Creative Methods

SOCY60192 Creative Methods 5 Semester 2 Postgraduate Taught Level 7 Penny Tinkler Unit coordinator 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 2.5 We will begin by asking what is creativity in method? What are creative methods? How can they be deployed in social science research? How can they be factored into a research design? What research questions can they answer? We will go on to introduce the themes of elicitation, participation and mobility, and a range of methods across that spectrum:<ul> <li>Elicitation (eg photo and object elicitation methods)</li> <li>Participation (eg activities such as drawing/collage/pictures; model making; writing)</li> <li>Mobility (mobile methods eg sensewalks; 'go-alongs')</li></ul>We will also consider some of the key practical and ethical issues in using creative methods. After having been introduced to creative methods in the first workshop, students will carry out a practical exercise using a chosen method in between the first and second workshop. Alternatively, depending on the situation with COVID-19, students will be offered the option of conducting desk-based research on their chosen method.In the second workshop students will reflect collectively on their experience of using creative methods and the kinds of knowledge produced. We will consider analytical strategies for handling data generated through creative methods, and revisit some of the practical and ethical questions raised in the first workshop. We will critically consider the strengths and weaknesses, and the uses of, of a creative methods approach. The course unit aims to:<ul> <li>Introduce students to creative methods both as an approach, and as a means of generating social science research data</li> <li>Inculcate in students a critical awareness of issues involved in choosing creative methods and including them in a research project design</li> <li>Introduce students to a range of creative methods, focussing on those involving (a) elicitation (b) participation and (c) mobility in method</li> <li>Give students practical experience in the use of a creative method</li> <li>Introduce students to analytical strategies appropriate to creative methods</li> <li>Highlight the types of research question and project that creative methods can usefully be applied to, and the types of knowledge that can be produced with such methods</li></ul> On completion of this unit successful students will be able to demonstrate:<ul> <li>A critical appreciation of a range of creative methods, with a particular focus on those involving elicitation, participation and mobility</li> <li>An understanding of the types of research question and project that creative methods are particularly suited to, and issues involved in their inclusion in a research design, as well as their limitations</li> <li>A critical awareness of the kinds of knowledge that creative methods can produce</li> <li>Practical experience and/or theoretical understanding of the use of a creative method, and the capacity for critical reflection on methodological practice</li> <li>A critical appreciation of analytical strategies appropriate to creative methods</li></ul> The course will be taught in two 4-hour workshops, which will include a range of teaching and learning styles including lectures, individual and collective reflection, group tasks, group discussions. 0 Other 100% Written assignment (1500 word essay) 100% SOCY60230 Qualitative Research Methods Pre-Requisite Compulsory Y <ul> <li>Bates, C. and Rhys-Taylor, A. (eds.) (2017)Walking Through Social Research, Abingdon: Routledge.</li> <li>Holmes, Helen and Hall, Sarah Marie (eds.) (2020)Mundane Methods: Innovative Ways to Research the Everyday, Manchester: Manchester University Press.</li> <li>International Journal of Social Research Methodology15(2) 2012, Special issue 'Creative Methods with Young People'https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsrm20/15/2</li> <li>Kara, H. (2015)Creative Research Methods: A practical guide, Bristol: Policy Press.</li> <li>Lury, C. and Wakeford, N. (2013)Inventive Methods: The Happening of the Social, London: Routledge.</li> <li>Mason, J. and Dale, A. (2011)Understanding Social Research: Thinking Creatively about Method, London: Sage.</li> <li>Mason, J. (2018)Qualitative Researching(3rd edn), London: Sage.</li> <li>Methodological Innovations6(3) 2011 Special Issue 'Crossing Methodological Boundaries'https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/mioa/6/3</li> <li>Qualitative Research9(5) 2009 Special Issue 'Methodological Innovation in Qualitative Research'http://qrj.sagepub.com/content/9/5.toc</li> <li>Pink, S. (2013)Doing Visual Ethnography(3rd edn), London: Sage.</li> <li>Rose, Gillian (2016)Visual Methodologies(4th edn), London: Sage. • Sociological Research Online17(1) 2012 Special Issue 'Visual Methods',http://www. socresonline.org.uk/17/1/contents.html</li> <li>Tinkler, Penny, (2013)Using Photographs in Social and Historical Research, London: Sage.</li> <li>Woodward, S. (2019)Material Methods: Researching and Thinking with Things,London: Sage. Chapter 3 'Object interviews and elicitations' (digitised)</li> <li>Toolkits for a range of methods, Morgan Centre, University of Manchesterhttps: //www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/research/resources/toolkits/</li></ul> Seminars 6 0 44