5: Data gathering: research with adults

Publication Date:
16 Mar 2021
Pages:
67–82
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447357094.ch005
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As we saw in Chapter 4, creative approaches often involve techniques that invite participants to engage differently from conventional methods employed in education research such as interviews and focus groups. The over-reliance on interview techniques has been widely critiqued (see Delamont, 2012), and many researchers have turned to more creative forms of data production to address the limitations of this question-and-answer approach to fieldwork (Mannay, 2016; Kara, 2020). Creative methods of data gathering can provide an opportunity to move beyond standard talk-and-text-based techniques to explore our multidimensional experiences (Bagnoli, 2009). However, as you will see in the case studies presented in this chapter, participants often discuss the creative data they produce with the researcher. This discussion is referred to as an elicitation interview. In this way, creative methods can be combined with talk-based approaches to better understand the meanings that participants assign to the creative materials they produce.

In Chapter 4 we explored creative approaches to data gathering with children and young people, focusing on the techniques of digital portfolios; photography; graphic organisers as learning and teaching artefacts; and cartoon storyboards. However, education also involves adults as students and practitioners, and creative approaches have been used effectively to generate data in a wide range of studies with adult participants. Considering creative techniques as something ‘just for children’ or ‘just for adults’ overlooks the opportunities that these hold for all participants to reflect on and represent their educational experiences. This is why we have chosen to offer examples of data gathering with children, young people and adults in this book.

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