MSc Sociological Research

SOCY60230 is a Pre-Requisite for this unit

The course unit aims to:

• Introduce students to creative methods both as an approach, and as a means of generating social science research data
• Inculcate in students a critical awareness of issues involved in choosing creative methods and including them in a research project design
• Introduce students to a range of creative methods, focussing on those involving (a) elicitation (b) participation and (c) mobility in method
• Give students practical experience in the use of a creative method
• Introduce students to analytical strategies appropriate to creative methods
• Highlight the types of research question and project that creative methods can usefully be applied to, and the types of knowledge that can be produced with such methods

On completion of this unit successful students will be able to demonstrate:

• A critical appreciation of a range of creative methods, with a particular focus on those involving elicitation, participation and mobility
• An understanding of the types of research question and project that creative methods are particularly suited to, and issues involved in their inclusion in a research design, as well as their limitations
• A critical awareness of the kinds of knowledge that creative methods can produce
• Practical experience and/or theoretical understanding of the use of a creative method, and the capacity for critical reflection on methodological practice
• A critical appreciation of analytical strategies appropriate to creative methods

The course will be taught in two 4-hour workshops, which will include a range of teaching and learning styles including lectures, individual and collective reflection, group tasks, group discussions.

Written assignment (1500 word essay) 100%

• Bates, C. and Rhys-Taylor, A. (eds.) (2017)Walking Through Social Research, Abingdon: Routledge.
• Holmes, Helen and Hall, Sarah Marie (eds.) (2020)Mundane Methods: Innovative Ways to Research the Everyday, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• International Journal of Social Research Methodology15(2) 2012, Special issue 'Creative Methods with Young People'https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsrm20/15/2
• Kara, H. (2015)Creative Research Methods: A practical guide, Bristol: Policy Press.
• Lury, C. and Wakeford, N. (2013)Inventive Methods: The Happening of the Social, London: Routledge.
• Mason, J. and Dale, A. (2011)Understanding Social Research: Thinking Creatively about Method, London: Sage.
• Mason, J. (2018)Qualitative Researching(3rd edn), London: Sage.
• Methodological Innovations6(3) 2011 Special Issue 'Crossing Methodological Boundaries'https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/mioa/6/3
• Qualitative Research9(5) 2009 Special Issue 'Methodological Innovation in Qualitative Research'http://qrj.sagepub.com/content/9/5.toc
• Pink, S. (2013)Doing Visual Ethnography(3rd edn), London: Sage.
• Rose, Gillian (2016)Visual Methodologies(4th edn), London: Sage. • Sociological Research Online17(1) 2012 Special Issue 'Visual Methods',http://www. socresonline.org.uk/17/1/contents.html
• Tinkler, Penny, (2013)Using Photographs in Social and Historical Research, London: Sage.
• Woodward, S. (2019)Material Methods: Researching and Thinking with Things,London: Sage. Chapter 3 'Object interviews and elicitations' (digitised)
• Toolkits for a range of methods, Morgan Centre, University of Manchesterhttps: //www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/research/resources/toolkits/