Contextsidea into something researchable. For example, a researcher needs to have the ability
to refine the question and draw appropriate parameters. There is clearly a high degree
of interdependence between the skills involved in conceptualizing one’s own research
project and those involved in critically evaluating prior research. Whilst it is common
to think of research building incrementally on what has gone before, for students in the
arts and humanities the less linear metaphor of a conversation may be more useful. a
research field can be thought of as an ongoing conversation about particular topics or
ideas; a researcher needs to listen attentively to what is being said if they are to make a
worthwhile intervention in the debate.
Research methodology refers to the knowledge and skills required to select and apply
appropriate methods to carry through the research project. in creative arts research
this is an area of some controversy: just what are the appropriate methods for our field?
arguments around methodology have tended to present a dichotomy, with, on the one
hand, the art and design researcher adopting methodologies from other disciplines in
order to satisfy the requirements of a generic notion of research, and on the other the
development of art and design specific methods. We need to get beyond this rather
limiting dichotomy to develop a more fruitful and less defensive way of thinking
about methodology. doctoral research training should develop students’ awareness
of methodology,^7 as the working out in practice of the relationship between theory
and method in their own research, as well as an appreciation of alternative methods.
This certainly involves an introduction to different research approaches and some
comparative thinking, but i am not suggesting a universal methods curriculum. Those
who argue for methodology training as the comparative study of method need to reveal
their own methodological position and specify what they mean by ‘comprehensive
research methods training’, what they see as central and where they draw the boundaries,
if they are not to run students ragged trying to cover too much ground. The quality of
the engagement with methodological argument is in my view more important than the
number of methods. as i have indicated above, research in the creative arts and design
is methodologically diverse and i do not believe it is possible to design a single research
methods curriculum that works across its full breadth. Rather it would be preferable
for individual programmes to develop in specific methodological directions, including
making particular interdisciplinary or cross- disciplinary engagements, an issue i want
to return to below.
i would also place under this heading the need for research students to develop
an awareness of research ethics. There are certainly areas of overlap between ethics
and methodology, and ethical awareness contributes to a general methodological
understanding.
Communication may appear the most straightforward of the four areas of research
skills outlined here, though it too presents a number of issues for creative arts research.
The ability to communicate one’s findings to one’s peers is undeniably central to
academic research. This includes not just the ability to structure a coherent argument,
linking ideas and evidence through the written word, but also, importantly for arts-
based researchers, the ability to make skilled use of visual material to express ideas.
This includes competence in various forms of research presentation, such as the
delivery of conference presentations and the writing of journal articles, to the creation
of exhibitions. however, what is perceived as the tyranny of the written word in the