Research Questions

Hmm.  Feeling a bit nervous about where my art fits with this type of research degree.

Anyway yesterday's class was about chewing over research questions.  Linden focussed on two main areas:

1. What roles do questions play in research?
2. What roles do questions play in arts research?

As yet there is no good answer yet to what is an academic art education - there is still a lot of debate about the relative value of the body side of the mind/body split, largely because art is still seen by influential thinkers as "insufficiently academic".  This would indicate to me that there are too few art heavyweights lobbying in academia.  But it is not an argument I want to get into - my art work is for me.  My time is not going to be spent in arguments of status about where art research sits.  It is better spent working out what I want to say through my art.

As the research process typically runs along the Question - Method - Strategy - Answer system, it makes sense to be very clear about your purpose, and your questions.  As a former recruiter, I well know how important it is to get the questions absolutely right.  Even slight differences affect the outcome.

So for students, the first conundrum is how research provides a framework that can structure, enrich and help develop practice.  We chewed over the (science based) problem solving research style, and (arts based) creative research.  I think problem solving may require a lot of excluding activities to ensure purity of results, whereas, creative research seems able to include a wider variety of activities and variables.  But then, the researcher needs to explain the rationale for what has been done and why.  We also noted material enquiry is not valued in our society - see what practical subjects have been withdrawn from general education, in favour of STEM subjects!

We need to get our questions right before we write the brief for what we want to tackle.  We had a big debate about the meanings of words and the importance of defining your terms (I covered this big time when I did my HR IPD qualifications).

This is the time to start noting down the questions you want to ask in your practice.  Identify your values and brainstorm them.  We did an interesting exercise where we analysed a article by Archer on the Nature of Research, written in 1995, and then had to work out the question the author was addressing, and how he had addressed it.  This was enlightening.  He covered what research meant today (1990), considered different disciplinary definitions of research, brought practice based and led research into contemporary definitions of research as justifiable and valid, and expanded the scope and hierarchy of research.  However, Gareth concluded that Archer was writing at a time when art research was a new and evolving field, and Archer had had to base his support for arts research upon the foundations given by scientific research for it to have any attempt at recognition from the science field.

One of Linden's questions for us was: how can well trodden research methodologies benefit the Arts?
Not sure yet.  First I will try to define my values as an artist. This might lead me to methodologies that fit my values.

My work is about recognition of under-valued people.  I value the domestic and mundane.   I value people who do the unsung jobs in our society, and what they achieve.  The contribution they make to society.  The skills held, and how they behave towards other people.