Skip to Main Content

Arts Based Research

Arts-Based Research:Definition 

"A set of methodological tools used by qualitative researchers across the disciplines during all phases of social research, including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and representation. These emerging tools adapt the tenets of the creative arts in order to address social research questions in holistic and engaged ways in which theory and practice are intertwined.” 

  • Patricia Leavy, Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice (2009), p. 2-3
  • ABR "...addresses complex and often subtle interactions and...provides an image of those interactions in ways that make them noticeable."
    • Barone & Eisner, Arts Based Research, 2012, p. 3
  • ABR approaches are particularly useful “for research projects that aim to describe, explore, or discover” (Leavy, 2009, p. 12).
  • Holistic, pluralistic Methodology: 
    • Multiple epistemological perspectives can be embedded within ABR
    • There are multiple ways to see the world to gain understanding (Barone & Eisner, 2012)

Charlotte Symphony & Piedmont Middle School: Interpreting History Through Art Project

If you cannot access the above video, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7NH-bSkQPE.

Interpreting History through Art was a multi-disciplinary program presented by the Charlotte Symphony at Piedmont Open IB Middle School during the 2009-2010 school year. Program partners included the Levine Museum of the New South and the Light Factory. Teaching artists worked with students in each of the arts disciplines at the school focusing on the theme of "Changing Places". This theme is based on the exhibit of the same name at the Levine Museum of the New South which explores how people in the Charlotte region are dealing with the growing cultural diversity and change created by the influx of newcomers from across the U.S. and around the globe. Teaching artists were David Crowe (orchestra / band), Jen Crickenberger (visual art), Alyce Cristina Vallejo Moran (drama/dance), and Chris Stonnell (chorus) [Read more...]

A short discussion on Arts-based Educational Research (ABER)

Introduction to Research Methods - Art Based Research

If you cannot access the above video, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3x4sRbTD2c.