Arts-based research: Attending to methods

Phoenix, Cassandra; Chamberlain, Kerry

Abstract

Arts-based research covers a considerable diversity of approaches and uses in research and is not readily amenable to definition, although definitions have been offered. For instance, McNiff (2018, p. 24) has described arts-based research “as a process of inquiry whereby the researcher, alone or with others, engages the making of art as a primary mode of inquiry”. Or as Leavy (2018, p. 4) proposes, arts-based research is “an umbrella category that encompasses all artistic approaches to research”. Some researchers consider arts-based research to be a paradigm (Gerber et al., 2018). This diversity is reflected in the wide range of approaches that arts-based work can encompass, covering visual art forms, (drawing, painting, photography, collage, and other art forms such as film, video, graphic novels, comics, etc.), literary forms (including creative fiction and non-fiction, poetry, scripts, essays, novels, etc.) and performative forms (including theatre, dance, movement, storytelling, etc), as well as other forms that extend beyond these categories (such as quilting, needlework, music, multi-media, and multiple or combined forms). These various forms can be, and have been, put into service in the conduct of research across all phases of research, for problem generation and demarcation, for data collection, for analysis and interpretation, and for dissemination and representation (see Leavy, 2020).

Citation

Phoenix, C., & Chamberlain, K. (online). Arts-based research: Attending to methods. Methods in Psychology, Article 100179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metip.2025.100179

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 18, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Feb 18, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 22, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 24, 2025
• Journal: Methods in Psychology
• Electronic ISSN: 2590-2601
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Article Number: 100179
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metip.2025.100179
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3528151