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Creative and practice-based research

Guidance on resources and techniques to searching the literature and writing for creative and practice-based research.

Visualise Your Thesis (VYT) Competition

A gleaming gold winners trophy cup takes center stage, surrounded by a festive explosion of colorful celebration confetti and sparkling glitter, symbolizing victory and success in a competition

RMIT is thrilled to announce the 2024 Visualise Your Thesis (VYT) Competition

Create a 60-second, eye-catching video explaining your research to a general audience for a chance to win a cash prize. It is your opportunity to be creative, develop digital literacy and visual storytelling skills.

The first prize winner’s entry will also go into the international Visualise Your Thesis competition.


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What is creative practice research?

Creative practice research, ​also called practice-based research, is where a specific research question is explored via creative practice processes and/or via the product of a creative endeavour. It is commonly employed in art and design creative practice HDR projects. However, practice-based research also has a history in other disciplines such as medicine, engineering and education where it is often referred to as "action research".

Definitions vary, but research in the creative areas may be considered practice-based or practice-led (Skains, 2018). Practice-based research, according to PRAGUK (n.d., para. 11), is research where the "creative artefact is the basis of the contribution to knowledge", whereas in practice-led research the contribution of the research "leads primarily to new understandings about practice". As such, in a practice-based doctoral thesis, creative outputs, such as a sculpture or a novel, are integral to the research process. The written work, which describes the development, nature, and innovation of these creative outputs, is intrinsically linked to the creative work itself and cannot be fully understood without it (Candy, 2006). On the contrary, in a practice-led doctoral thesis, the research results can be entirely conveyed through language, offering theoretical insights into the practice without requiring the inclusion of a creative work.

References

Candy, L. (2006). Practice based research: A guide. Creativity & Cognition Studios. https://www.creativityandcognition.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/PBR-Guide-1.1-2006.pdf
PRAGUK (n.d.). Methodology. PRAGUK. https://prag-uk.org/glossary-of-terms/methodology/
Skains, R. L. (2018). Creative practice as research: Discourse on methodology. Media Practice and Education19(1), 82-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/14682753.2017.1362175


The following video is a presentation and teaching supplement of practice-based methodology for arts practitioners.

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