After meeting with my research project instructor Helen Zulch when I got back to Lincoln after the Summer holidays and discussing what route I wanted to go down specifically with this project, we decided the best way of collecting my data would be to construct a questionnaire.
This questionnaire will be used to gather data from cat owners across the UK about their behaviour and health. Currently I’m thinking of creating it on SurveyMonkey.com and distributing it via Facebook and Twitter, and posting it on relevant forums through these social media platforms. I’ll also ask family members and friends to distribute some printed off questionnaires out to their friends, so that I’m not missing out a demographic of people who don’t use the internet, but may still provide valuable data that I can use.
I’m also most likely going to ask veterinary practices (some in Lincoln, some in Barnsley and some in Newcastle) if I can leave a selection of printed out questionnaires in their waiting rooms for people to fill in, and then I can collect them a few weeks later. Getting information from patients who’re waiting in the vets with their animals there and then would possibly provide really great data as they’ll be able to recall the behaviours their cats are showing really easily.
After completing my first draft of the questionnaire, Helen said she was impressed which was good to hear and great to know that I’m on the right track so far. We went over what I’d written so far, and now I know where to make some key changes, and have already started doing so.
I’m finding it really interesting to research about the most common diseases and health problems cats suffer from in the UK, and the vast array of abnormal behaviours they can show. I’m looking forwards to getting the data back from my questionnaire already.
I think that choosing to do my research project on this topic will highlight my interest for animal health as a whole even moreso!
I’ve also completed my risk assesment & EA1 (an ethics form) so I can submit those onto Blackboard once I’ve sent them to Helen to be signed. For the rest of this week I’m just going to be trying to improve my questionnaire some more and doing some research behind the medical problems I’m asking about.