K/601/8327 -1.1; Research Plan

The purpose of my research is to explore the hobby, or in some cases lifestyle, of Cosplaying / Cosplayers. Ultimately, I want to find out why it is such a widely-enjoyed past-time; why do people choose to partake in the hobby, and how much can it affect their lives?

I know for a fact that Cosplays (the costume of a fictional character from a film, manga, anime or similar,) when of good quality, are not cheap to obtain either. Providing those I ask are willing to disclose such information, I also aim to find out the cost of some Cosplays, and what Cosplayers have spent on their entire costume, or even one individual item that forms part of it.

For this, I shall devise an online survey, with open and closed questions so as to get the answers I am after. For example, questions about cost or the reason that a Cosplayer Cosplays will be a text-box response, allowing them to give the answer they want to give. (I understand that amounts are normally a multiple-choice response, but given the varying cost of Cosplays and their associated features, this would require numerous options.)

Questions with multiple choice answers would be, for example, asking how many Cosplays an individual has (due to the high cost, most people own just one or two,) or what their main source of costume supply is.

I will also search online for similar information; the survey will likely only receive short responses. Many people who partake in this hobby also have Tumblr, Facebook and DeviantArt pages on which they share their photographs of their costumes, collections and their backstory relating to how they came about and joined the ever-growing movement.

For my photographs, I shall be using a Nikon D3100 with an 18-55mm lens.