Creative research methods: learning pathway
Creative research methods invite participants or researchers to engage in creative practices, whether these are artistic, written or just involve engaging with imagery or objects in an imaginative or reflexive way. These methods can be used at any stage of a project, from the design phase to the dissemination of results.
On this page, you’ll find a selection of tutorials, videos and other resources that will guide you through the key aspects of creative methods. These learning materials describe a wide range of approaches and explain how to implement them in your research.
The information on this page is presented in seven parts:
- Introduction to creative methods
- Arts-based approaches
- Embodied research
- Methods that use technology
- Creative mixing of methods
- Transformative research frameworks
- Further resources
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1: Introduction to creative methods
To provide researchers with an introduction to creative methods, NCRM has a three-part video tutorial presented by Dr Helen Kara, a leading expert in the field.
The videos outline the key types of creative methods – which have been identified by Dr Kara through her extensive research – and give examples of how they can be applied.
The first video offers an overview of creative methods and discusses arts-based research. The second looks at the use of technology and mixed-methods. The final video discusses transformative and Indigenous research.
Following the publication of this tutorial, Dr Kara added a fifth type of method – embodied research – and broadened the mixed-methods category to multimodal methods. The resources on this webpage are structured around this updated set of five categories, which are described in more detail in Dr Kara's book, Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide.
2: Arts-based approaches
Arts-based creative methods are well established and are employed across all disciplines. They can include visual arts, such as drawing and painting, performative arts like theatre and dance, written arts, including poetry and playwriting, music, film and storytelling.
This type of research uses artistic practices as a way of enhancing our understanding of a topic and exploring people's experiences. They enable researchers to investigate, among many other things, abstract concepts, subjective experiences, sensitive topics, complex issues and emotions.
NCRM has tutorials and videos on many different types of arts-based research. Use the links below to access these resources.
3: Embodied research
This type of research uses the body and its senses as tools for investigating individual experiences. These methods typically involve participants and/or the researcher doing an activity as a way of generating knowledge or exploring a topic.
To introduce learners to embodied research, NCRM has a three-part video tutorial. The first video provides an overview of the topic. The second gives users the opportunity to try out a movement task. The final video discusses the role of the body within the research cycle.
Embodied research projects use many different types of activity. These range from everyday tasks to sports, walking and dance.
To provide an example of an embodied approach to research, the NCRM website features a tutorial on walking methods. The three-part resource offers an overview of the technique and looks at how it can be used to investigate complex environments.
4: Methods that use technology
Technology can be used to enable participants or researchers to carry out a range of creative activities. These include taking photographs, making videos, producing podcasts, creating and using apps, making sound recordings and carrying out various forms of remote data collection.
To get started with methods that use technology, researchers can try NCRM's video tutorial on photovoice, a method which invites participants to use photographs to capture their experiences and highlight issues. Participants also attend workshops where they develop recommendations to bring about social change. These ideas are then implemented through collaborative processes.
Filmmaking
Next, researchers can explore how filmmaking can be used to enable participants to express themselves. One way of doing this is through short "I am" videos, in which participants tell stories about their lived experiences.
NCRM's tutorial on the method features simple explanations of the key concepts, as well as templates for the various different stages of a research project. The five-part tutorial explains how the method positions participants as "capable knowers", enabling more diverse participation and representation.
Access each part of the tutorial using the links below:
5: Creative mixing of methods
Creative research projects can involve a combination of different methods, enabling data collection or analysis through various modes, as well as the reporting of findings. By mixing methods, researchers can generate a complex understanding of an issue and assemble knowledge from different sources or perspectives.
Researchers can find out more about such complementary approaches in NCRM's tutorial Four Qualitative Methods for Understanding Diverse Lives. This video tutorial provides overviews of collage, photo go-alongs, life history interviews and participant packs.
Multimodal methods
Dr Helen Kara provides a summary of multimodal research in a short video available on her YouTube channel. She explains when the approach is particularly useful and discusses its pros and cons. Watch the video.
Methods podcast
NCRM's most recent series of its Methods podcast discusses ways of combining different methods, with a particular focus on qualitative longitudinal research. It explores the broader landscape of mixed methods within which the creative mix of methods is situated.
Each of the six episodes, which were published in 2023, features a discussion with a leading expert in the field. For example, Professor Jane Gray discusses researching social change over time and Professor Laura Camfield talks about undertaking cross-national mixed-methods research.
6: Transformative research frameworks
Transformative research aims to contribute to change in society. This can be done by impacting participants' lives, challenging power structures and inequalities, addressing social justice issues or making research more ethical.
Participatory, action, community-based and feminist approaches are all examples of transformative research. Creative methods are often used in this type of research to ensure the participation of those affected by the issue being investigated and to help produce the intended impact.
Participatory theatre
To provide an example of how such methods can be used, NCRM has a video tutorial on combing walking with participatory theatre. The resource explains how the approach can be used to understand the lives of migrant women, while also addressing the power imbalances that are sometimes seen in more conventional methods.
Community studies
NCRM's tutorial on community studies gives researchers an overview of these projects' rationale, design and methods. Through three videos, the tutorial explains how community studies often adopt mixed-methods approaches to investigate the six aspects of community relationships: work, home, education, leisure, religion and local politics.
Object-based storytelling
NCRM also has a tutorial on how object-based creative storytelling methods can be used in community and voluntary groups to foster positive connections and conversations. It illustrates how forms of material culture are routes into understanding social change and how personal biography and memories connect.
7: Further resources
NCRM has a host of other resources that are designed to enhance researchers' knowledge, inspire them to consider new methods and provide examples of how creative approaches are applied in modern research.
In Conversation videos with leading experts
Researchers interested in learning about different types of arts-based methods can watch our series of In Conversation videos on the emerging field of material methods. Each video features a discussion between NCRM's Professor Sophie Woodward and an expert on a particular technique, with topics ranging from inquiry graphics to political Lego.
Episodes of the Methods Matter podcast
The second series of the Methods Matter podcast, which was created by Dementia Researcher and NCRM, focuses on qualitative and creative methods. These include oral histories and storytelling, and visual methods. Each episode features a conversation with two methods experts. We suggest listening to Episode One and Episode Three.
Webinars on sound, metaphors and memory
The ways in which sound, metaphors and memory can be used in research are covered in a recent webinar series created by NCRM and Qualitative Expertise at Southampton (QUEST). Recordings of the events are available to watch on the QUEST website. Each webinar features presentations from three researchers who have applied a particular method in their work.
Outputs from innovation events
NCRM's Innovation Fora programme has produced a range of videos, guides and reports on cutting-edge methods. Many of these are creative approaches, making use of music, film, podcasts, poems, zines, lived-experience storytelling and investigative practices. The programme also featured a six-part webinar series on decolonial research methods.