Evaluating My Process

Looking back through my process there are a few things that worked well, didn't work well and that I would change.

- What worked well?

I managed to gain lots of feedback through my network, and lots of responses for all three of my surveys. This high amount of response enabled me to gain vast information and a variety of opinions. My closed questions which gave me quantitative data which a then produced into graphs and charts worked extremely well as it gave me the ability to visualise the responses and compare. My open questions which relied on opinions for responses gained a lot of discussion and debate. These types of questions enabled me to really get a taste of what people actually think instead of giving them a choice of answers, making them choose one which may influence an answer. My blog has also been really successful, I have been keeping on top of it and updating regularly. I have also been communicating with my networks on a regular basis which enabled them to regularly feedback to me with answers and responses and gave me a lot to work with

- What didn't work well?

Some on my questions in my questionnaire as previously mentioned were confusing, and due to this I had to dismiss the responses as they would have been inaccurate. I also feel as though my network was not as extensive as I had hoped, I had attempted to make it as diverse as possible but even though I tried to connect as many weak-ties as possible the age range was clustered around the earl 20's, however I did have a vast range of ages. I also wish I had gained more male opinions as this would have been interesting to compare. 

- What I would do differently? 

If I was to continue with this project or restart I would have started my network at an earlier stage, possibly before even choosing a research area, this would have meant I would have had longer to access a wider range of people. I also wish I had found a super-connector (a member of a network that knows lots of people) this was I could have got my surveys to a wider audience, advancing my much needed diverse weak-ties. When choosing my research area I wish I had defined and narrowed it further, maybe focusing on one of the three subquestions I had created. Having such a broad area meant that there was so much to ask, and i gained so many different responses that I almost didn't know how to visualise them. I would have chosen Growing Younger as this is more relevant today and I gained some of the most interesting results from this area, that way I could refine my research and questions suitable to this topic. If I was to continue or repeat I would also get out there in person, join clubs, go to bars, confront people on the street, handing out cards with links to my Facebook group, blog and surveys to see if this would gain me any more weak-ties and diversity, communicating with more of the older generations and males..