Thursday, October 24, 2013

Definition of Practice-based and Practice-led Research

Many thanks to Linda Candy and Andrew Johnston of University of Technology Sydney, for their permission to reblog this article.


I am engaged in a Practice-based Research PhD. To date I have struggled to find a clear definition of exactly what this meant. I came across this excellent blog post on Creativity & Cognition.

Research in which practice is a central focus can be divided into two main types:  practice-based and practice-led.
  1. If the research includes a creative artefact as the basis of the contribution to knowledge, the research is practice-based.
  2. If the research leads primarily to new understandings about the nature of practice, it is practice-led.
In some cases both types of research appear together but there is usually one that is more dominant.
Practice-based Research is an original investigation undertaken in order to gain new knowledge partly by means of practice and the outcomes of that practice. In a doctoral thesis, claims of originality and contribution to knowledge may be demonstrated through creative outcomes in the form of designs, music, digital media, performances and exhibitions. Whilst the significance and context of the claims are described in words, a full understanding can only be obtained with direct reference to the outcomes.

Practice-led Research is concerned with the nature of practice and is directed towards generating new knowledge that has operational significance for that practice. In a doctoral thesis, the results of practice-led research may be fully described in text form without the inclusion of a creative work. The primary focus of the research is to advance knowledge about practice, or to advance knowledge within practice. Such research includes practice as an integral part of its method and often falls within the general area of action research.

Although practice-based research has become widespread, it has yet to be characterised in a way that has become agreed across the various fields of research where it is in use. To complicate matters further, the terms ‘practice-based’ and ‘practice-led’ are often used interchangeably. In fact we can distinguish between different types of research that have a central practice element and that distinction is summarised here as follows:
  • If a creative artefact is the basis of the contribution to knowledge, the research is practice-based.
  • If the research leads primarily to new understandings about practice, it is practice-led.

Practice-based Research is an original investigation undertaken in order to gain new knowledge partly by means of practice and the outcomes of that practice. Claims of originality and contribution to knowledge may be demonstrated through creative outcomes which may include artefacts such as images, music, designs, models, digital media or other outcomes such as performances and exhibitions Whilst the significance and context of the claims are described in words, a full understanding can only be obtained with direct reference to those outcomes. A practice-based PhD is distinguishable from a conventional PhD because creative outcomes from the research process may be included in the submission for examination and the claim for an original contribution to the field are, held to be demonstrated through the original creative work.
Practice-based doctoral submissions must include a substantial contextualisation of the creative work. This critical appraisal or analysis not only clarifies the basis of the claim for the originality and location of the original work, it also provides the basis for a judgement as to whether general scholarly requirements are met.  This could be defined as judgement of the submission as a contribution to knowledge in the field, showing doctoral level powers of analysis and mastery of existing contextual knowledge, in a form that is accessible to and auditable by knowledgeable peers.

Practice-led Research is concerned with the nature of practice and leads to new knowledge that has operational significance for that practice. The main focus of the research is to advance knowledge about practice, or to advance knowledge within practice. In a doctoral thesis, the results of practice-led research may be fully described in text form without the inclusion of a creative outcome. The primary focus of the research is to advance knowledge about practice, or to advance knowledge within practice. Such research includes practice as an integral part of its method and often falls within the general area of action research. The doctoral theses that emerge from this type of practice related research are not the same as those that include artefacts and works as part of the submission.

Differences in Practice-based and Practice-led Research

The use of the term practice-based research has become widespread but it has yet to be characterised in detail in a way that is agreed across the various fields of research where it is in use. There are differences in conceptual and applied uses of the term between those fields where it is most often found: design, health, creative arts, and education.  There are, in fact, differences in the type of research in respect of whether it is practice-based or led.

