Tagged / creativity

Ten ‘rules’ for being creative in producing research

PG research

By Kip Jones

Since the changing of the year seems to be the time for lists, top ten lists, etc., I decided to compile mine about being creative whist producing cutting‐edge research. Not for the faint‐hearted! Here goes:

1. Be curious. Be a detective. Be ready to be surprised by answers you never expected. It should, in the end, be a good story that you can tell.

2. Insure that the method fits the question(s). This can often take some time. Be willing to investigate until you find the right method. This will save you a lot of grief later.

3. Explore methods. Combine them, expand them, reinvented them, but be prepared to then follow them.

4. If your research question is about people, find a way to really involve them in the process, not just answer some stupid questions.

5. Don’t panic if you method produces a lot of data. Swim in it. It’s fun and it is here that the surprises bubble up. Whatever you do, try to avoid reducing the amount of data by ‘categorizing’ it. (I detest little boxes.)

6. Think hard and long about how you want to share the results of your efforts. Text is only one of many possibilities. Really try to get your personal interests out of the way in this process and let the data lead you in selecting a format or art form.

7. Research is about discovery; Dissemination is about putting your findings into action. Ideally, we can be creative at both.

8. About half of your effort (and time) should be on producing the research, the other half on creating the outputs.

9. Creative outputs produce unexpected outcomes. Be willing to experiment, ‘go it alone’. ‘Doing’ and ‘making’ produce additional findings. Use them, they are rich and you’ve earned them.

10. Be willing to make 100 versions, then one more (Sister Corita Kent). It’s that last one that you will use.

Note: Remember, oh ye serious social scientists, that in Big Science, some of the greatest discoveries were made through mistakes and acknowledging the unexpected. Therefore:

Rule 11: Be curious about the history of your craft. Soak up as much as you can. It will both inspire and lead you.

This article by Kip Jones originally appeared on his

personal KIPWORLD blog and was then published by Creative Quarter and Social Science Space.

Reminder: A Few Places Left for Creative Writing Workshop

PG research

The Creative Writing for Academics Workshop on 11 & 12 January is filling up very quickly!

There are only a few places left. If you can commit to attending both days, email Kip Jones now to hold your place.

Read all about a previous Creative Writing for Academics workshop here: https://goo.gl/3fz2Yu

…then get ready for the next one coming in January! https://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2018/12/05/two-day-workshop-in-creative-writing-for-academics-now-open/

CQR “Go Create!” Lunchtime Seminars 2018-19

PG research

The Centre will be hosting a number of lunchtime ‘Go Create!’ seminars for the 2018/19 academic year, all from 1pm to 2pm in Royal London House.

Wednesday 3 October – ‘Creative ways of dissemination and data gathering’, presented bY Liz Norton, Caroline Ellis-Hill and Ann Hemingway, R201

Wednesday 7 November – ‘Creating and sharing stories: Students creation of digital stories in undergraduate midwifery education’, presented by Jan Leamon, R409

Wednesday 5 December – ‘Creative Writing for Academics Mini-session’, presented by Kip Jones, R409

Wednesday 9 January – ‘Expressing research findings with an artist’, presented by Kathleen Vandenberghe, R409

Wednesday 6 February – ‘Exploring self-ageing through participatory drawing’, presented by Curie Scott, R201

Wednesday 6 March – ‘Dead Poets, Live Teachers: Using films to explore the emerging professional identities of trainee teachers’, presented by Mark Readman, R201

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CQR starts the seminar year with a Round-up

PG research

The first CQR Seminar of the academic year will be a CQR members, assocs, and doc students Round-up! 

Wednesday, 12 Sept at 1 pm in RLH 409.

Nonetheless, those curious about CQR and how they might get involved are welcome to attend!

Agenda

  1. Brain-storming future Go Create! seminar ideas (We have the first half of the year covered, but need ideas and people for the second half.

  2. CQR and CEL are beginning a joint adventure!  We are developing an association with the Centre for Excellence in Learning, particularly around creativity.Come along and share your thoughts.

  3. Research Collaborations!  Many of you have ideas for projects, big and small, and just need that extra pair of hands (and creative input!) to make it happen. A chance to put your ideas forward, and see who might help make them happen!

