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Arts Based Research
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Arts Based Research



March 2011 | 208 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Arts Based Research is ideal for students, researchers, and practitioners. This unique book provides a framework for broadening the domain of qualitative inquiry in the social sciences by incorporating the arts as a means of better understanding and rethinking important social issues. In the book's 10 thought-provoking chapters, authors Tom Barone and Elliot W. Eisner--pioneers in the field--address key aspects of arts based research, including its purpose and fundamental ideas, controversies that surround the field and the politics and ethics involved, and key criteria for evaluation.


 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
1. What Is and What Is Not Arts Based Research?
 
2. Why Do Arts Based Research?
 
Arts Based Research Example I: ?Notes From a Marine Biologist?s Daughter?
 
3. Yes, But Is It Research?
 
4. Who Can Do Arts Based Research?
 
5. Who Can Be the Audience for Arts Based Research?
 
Arts Based Research Example II: ?Broken & Buried in Arkansas?
 
6. Can Arts Based Research Be Fictive?
 
7. How Might Arts Based Research Be Both Political and Ethical?
 
Arts Based Research Example III: ?Ways of Being at Risk"
 
8. What are Some Criteria for Assessing Arts Based Research?
 
9. Is There a Place for Theory in Arts Based Research?
 
10. What Are Some Fundamental Ideas from Arts Based Research?
 
References
 
Additional Readings
 
Index
 
About the Authors

"An immediate classic! Authored by the two scholars who have established arts-based inquiry as an important form of inquiry, this new book is foundational to the field. It is based on decades of cutting-edge work by Eisner and Barone who have developed the approach of arts based research to its current status of an acclaimed, richly generative methodology, with a compelling presence in major research conferences and journals. The book deals with such issues as what is (and what is not) arts based research; why do arts based research; who can do arts based research; who the audience can be; how arts based research may be both political and ethical; criteria for assessing arts based research; and the place for theory in arts-based research. The book we have been waiting for years. Beautifully and carefully written, it is a genuine tour de force." ~ Liora Bresler, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

Liora Bresler
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

"Eisner and Barone provide a formal explication for arts based research that is both timely and overdue. Their book does an exceptional job of describing the growth of arts based research in the social sciences and education. This work not only encourages researchers to think in new and fresh ways about their work, but it also serves as a primary text to introduce the underlying philosophy and potential contributions of arts based research to a range of professional fields. By cogently arguing for the use of aesthetic forms, Eisner and Barone challenge conventional notions of research. Their book inspires as well as informs."

David Flinders
Indiana University

"The book, written by the two most preeminent scholars in arts based research, is rich with examples of arts based research as well as with analyses of those examples. In this way, Barone and Eisner show rather than tell why those particular studies are important, how they are arts based research and the reasons the researchers engaged in their studies. For beginning scholars, the interwoven theories, purposes and rich examples will help them respond to similar questions about their own arts based research."

Dr. Jean Clandinin
Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development, University of Alberta

This will certainly be used in the programme as we encourage this approach - but not for everyone.
The authors are, of course, authoritative, well-established figures in the field

Roger Levy
School of Education, Hertfordshire University
March 19, 2021

An excellent compendium on a subject that is still making it's way in to mainstream. The book is well-structured and helps the read understand the different ways in which the arts can be used to faciliate and inform research. I also like the size of the book: big enough to present the array of elements that are found in arts-based research, and short enought to make it accessible for those who are new to the concept.

Dr Kristen Snyder
Quality Management, Mid Sweden University
November 15, 2018

This is an excellent text that is very easy to understand; it is clearly written and intersperses the complex theoretical ideas with a series of engaging narratives, that teach the reader both methodologies and sensitive openness in research. My own area is PBR in the applied arts and fine arts; many of the awarenesses generated by the text are transferable to this area.

Mr David Jones
Design and Applied Arts, Wolverhampton University
November 28, 2014

Very clear analysis of research related matters in the complex area of the arts.

Miss Liana Psarologaki
School of the Arts, Northampton University
September 24, 2014

Barone and Eisner have presented an excellent, accessible text that guides the reader through the a consideration of what constitutes arts based research and how it may be employed. They provide a helpful approach to reflecting on some of the realities of contemporary organisations and develop useful frameworks for how the arts based researcher may judge the quality of their efforts. A good foundational text with practical examples for all considering this mode of inquiry.

Dr Steve Marshall
Ashridge Consulting, Ashridge Business School
June 20, 2014

I'm working with students who are engaging a variety of contexts, and in the context of worship and liturgy, this is as close as I've come to a basic research methodology text.

Dr Mary Hess
Leadership Division, Luther Seminary
May 30, 2013

Used as non-required text

Dr Karen Mitchell
Communication Studies Dept, University of Northern Iowa
March 16, 2013
Key features

Key Features

  • Three examples of arts based social research are included to ground some of the book's more abstract notions.
  • The place of theory in arts based research is investigated.
  • Additional Readings direct readers to other resources, including a wide range of examples of arts based social research.
  • The ways that arts based research prompts the re-imagining of dimensions of the social world is explored.

Sage College Publishing

You can purchase this book and request an instructor sample on our US College site:

Go To College Site

This title is also available on SAGE Knowledge, the ultimate social sciences online library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial.