“Rather than offering endless lists and rationales for what a particular method – qualitative or quantitative, should and should not do, she invites the researcher to deliberate, to imagine and create. The major question is what the researcher wishes to accomplish: what is worth doing, who is helped or hurt by the research and what ethical and political issues are relevant. (Gergen and Gergen in Kara 2020: xvi).
Whilst this might seem a risky business, Kara is at pains to assure the reader that she is not suggesting that the more creative the research method the better the outcome will be. Rather that, alongside a comprehensive understanding of traditional research principles, methods and methodologies, there is room to be creative where time-honoured ways do not satisfactorily deliver answers to the research questions of the researcher. She suggests that rather than thinking about doing research we should think about making research. She encourages a multi-faceted approach to research using a number of tools and approaches to address research questions.
At the very early stages of my research, I need to read widely and consider the more traditional handbooks widely available, alongside challenging texts such as this. Needless to say, I will be guided by my supervisors, but I will be writing more blogs about this book in the coming weeks.
References
KARA, Helen. 2020. Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