In design research, for example, where the nature of practice is a major research topic and is often conducted by research specialists rather than design practitioners, the emphasis is on achieving new knowledge about the nature of practice and how to improve it, rather than creating and reflecting on new artefacts. By contrast, in the visual arts, the emphasis is on creative process and the works that are generated from that process: the artefact plays a vital part in the new understandings about practice that arise.
It is important to note that the term practice-based research rather than practice-led research is used the area of health research. Here it may include any of the following, but not limited to: literature reviews including systematic examination of intervention and outcome measures, program evaluation clinical trials, evaluation or revision of health care protocols, policies and procedures, pilot projects and peer-reviewed studies
Link

My thoughts

An aspect of the debate regarding what is original knowledge which I find interesting is the notion that any original practice contribution, ie an installation, painting, digital installation is considered to be new knowledge. I just hope my assessors agree.  One of the problems I am finding with a practice based research PhD is ensuring that the thesis stays relevant to the practice element. I have found it all too easy to be side tracked down a new thread and lose sight of the main question. But it is early days yet. One of the most rewarding aspects of my research to date is the realisation that I am discovering my own voice. The essays I have written over the past 12 months have tended to be more like literature reviews and historical treatise rather than polemical insight but the last couple have been much more argumentative. Progress is being made, that is the main thing at this stage.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Understanding Styles in MS Office 2010

I thought I understood styles until a recent essay had a style breakdown when I tried to make a change. When I tried to undo the problem it went from bad to worse. So I thought that before I start on my thesis in earnest I should try to get to grips with styles in an effort to avoid a last minute catastrophe!

I found, whist trying to sort out this problem a website which seemed to be the answer to my prayer. I was convinced when I read the paragraph:-
If you're concerned about whether or not you need to learn styles, we can put it rather simply: you do. Styles are the architecture upon which Word is based. Just about everything in Word is style-driven. In fact, many people in the industry refer to Word as a "style-driven" program.
The site which has the strange name addbalance.com seems to have originally been compiled for the use of the legal profession, who I suspect more than most need faultless document. This post is to signpost the source, I shall be making further posts when I have researched the style issue a little further and will return with my experiences.

To get started follow this link

Interestingly there was a link on this site to another site which I had bumped into on a previous search but had lost the link (hence this post to make sure I don't lose these links again). The site is called Shauna Kelly - Making the most of Word in your business. I have to say a much more professional looking site than the other one. There is a particularly good beginners section on styles here. The site covers all aspects of Word and rather than try to explain the layout and approach of the site I would suggest you have a look yourself starting with the Basic Concepts. If there is a problem with this site it would seem that many of the basic guidelines refer to versions of word prior to 2010.

You can go straight to the style section by following this link.

This is also an excellent website that I have referred to on previous occasions The Word MVP Site this is the link.


Saturday, October 12, 2013

Reasons to take Photographs

Reading a paper Realism and the Photographic Image by Bob Rogers I came across this quote from a Kodak advertisement:-

... You wake up and suddenly it is hard to find
The memories you've left behind.
Reach back for the joys and sorrows.

Here comes the setting sun.
The seasons are passing one by one.
So gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today.

.... from a Kodak Commercial 1979
http://www.salondesrefuses.net
Link
Published in the GAZETTE DES BEAUX-ARTS, September 1981

Friday, October 11, 2013

MS Word Document - Adding a Version No

An important aspect of writing for a PhD is keeping track of the paper, particularly revisions and versions. To date I have been adding version numbers to my essays manually. As I am a bit lazy and very forgetful they are often not updated and chaos sets in. So I decided to explore the possibility of adding a "Version No" field to my headers along with the file name and date created which are already there. Typically there is not a default "Version No" field option in Word 2010. However, I Googled "Word 2010 revision number" and this revealed a number of helpful sources of info. The one I chose to follow was on the MPV website, an article titled -
"How can I get Word to automatically display the document version number in the Header & Footer?" by Dave Rado

Dave warns about using the obvious option -
If you use Versions (File + Versions) to store multiple versions of a document within a single file, then it will only be a matter of time before your document corrupts and you lose all your work. Avoid this feature like the plague - and like Fast Save and Master Documents, which are similarly broken – unless the document is of no importance to you. Taking backups won't necessarily help, because the corruption may creep up on you gradually, and by the time you realise you have a corruption you may have to go back to a very old file to get a clean document.
The article offers the alternative solution of creating a custom Document Property to store  the "Version No". You can find the full article here