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Chapter 3 • PORE Master Curriculum

Arts-Based Research & Creative Practice as Inquiry

Aesthetic Knowing, Performative Inquiry & Practice-Led Methodologies

Arts-Based Research Creative Practice Performative Inquiry Aesthetic Epistemology Visual Arts
Executive Overview & Learning Objectives

Explores artistic research (ABR), performative epistemologies, visual culture analysis, and how creative arts (theatre, music, fine arts, digital media) generate distinct experiential and tacit knowledge.

1. Foundational Concepts & Core Principles

1

Origins and epistemological legitimacy of Arts-Based Research (ABR)

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

2

Practice-as-Research (PaR) versus Practice-Led Research in visual and performing arts

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

3

Artistic knowing: sensory perception, affect, embodiment, and tacit cognition

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

4

Documentation protocols for creative processes: sketchbooks, rehearsal logs, performance captures

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

5

Evaluation criteria for artistic research: resonance, aesthetic rigour, and transformative insight

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

2. Methodological Comparison & Trade-offs

Practice-Led

Research where the creative artifact leads to new operational or theoretical understandings.

Practice-as-Research

The creative practice is itself the primary investigative method and outcome.

Traditional Humanities

Critical, historical, or textual commentary on existing artistic works.

3. Practical Guidelines & Common Methodological Pitfalls

Best Practices (Do This)
  • Explicitly state operational definitions before measurement.
  • Acknowledge potential confounders and data limitations in the methodology section.
  • Pre-register hypothesis and statistical tests when conducting quantitative trials.
  • Provide full provenance for historical, epigraphical, and archival texts.
Critical Pitfalls (Avoid This)
  • Confusing statistical correlation with causal determination.
  • Using non-probability convenience samples to claim population generalizations.
  • Failing to report negative results or unexpected anomalies.
  • Relying on unverified secondary citations without reading the primary source.
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