was hoping for.  I wanted this so that I could research/ interview more people in order to discover the true meaning of the answers.  An interesting response I received was to the question “During your training, were you fully educated on the topic of injuries and how to prevent an injury?” The results were 50% for each answer.  This to me questions the idea that, hypothetically, half the performers working in the industry at the moment have not been fully educated during their training on the topic of injuries.  Therefore, are they more vulnerable to injuries in the future?  And could this jeopardise their career for their chosen profession?

   Question 5 in my survey stated: “Would you be able to approach a company you currently work for or wish to work for in the future about an injury?”  I received 75% for “Yes” and 25% for “No”.  That means ¼ of performers out there are hesitant to confront their employers about a physical disruption to their work.  If this minority are unable to confirm the truth about their injuries, then by doing so, could they be making their situation worse?  Or are they saving themselves from unemployment?  This is something I wish to find out more on which is why I am conducting another interview in relation to this issue.

  Question 7 of my survey stated “Are you aware of any support programs for injured/ disabled performers? And if so, please state which ones.”  For this question I received 37.5% for “Yes” and 62.5% for “No”.  The only program that people were aware of was “Candoco”, which is a dance company for disabled and non- disabled performers.  This company does show evidence that dance is still possible for disabled dancers, but not everyone is aware of it.  I also wish to investigate further if there are any specific services just for dancers, such as dance therapy, helplines, etc.  If performers were more aware of such organisations, would it make a difference if having to face the decision “Do I give up, or find a way through?”

Finally, the last question “Can a permanent injury stop someone from continuing with their chosen profession?”  This question is the key point of my enquiry.  The questions beforehand in my survey are helping me to figure out this answer.  For this I received 91.7% for “Yes” and 8.3% for “No”.  In most cases, once a dancer finds themselves permanently injured, they do feel it is the end of their career, what I want to find out is if that is the only option.  I have read some truly inspirational stories whilst carrying out my research, but I still am yet to find the true answer to this question, and for others to know it too.  I am interviewing a friend of mine who trained as a dancer and is now in the 2^nd year at LIPA studying “Music, Theatre and Entertainment Management”.

Overall I am very pleased with my result’s, I am discovering new things, developing more questions and adding more steps to the development of my enquiry.