Dial M for Methodology

I'm doing this online course at the moment which has me focussed on thinking through my methodology. I was introduced to this fantastic book, 'Visualizing Research' (Gray & Malins, 2004) ... oh how I wish i had this book 4 years ago when I was battling my way through understanding the beast that is methodology. Anyway, it's directed at arts and design research students so it explains the tough bits of the subject (all the different paradigms) in plain english.

The book has unpacked the whole 'practice-led' research thing for me. I'm part of the world of Constructivism, this is the theoretical zone where experiential learning (learning through practice) fits in. I'm conducting a naturalistic inquiry (conducted in natural settings with the researcher at the centre).

Constructivism is about learning through active exploration within a social context based upon individual experience and knowledge. The ontology (nature of reality) is relativist (yes, that's me) and epistemology (the nature of the relationship between the researcher and knowledge) is subjectivist (and, yes, that's me too). My beliefs and knowledge are context sensitive, subjective, relative to me. And the methodology is hermeneutics which is based upon individual constructions of knowledge. I remember writing all about hermeneutics a few years ago ... ahh ... good times :o/ ... Gadamer ... the lens through which we see the world affects how we see the world.

And of course, this is where this blog fits in right? This journalling this the the filtering station between practice and research, where the two affect and process each other. Nice. I get it.