The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts

researCh training in the Creative arts and design

Defining the trained researcher

at doctoral level, even in well established research fields, the emphasis on the research
degree as a process of training is relatively recent. This is more pronounced in the united
Kingdom, where the phd places the emphasis on the doctoral project, in comparison
with its us counterpart, where doctoral programmes typically have coursework
requirements. nevertheless, the focus on research skills and their delivery is an aspect
of doctoral training that has attracted international interest. estelle phillips, one of the
authors of the well known book How to Get a PhD (phillips and pugh 1987), whose
own doctoral project examined the phd as a learning process, was one of the pioneers
of this way of thinking about phd study. she recalled the degree of scepticism that
greeted her initial proposal that one might examine the phd as a generic process of
learning. history was on the side of phillips’ argument and subsequent research on
the quality and completion rates of the British phd has by stages led to an increasing
degree of specification of the research skills expected of the doctoral graduate.
on the basis of the argument i have put forward thus far, i want, therefore, to
propose four headings under which to group the skills and competencies central to
a definition of the trained researcher: literature, critical evaluation and synthesis;
research conceptualization; research methodology; and communication. i shall look at
each of these in turn, and in doing so consider some of the issues they raise for research
training in the creative arts and design.
Literature, critical evaluation and synthesis refers to the ability to handle existing
research material. it includes knowledge of the sources of literature and contextual
research that comprise the research field within which the student is working. in the
creative arts and design, this can be far from straightforward. There is no single literature
database for research students to consult, indeed the information architecture is
complex, and in some cases downright messy. For example, the importance of practice
outputs in particular areas presents problems of retrieval. students therefore need to
show both creativity and tenacity in mapping out the research terrain within which
they are seeking to establish their own project. But information is not knowledge and
therefore the ability to process existing material is also of central importance. material
needs to be reviewed critically and competing theories, approaches and accounts
need to be set in relation to each other in order to develop a critical understanding of
the research context. Finally, the trained researcher needs the ability to identify and
select material from appropriate sources synthesizing them to inform and support the
research enquiry. This goes beyond reconstructing the history of investigation into
particular ideas and towards developing a position in relation to existing research,
thereby establishing a rationale for a research proposal.
Research conceptualization refers to the ability to identify specific research questions,
problems or opportunities that are worthy of enquiry. This includes a degree of original
thinking and the ability to initiate ideas and lines of investigation. at its highest level
one might speak of a research imagination. Creativity in this context is not about
beginning with a blank sheet of paper, but rather envisaging the opportunities for
reconfigured or expanded understanding in the light of what has gone before. Research
conceptualization also includes the skills and discipline that go beyond the initial
moment of conception, and which enable the researcher to formulate and develop an