THeoretical Framework: Arts-informed methodology and visual research
Arts-informed methodology is "the creative meshing of scholarly and artistic endeavors" (Cole & Knowles, 2008, p. 65). It combines the systematic and rigorous qualities of conventional qualitative methodologies with the artistic and imaginative features of the arts. Pablo Picasso reflects the crossroads in the quip, “I never made a painting as a work of art, it’s all research." This approach emerged from the discipline of education in the 1990s and has spread to other social sciences. Arts-informed methodology incorporates novel modes of inquiry into the research process, such as poetry, literary prose, play-writing, visual arts, dance, and music; hence, the outcomes are accessible to more people. As a flexible framework for inquiry, an arts-informed approach may complement a research design or function as a stand-alone methodology.
In its production of drawings, this project is also an instance of visual research (Prosser & Loxley, 2008), a well-established approach in anthropology and sociology that is now making its way into information science (Hartel & Thomson, 2011). Visual research employs images to learn about the social world, and provides an alternative or complement to inquiry based upon words or numbers. Images can factor in social science research designs in many ways, namely: 1) Images can be produced by participants as data; 2) Found or existing images can be used as data or springboards for theorizing; 3) Images and objects are useful to elicit or provoke other data; 4) Images can be used for feedback and documentation of the research process; and 5) Images are useful as a mode of interpretation and/or representation (Weber, 2008). Throughout the iSquare project, we employ the first and fifth mode, in which images are produced by participants as data and are used for interpretation and representation of the results.
In its production of drawings, this project is also an instance of visual research (Prosser & Loxley, 2008), a well-established approach in anthropology and sociology that is now making its way into information science (Hartel & Thomson, 2011). Visual research employs images to learn about the social world, and provides an alternative or complement to inquiry based upon words or numbers. Images can factor in social science research designs in many ways, namely: 1) Images can be produced by participants as data; 2) Found or existing images can be used as data or springboards for theorizing; 3) Images and objects are useful to elicit or provoke other data; 4) Images can be used for feedback and documentation of the research process; and 5) Images are useful as a mode of interpretation and/or representation (Weber, 2008). Throughout the iSquare project, we employ the first and fifth mode, in which images are produced by participants as data and are used for interpretation and representation of the results.