  4. Any other business

Start the new academic year with camaraderie and conviviality.

We look forward to seeing lots of you at the Round-up 12 Sept.!

CQR: Call for New Members and Seminar Presentations

PG research

The Centre for Qualitative Research welcomes new members and invites them to contribute to our on-going and successful Seminar Series in the coming Academic Year.

Doctoral Students and Academics from across disciplines and Faculties are welcome to join CQR. You can become a Full Member, meaning your publications and research income will be counted through CQR, or you can be an Associate Member.  You can be an Associate Member of several research centres at once. Doctoral students generally join the Centre where their First Supervisor is a member.

One way to participate in the Centre is to give a presentation at one of our seminars.  Information on how to do this follows.

“Go create!”

CQR Seminar Series, 2018-2019

BU 2025: “Advancing knowledge, creativity and innovation”

How have you used/are you using creative approaches in your qualitative research?

Sign up now to share your experience in our well-attended CQR Seminar Series for the next Academic Year!

Some possibilities:

1. Gathering data

Novel approaches to interviewing

Participant involvement in producing data (dance, poetry, media, etc)

Visual methods of collecting data (film, drawing, etc,)

2. Interpreting data

Panel interpretation

Auto-interpretive approaches (autoethnographic, autobiographic, autofiction)

Theatrical interpretation

3. Disseminating data

Film

Dance

Photography

Graphics, visual arts

Drama

Poetry

4. New ways of writing

Fiction

Scriptwriting

Poetry

Autoethnography

Just some suggestions!

Tell us how you might share your creative approach “in conversation” with CQR Seminar participants. This could be by sharing knowledge from a completed or on-going research project, or it could be a hands-on, participatory demonstration of a particular method.

There are nine monthly 50 minute seminars (usually the first Wed of each month) beginning in September.  We need to have your input in terms of title/subject now in order to book rooms and promote the series as a whole.  You may present alone or with a partner.

Please get back to Kip Jones asap with your ideas and to join CQR!  kipworld@gmail.com

 

 

 

Last CQR ‘In Conversation’ Seminar of the Academic Year Wed 1p.m.

Hope to see many of you on Wednesday at the last CQR lunchtime seminar of the season!

Wednesday, 6 June at 1 pm in RLH 201

with Jen Leamon and Jenny Hall “In Conversation” on

“Building Confidence through Creative Crafting”

They promise some hands on activities so do plan to come along and join in!

Innovative narrative concept now available across several platforms

PG research

FHSS’ Prof Lee-Ann Fenge & Dr. Kip Jones

FHSS’ Kip Jones and Lee-Ann Fenge are pleased to announce that their article , “Gift Stories How Do We Retell the Stories that Research Participants Give Us?” is now available across several platforms.  Along with the open-access version from Creative Approaches to Research now being available, it can be downloaded on Academia.edu and BRIAN.

Jones and Fenge comment: “We can no longer afford to ignore the great advances made in representation of qualitative data. These have been overwhelmingly demonstrated by the successes achieved in auto-ethnography, poetic enquiry, ethno-drama, film, Performative Social Science and/or other arts-based efforts in research and dissemination”.

Narrative methods contribute greatly to the advances made in qualitative research. A narrative style should also be promoted in publications and presentations. This study on older LGBT citizens in rural Britain highlights this by means of a report on one part of that study—a Focus Group.

Narrative researchers are natural storytellers and need to foreground this when reporting studies for publication. Qualitative research is always about story reporting and story making, and narrative research (listening to and retelling stories) is a key democratising factor in qualitative social science research.

FREE – Places for BU Staff and PhD Students for Creative Approaches in Dementia Masterclass

Research themes, Training

BUDI have a few free places available for BU staff and PhD Students to attend its masterclass entitled “Creative Approaches in Dementia” being held on Wednesday 30 September. This masterclass will be an interactive session which will be exploring the power and potential of creativity in supporting good practice and positive experiences of living with dementia.

Our speakers are:

Derek Eland, artist; Jonny Fluffypunk, poet; Andrew Baker, musician and Sharon Muiruri, drama specialist.

To read the flyer please click here . To book your free place please contact Dr Samuel Nyman at snyman@bournemouth.ac.uk