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By questionnaire survey involving:3■■239 Elementary and 154 Secondary School English teachers.The interview protocol consisted of a series of questions relating to perceptionsof effective ELT INSET, in terms of its planning, delivery and follow-up. 4 The focusgroup meetings (involving an average of five participants each) were structuredaround questions and activities relating to perceptions of what was thought towork best/least well in ELT INSET in general, as well as views concerning a numberof fundamental aspects of ELT INSET practice (e.g., use of demonstration lessons).The questionnaire consisted of several main sections, each containing a number ofdetailed questions, and covered the same areas as the interviews and focus groupdiscussions. All three instruments underwent various piloting procedures beforebeing finalised, the questionnaire in particular being further developed and refinedin the light of the pattern of responses emerging from the interviews and focusgroup meetings. Normal ethical procedures regarding anonymity, confidentialityand so on were observed throughout all of the data-gathering. English was used asthe main language of communication.The interview and focus group data were audio-recorded, transcribed andthen coded using the Atlas.ti qualitative data analysis programme. ‘Micro’-, and,subsequently, ‘macro’-level codes for these data were generated primarily in a‘bottom-up’ manner, informed (but not constrained) by ‘top-down’ theoreticalunderstandings. The questionnaire responses were entered into and analysed withPASWStatistics 18.In what follows, the data obtained from each of the instruments are presented andanalysed in terms of the main categories they evinced, arranged in order of thetypical overall sequence of events underlying the development and running ofan INSET programme, i.e., what can be thought of as the ‘pre’-, ‘while’- and ‘post’-seminar stages.Main findingsData relating to the ‘pre-seminar’ stageLogisticsThe fundamental importance of appropriate logistical preparation for the training,prior and in addition to more ‘academic’ considerations about training content, andso on, was a frequently-mentioned part of the data for this area. Views elicited bythe questionnaire concerning this aspect were as shown in Table 1 below. 5As can be seen, the means for these data indicate that the respondents felt itwas important to have sufficient advance notice of the training (Q.1), for the righttrainees to attend it (Q.2), and for it to take place at an appropriate venue (Q.3).The kind of thinking behind the third of these views was explained in one of theteacher interviews thus:Of course, it is important that the place is conducive, because [chuckles] we haveattended last time, like a seminar – I would not mention the seminar [chuckles] –where the place is too hot and the teachers are very uneasy. And we cannot learn318 | Best Practice INSET