A 3000-word reflexive report evaluating the process of using creative methods to investigate the
research question you formed in class and analyse the data you found. You will evaluate
whether creative methods are useful, enlightening and effective as an analytical process of
organizing raw data from your experience in class. You should also analyse it as a research
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method by drawing on the literature. You should consider the relative merits of using creative
approaches versus more traditional methods such as semi/structured interviewing, using
concepts drawn from the literature.
You should think about the following:
1) What was the process of using creative methods – how did you go about unpicking and understanding the texts? How did using creative methods help you better understand the positionality and perspectives of the research participants – or not?
2) What was your experience of this process – was it useful, supportive, effective, or cumbersome, inefficient, not useful. Are there different stages of research when creative methods might be particularly useful or appropriate? Do creative methods help you in ‘reading through’ or comprehending your raw data?
3) How does the literature evaluate creative methods as a way of approaching and analysing data? What are the philosophical underpinnings of this method?
4) What are the relative merits of creative methods versus more traditional methods such as coding?
5) How could this method be improved? Based on your experiences in class and by considering other methods of organising and analysing qualitative data.
You should draw on the academic literature on interviews to justify your evaluation. You are encouraged to make a journal of your experience and the class discussion to help you with this assessment.
