METHODS 32
rather than top-down system of validation for social practice.
Stakeholders were able to determine their level of engagement
over the course of the research, with a choice towards the
second half of the project of paid and voluntary opportunities
and commissions to bid for.
The aim of the interviews and follow up survey was threefold:
to ascertain current gaps and issues in the field of social
practice, to uncover current methods of validation and to determine
whether an online platform developed by Axisweb could
address some of these gaps and provide a necessary service for
the stakeholders involved.
Initially, interviewees were approached from the project’s
stakeholder group. Alongside this, individual targeted emails
were sent to stakeholders outside the group to broaden the
interviewee pool in terms of geographic distribution of interviewees,
diversity of participants and variety of roles in the field.
Those interviewed represented a broad geographical distribution
of social practice both in England, including Yorkshire,
Lancashire, Merseyside, Bristol, Kent, Berkshire, Greater
London; the UK including Scotland and Wales, and further
afield including Toronto, Chicago and New York City.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
The interview questions were designed to identify common
themes across the different stakeholders and to determine
whether an online platform developed by Axisweb could
address some of these gaps and provide a necessary service
for the stakeholders involved. Broader questions around the
definition of social practice and issues and gaps facing the
field were kept consistent between all interviewees; however,
additional questions were also asked to ascertain the different
validation models and evaluation methods utilized by stakeholders
according to their main role in the field — whether
as artist, commissioner, funder or researcher. Consent forms
were signed by all interviewees ahead of the interview date and,
for those interviewed via skype or telephone call, the interview
questions were sent a week ahead of the scheduled interview
date. Each interview lasted approximately 50 minutes.
In addition to the interviews, respondents were asked to
voluntarily complete a short questionnaire after the interview
had finished. This was designed to identify which components
of a new digital platform provided by Axisweb would appeal
to different stakeholders and to determine commonalities
between the groups. The questionnaire was met with an 88%
completion rate.
ANALYSIS
Analysis of the transcripts began with open coding of a selection
of interviews for each of the three groups. Key phrases and
words were extracted from the transcripts and after identifying
the global themes, interviews were analysed according to the
outcome harvesting method. In addition to gathering global
themes from the transcripts, particular attention was paid to
the respondent’s emotional response, their values/opinions
and the frequency of certain answers.