An introduction to Practice as Research
Definitions of Research • People engage in sustained academic research in order to ‘address a problem, find things out, establish new insights’ (Nelson, 2013. p.3) • HEFCE (2014) Research for the purposes of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) is defines as ‘a process of investigation leading to new insights, effectively shared’
Articulations of ‘practice-based’ and ‘practice as’ research in relation to art as the production of knowledge • ‘Practice-led research is a new species of research; generative enquiry that draws on subjective, interdisciplinary and emergent methodologies that have the potential to extend the frontiers of research’ (Barrett, 2014) • ‘Practice as research involves a research project in which practice is a key method of enquiry and where, in respect of the arts, a practice… is submitted as substantial evidence of a research enquiry’ (Nelson, 2013) • ‘Visual arts practice is a form of enquiry that is sound in theory and robust in method and that can generate important creative and critical outcomes’ (Sullivan, 2005)
Why might Practice as Research be useful to us? • • • • •
It broadens the concept of what constitutes research since it legitimises arts or media practices It shifts the idea of what constitutes research outcomes since media or artworks may be submitted as substantial evidence of research It draws on models of action research that are relevant to our practice It advances modes of presentation of arts or media research which map on to more traditional methods It provides a methodology for making our processes and practices more visible and credible in terms of accepted research methods.
Forms of knowledge – how theory and practice work together in the research process • Know how = practical knowledge • Know that = theoretical and conceptual knowledge • Know what = the tacit made explicit through critical reflection • Tacit knowledge = ‘that which we know but cannot tell’ (Polyani, 1967)
© Prof. Robin Nelson (revised 15 Feb 2010)
Dynamic Model for “Practice as Research"
Know-how Performer knowledge Tacit knowledge Embodied knowledge (Phenomenological) experience
PRAXIS theory imbricated within practice
Know what
Know that
Critical reflection Explicit knowledge Practitioner ‘action research’
Conceptual framework Cognitive ‘academic’ knowledge Spectatorship studies Location in a lineage Audience research
Why this process is important? • To address the confusion that all creative processes lead to devised pieces/programmes that are “original” (in the sense of fresh articulations) but these may not be original in terms of research insights • To address the misplaced assumption that the maker/programmer’s investigation is always self-evident in the product or programme
What adjustments are needed to frame a creative process as a research investigation? • specify a research inquiry at the outset • build moments of critical reflection into timeline • in documenting process, capture moments of insight • locate your praxis in lineage of similar practices • relate specific inquiry to broader contemporary debate (references)