Putting together two or more familiar things in an unfamiliar way › Tell yourself to come up with an idea Then completely relax › Play: enjoying the ideas and images “carnival” idea of Bakhtin › Suspending all judgment “creator” and “editor” hats › Trick: turn off or cover monitor
We all naturally have creativity › that is often destroyed by social pressure
“Playing is for children” “You must be correct the first time” “Only idiots make mistakes” “You have to do it my way” Etc…
We use what we already know › Comfortable and saves time but blocks creative thinking › Logic, conventionality, etc. box in ideas
Creativity accepts and feeds on the odd, random, etc. We also need “Tolerance for ambiguity”
› Exploring means loosening control
Do things small in totally different ways › The order you put on clothes, having
breakfast in a different room, going into a place you walk by but never investigate, use a different staircase, greet someone differently
This will tell your brain to accept change and variety
Write down every idea Embrace the random
› Especially new connections › Follow anything unusual to where it leads
Recognize the best › maybe connect a few of the best
Focus on what excites or intrigues you
Linking Lists › Create two columns E.g., one of people, one of theory elements › Randomly link one in a) to on in b)
Note the ideas of each in a third column › Mark the most interesting
Read related but different research
Put central 1 – 3 ideas on a sheet Free-associate secondary points
› Then characteristics, etc.
Connect different sets
Decide on a topic of interest List “what we knows” about it
› List the opposite of each › vividly imagine it being true
Write the implications of each
Find a few studies on a topic › Ideally, with very different approaches
Write a few words about each: the › Topic › Method › Conclusions, etc.
Shuffle your phrases › Maybe rearrange small sheets of paper
Pick a study you like Transform any aspect of each major step
› Method: quantitative to qualitative › Different theory › Different focus: audience to producers
Put in a key term › Randomly find a totally unrelated word › E.g., from a dictionary
Search for the two/three together What is the result or image of these?
Take one or parts of several studies Change the levels of each
› Large to small sample › Group to individual › Cause to effect
Go “blind” through a dictionary › Write down any word you point to › 5 – 20 words
Print them large and stick on your walls › Daydream › Associate each with any idea, object or
action related to the media › Write down any associations that interest you
Take only the strongest ideas › Imagine the theory, method, etc. for each
Decide your goals › Basic/applied, exploratory/confirmatory, etc.
Find a similar model study and follow it Select the best elements
› try to have a logical thread run through it
See “thread of positivistic inquiry”
“Think, Pair and Share” Get into groups of about 3 Think about any interesting media topic What the group wants to learn about it
› Variables, research question,
What kind of method might work best Tell the class in a few sentences