Interviews.
As part of my dissertation project I had the pleasure to interview a number of rather well-recognised scientists from the fields of biomechanics, engineering, fascia and, of course, tensegrity.
Apart from discussing the actual subject of my dissertation with them, I also took the opportunity to gain an insight into their daily work as a scientist.
Obviously, I can't name them - see the BSO ethics guidelines on that point - but I can certainly make some generalisations.
One thing most of the researchers had in common was that they were hard to get hold of. So I ended up having interviews with someone across the big pond early in the morning and via skype, I went to two workshops/lectures in order to get hold of my interviewees afterwards. Those, I must say, were the best interviews, because they really appreciated my efforts and took time to discuss the subject with me.
Another thing I did was to visit people in their practice (I was interviewing people who had both a scientific interest in the topic and a practice life as manual therapists. And, believe it or not, that was well worth it, too, as I've already got some jobs fixed for after graduation - one of them at the German School of Osteopathy.
On the process of interviewing:
I noticed a huge learning curve during the interviews. Even though I was just conducting eight or nine (not including the pilot with one of the BSO research people), there was a massive difference between the first and the last. In the end, I always knew what to ask next, I could guide the participants, elicit information that would be of use to me, get them to give a more personal account of things were needed - generally make them think that I knew what I was doing, I guess. When I listened to the recording of my first interview again, some time last winter, I was almost embarrassed of myself. I remember my opposite saying: 'I am not quite sure what you are asking, but...'. And nope, I really didn't know what I was after. Eventually, though, it helped a lot that I was constructing my grounded theory simultaneously along with conducting the interviews (that's actually how you're supposed to do it...). That way I could fill in the gaps in my theory as I went, and I think the resulting theory is well-grounded in my interview data.
To conclude: Research is a terribly lengthy process, but good fun if you enjoy the subject. what I certainly liked the most was the possibility to pick some smart people's brains and to get to know them personally.
Apart from discussing the actual subject of my dissertation with them, I also took the opportunity to gain an insight into their daily work as a scientist.
Obviously, I can't name them - see the BSO ethics guidelines on that point - but I can certainly make some generalisations.
One thing most of the researchers had in common was that they were hard to get hold of. So I ended up having interviews with someone across the big pond early in the morning and via skype, I went to two workshops/lectures in order to get hold of my interviewees afterwards. Those, I must say, were the best interviews, because they really appreciated my efforts and took time to discuss the subject with me.
Another thing I did was to visit people in their practice (I was interviewing people who had both a scientific interest in the topic and a practice life as manual therapists. And, believe it or not, that was well worth it, too, as I've already got some jobs fixed for after graduation - one of them at the German School of Osteopathy.
On the process of interviewing:
I noticed a huge learning curve during the interviews. Even though I was just conducting eight or nine (not including the pilot with one of the BSO research people), there was a massive difference between the first and the last. In the end, I always knew what to ask next, I could guide the participants, elicit information that would be of use to me, get them to give a more personal account of things were needed - generally make them think that I knew what I was doing, I guess. When I listened to the recording of my first interview again, some time last winter, I was almost embarrassed of myself. I remember my opposite saying: 'I am not quite sure what you are asking, but...'. And nope, I really didn't know what I was after. Eventually, though, it helped a lot that I was constructing my grounded theory simultaneously along with conducting the interviews (that's actually how you're supposed to do it...). That way I could fill in the gaps in my theory as I went, and I think the resulting theory is well-grounded in my interview data.
To conclude: Research is a terribly lengthy process, but good fun if you enjoy the subject. what I certainly liked the most was the possibility to pick some smart people's brains and to get to know them personally.