MA Seminar in English 26.10.20
METHODS OF
RESEARCHING A TOPIC
Susanna Suurla, guest lecturer at Aalto University, School of Arts, Design & Architecture, Department of Film, Television and Scenography
Research methodology
Research methodology is the Philosophy or the general principle which guides the research. It is:
• the overall approach to your topic/subject/project etc.
• the system of methods and principles used in a particular discipline
• includes the issues to think about (such as the constraints,
dilemmas, ethical choices within the research field you belong to)
• a strategy for acquiring new knowledge
Research methods
Research methods are the means of conducting the research:
• a way of proceeding or doing something.
• the tools you use to collect/gather your data/research
material.
• the tools you use to analyse the collected material.
Qualitative research
methodologies
• explores f.ex. attitudes, behavior and experiences through
methods like interviewing
• attempts to get an in-depth opinion from participants
• aims at deep understanding of the phenomena research
considers
• Include f.ex. action research, ethnography, feminist
research, grounded theory, case studies etc.
Action
research
Action research is a philosophy and methodology of
research generally applied in the social sciences. It seeks
transformative change through the simultaneous process
of taking action and doing research, which are linked
together by critical reflection.
• Often conducted when researching performance
processes etc.
• More info: https://infed.org/mobi/action-research/
Ethnography
‘the recording and analysis of a culture or society, usually
based on participant-observation and resulting in a
written account of a people, place or institution’
(Simpson & Coleman 2017)
• Can be used for e.g. studying traditional performance
costumes in endogenous cultures.
• More info:
https://www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/ethnogra
phy
Auto-
ethnography
Autoethnography is a form of qualitative research in which an author uses self-reflection and writing to explore anecdotal and personal experience and connect this autobiographical story to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings.
• Can be used for e.g. describing / defining / exploring
personal experiences within the artistic research process.
• More info: http://www.qualitative-
research.net/index.php/fqs/article/viewArticle/1589/3095
Auto-
ethnography
Autoethnography is a form of qualitative research in which an author uses self-reflection and writing to explore anecdotal and personal experience and connect this autobiographical story to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings.
• Can be used for e.g. describing / defining / exploring
personal experiences within the artistic research process.
• More info: http://www.qualitative-
research.net/index.php/fqs/article/viewArticle/1589/3095
Grounded theory
Grounded Theory is simply the discovery of emerging patterns in data and the generation of theories from data.
(Glaser in Walsh, Holton et al 2015)
• Grounded theory is a research tool which enables you to seek out and conceptualise the latent social patterns and structures of your area of interest through the process of constant comparison.
• More info: http://www.groundedtheoryonline.com/what- is-grounded-theory/
Feminist theory
Aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. Examines social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, media studies, psychoanalysis, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy.
Feminist theory focuses on analyzing gender inequality. Themes explored in feminism include discrimination, objectification, oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping, art history and contemporary art, and aesthetics.
Current movements in the theories of materialism or material thinking e.g new materialism have emerged from feminist philosophy.
• Can be applied to e.g. analysing social structures and/or identities on stage or screen
• More info: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-philosophy/
Case Studies
A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a
person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon.
Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical,
and business research.
A case study research design usually involves qualitative
methods, but quantitative methods are sometimes also used.
Case studies are good for describing, comparing, evaluating
and understanding different aspects of a research problem.
• More info: https://www.qualitative-
research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2655/4079
Quantitative research
methodologies
• generates statistics through the use of large-scale survey
research, using methods such as questionnaires or structured interviews.
• reaches many more people, but the contact with those people is
“lighter” than in qualitative research.
The term triangulation is used when a combination of qualitative and quantitative forms of inquiry are used to counteract the weaknesses in both or to support the other
approach - also the term mixed methods is used in this meaning.
How to choose from the qualitative/
quantitative methodologies
• Neither is ‘better’ – they are just different.
• Both have strengths and weaknesses.
The words you use gives you pointers to whether the qualitative or the quantitative research is more appropriate for your project.
