Arts and Mixed Methods Research: An Innovative Methodological Merger

Archibald, Mandy M.; Gerber, Nancy

doi:10.1177/0002764218772672

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…That is why "mixed methods research provides viable options for advancing the art therapy research agenda while preserving the essential meaning of the field" (p. 654). Archibald and Gerber (2018) also claim that the integration of arts with mixed methods research has an unexplored potential, because both perspectives seek to understand social and cultural complexity for a transformative change through innovative methodological approaches. Mixed designs are congruent with the forms of knowledge of art therapy and promise progress in this field with philosophical and methodological integrity (Betts and Deaver, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PROJECTA: An Art-Based Tool in Trauma Treatment

2020

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Artistic images, of a universal nature and validated by global culture, are carriers of an emotional potential that can be used for therapeutic purposes in cultural centers as well as in clinical spaces. Esthetic studies reveal the mobilizing power in their contemplation and the capacity to bring out personal stories with healing potential. The general objective of this paper is to design and validate the PROJECTA instrument, consisting of the therapeutic use of artistic images to approach trauma or difficult conditions in therapy, by means of the association between art images and emotions, feelings or states of mind related with a traumatic experience. A mixed approach of investigation with a concurrent triangulation design has been used for the integration of qualitative and quantitative results, where qualitative research outweighs quantitative, but both have been QUAL → quan sequentially developed. The study was carried out in two phases. The first was a systematic review of the literature. The second, divided into five steps, consisted of the validation of artworks and the associated emotions with the participation of students, experts in art therapy, psychologists and educators through focus groups, interviews and an online questionnaire. The analysis techniques were qualitative and quantitative. A set of 220 artistic images linked to emotional states were proposed by experts in education, psychology and art therapy, and validated through an online questionnaire. The respondents included 228 students and professionals and for 64.55% of these images a consensus of over 80% was obtained. These images and their associated emotions were again reviewed by a confirmatory focus group. Finally, 92 artistic works were linked to primary, secondary and tertiary emotions such as love, joy, victory, surprise, balance, sense of humor, anger, sadness, fear, and emptiness. In addition, there are mobilizing images that have not been related to any emotion because of the polysemy of their meanings. It concludes that PROJECTA is a visual art therapy tool that provides professionals with a resource that helps facilitate the identification, expression or demonstration of emotions or feelings related with trauma, and in challenging situations of vulnerability, psychological discomfort or post-traumatic stress.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PROJECTA: An Art-Based Tool in Trauma Treatment

2020

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“…As described previously, in the creative arts therapies we deem reality to be pluralistic and intersubjectively co-constructed while the related forms of aesthetic knowledge are necessarily idiosyncratic, circuitous, dialectic, dynamic, and emergent. These basic philosophical differences contraindicate the use of linear models of change evaluation to accurately assess and understand the nature and process of change in the creative arts therapies ( Aigen, 1991 ; Hayes et al, 2007 ; Chilton et al, 2015 ; Archibald and Gerber, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our contention is reflected in Collins and Sayer’s (as cited in Hayes et al, 2007 , p. 716) assertion that change in psychotherapy is a dynamic system which cannot rely upon more traditional linear methods of research to account for “intra-individual variability which traditionally has been viewed as ‘noise’ or error.” This paradigm shift allows for the inclusion of “dynamic and dialectic interactive process between these multiple intra/inter psychic and intersubjective realities” ( Gerber, 2016 , p. 656) representing the idiosyncratic vigor of pluralistic human phenomena and reliant upon “… the coexistence and dialectical tensions between levels of consciousness, temporality, and spatiality” ( Archibald and Gerber, 2018 , p. 3). This view allows for the creation of more interdependent, multi-dimensional mechanisms that are textural and descriptive rather than reductive and measurable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arts-Based Research Approaches to Studying Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies

et al. 2018

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The purpose of this preliminary qualitative research study is to explore the role and function of multiple dynamic interactive aesthetic and intersubjective phenomena in the creative arts therapies process relative to transformation in perception, behavior, relationship, and well-being. A group of doctoral students and faculty studied these phenomena in an analogous creative arts therapies laboratory context using a method called Intrinsic Arts-Based Research. Intrinsic Arts-Based Research is a systematic study of psychological, emotional, relational, and arts-based phenomena, parallel to those emergent in the creative arts therapies, using individual and collective intrinsic immersive and reflective experience in combination with qualitative and arts-based research methods. Our primary goal was to simulate the creative arts therapies experience in order to identify, document, and describe the complex transformative phenomena that occur at the nexus of arts-based expression, reflection, and relationships in the arts therapies. For the purposes of this paper transformation is defined as “…. a significant reconfiguration of perception and thought resulting in the lessening of psychic restraint and pain, allowing for the emergence of new psychological perspectives that contribute to living a more creative life” (Gerber et al., 2012, p. 45). Through a deductive thematic analysis of written accounts of these simulated creative arts therapies experiences by participant/researchers in the laboratory we identified three primary dynamic and interactive broad constructs that together, with more specific modifying themes, might account for and describe change within the creative arts therapies. These broad dynamic interactive themes are: ruptures, resolutions, and transformation; relationship and intersubjectivity; and, arts-based expressive processes. The more specific modifying themes include: dialectical rupture and resolution, relational attunements and ruptures, imaginational flow, transcendence and ruptures, sensory/kinesthetic/embodied ways of knowing, and intersubjective transcendence. We propose that change in the creative arts therapies is driven more by a dynamic system of interactive phenomena the varying combinations of which create conditions for relational attunement, imagination, dialectical tensions and creative resolutions, and the ultimately creative transformation.

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“…People have been using pictures and drawings to communicate complex concepts and ideas throughout the ages [19]. More recently, researchers are using art and pictures as part of research processes to communicate findings to diverse audiences [20,21]. In the academic field of systems thinking, the concept of a 'rich picture' was developed by Peter Checkland [22] as part of his Soft Systems Methodology (SSM).…”

Section: Rich Picturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a ‘rich picture’ to facilitate systems thinking in research coproduction

Conte

Davidson

2020

Health Res Policy Sys

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Background: In coproduction research, traditional 'end-users' are involved in the entire research process. The aim is to facilitate research translation by improving the timeliness and relevance of research. Because end-users often come from multiple sectors and hold diverse perspectives and priorities, involving them in coproduction can be challenging. Tools and approaches are needed to support coproduction teams to successfully navigate divergent viewpoints while producing rigorous but meaningful research outcomes. Rich pictures are a systems thinking tool to help make sense of complexity. In this paper, we describe how we developed and applied a 'rich picture' in a coproduction project with policy-level partners. Methods: Guided by systems thinking principles, we conducted a systemic analysis of ethnographic fieldnotes collected as part of a broader study that examined the dynamics between an IT system and the implementation of the state-wide childhood obesity prevention programmes it was designed to monitor. Translating qualitative themes into metaphor and imagery, we created a visual depiction of the system to reflect the experience of the system's users (health promotion practitioners) and facilitated a workshop with policy-level programme administrators (i.e. participants, n = 7). Our aim was to increase the transparency of the system for our research partners and to spark new insights to improve the quality of programme implementation.Results: Guided by provocative questions, participants discussed and challenged each other's thinking on the current functioning of the system. They identified future lines of inquiry to explore for quality improvement. Participants strongly agreed that the picture was a constructive way to engage with the ethnographic data but were challenged by the information and its implications. The opportunity for participants to co-learn from each other as well as from the picture was an added value. Conclusion:In the context of the facilitated workshop, the rich picture enabled research partners to engage with complex research findings and gain new insights. Its value was harnessed via the guided participatory process. This demonstrates the importance that, in the future, such tools should be accompanied by practices that enable participants to think with and apply systems thinking concepts and principles.

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Arts and Mixed Methods Research: An Innovative Methodological Merger

Cited by 26 publications

References 37 publications

PROJECTA: An Art-Based Tool in Trauma Treatment

PROJECTA: An Art-Based Tool in Trauma Treatment

Arts-Based Research Approaches to Studying Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies

Using a ‘rich picture’ to facilitate systems thinking in research coproduction

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