• Quantitative: ‘how many’, ‘test’, ‘verify’, ‘how often’ or ‘how satisfied’
• Qualitative: ‘discover’, ‘motivation’, ‘experiences’,
‘think/thoughts’, ‘problems’, or ‘behave/behaviour’
Research procedures
or approaches
• Historical
• Philosophical (theoretical)
• Experimental (pre-, post-testing, control)
• Comparative (cross-cultural)
• Descriptive (using surveys, causal-comparative methods)
• Naturalistic (interpretative, phenomenological, qualitative
enquiry)
• Practical (creative, expressive/productive)
Basic structure of the research
• Hypothesis (felt need, urge to create, initial inspiration)
• Collect data, information gathering, generation of ideas, reflection
• Definition of problem, selection, classification, analysis
• Development, models, sketches, experiments, field work
• Illumination (clarifying), synthesis (combining/ summing up), articulation
• Refinement, economy (organized system / method, regulation of gathered data), resolution, presentation
• Verification, testing, theory building, generalization
• Critical context, human response
• Revise hypothesis, improve artwork, alter concepts
• What? What is your research?
• Why? Why do you want to do the research? What is its purpose?
• Who? Who will be your participants?
• Where? Where are you going to conduct your research? F.ex. If you’re going to
conduct interviews or focus groups, where will you hold them?
• When? When are you going to do your research? Is the project possible within your own / your participants time scale?
Look and go through
your answers to the
five questions: What?
Why? Who? Where?
When?
You’ll find clues about
what approach suits
your project.
Methodologies in
Art and Design Research
• Researchers in Art & Design have been using for example methods established in Science and Social Sciences.
• The methodologies adopted from different disciplines reflect the specific nature, structure and intentions of that discipline.
• There are also established methodologies for conducting art and design research / artistic research, such as the PaR: Practice as Research (see also action research), which incorporates an
element of practice in the methodology or research output.
o For more info see the book Robin Nelson’s defining book: Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances.
Things to consider
• Adapting or borrowing from a ‘standard’ methodology (which may distort the research)
• Inventing methodological devices (which may remain esoteric, project-specific àlittle use when applied to other situations)
• Employing research methodologies from different disciplines may also be tricky, as some methodologies such as the practice as research (PaR) and action research, which though similar, have differences in their definitions. à when choosing your
approach, it is good to study and understand it and be consistent in the terminology you employ for defining your methodology.
Methods: the tools to collect and
analyze the research material
To find the most appropriate methods for your project, consider:
• What is the purpose of your research?
• What is your time scale?
• What is your budget?
• Are you the only researcher, or will you have others to help you?
What do you want to know/find/discuss?
• How would it be possible to find the answer? (Explain, argue, make a statement.)
Finding/selecting
suitable methods
for your research
Think!
• research question, ethics, budget, time schedule etc.
• Once you have answered the ‘five
questions’, you can go on to think about how you’re going to do your research.
The ‘how’ is about the research methods.
Possible
Methods
• Interviews or focus groups involve talking to people to find out their views and experiences.
• Surveys are a quantitative method that involves asking people to fill in a paper or online questionnaire.
• Observation involves looking at and recording how people behave in particular situations in a structured way.
• Documentation (you can use notes, photographs, audio &
video recordings to document f.ex. artistic processes)
• Literature reviews involve searching for and synthesizing other people’s research.
• Experimental Research Methods - straightforward
experiment, involving the standard practice of manipulating quantitative, independent variables to generate statistically analyzable data.
Research
Methods to be
discussed in-
depth in the next
meeting:
• Research Question
• Research interviews
• Writing as a tool: Autoethnography
• Observation and Documentation
• Literature Review
• Other methods of interest?
• Practical / Case Study method of
observation and Documentation
• Historical research methods
Task 3a
Work further on the subject you’re interested in.
• Define your project: Sum up in one sentence what you are going to do/ask /research.
Make an ‘action plan’:
• Prepare a list of how you plan to work on the topic:
• What aspects of the topic will you investigate?
• Where do you find information related to this topic?
• If such information is not yet readily available (e.g. in sources), how can you help yourself generate some support materials to go deeper into your topic?
Task 3b
Steps:• How and where to find information related to your topic• How to generate support materials (research materials) to go deeper into your topic
• Ultimate goal: how to find answers to your questions
