In their article about arts and narrative research, Bochner and Ellis (2003) talk about many different ways that art can be seen as something other than just a pretty picture. Although it is strange to think about, they argue that art can be a "process and form of inquiry" where the researcher uses art as a way to ask and answer questions (Bochner and Ellis, 2003, 508). There is no specific type of methodology described in this article, because art is a complicated thing and different for everyone. But the authors say that some examples are showing data from a piece of research in the form of dance or drama, or a painting, can be ways to use art as research instead of beauty (Bochner and Ellis, 2003, 508).
Denzin, Lincoln, and Giardina (2006) describe a more usual kind of research methodology, which is qualitative. On the other hand, the way the authors talk about this methodology is not at all usual. They argue that government and academic research is too caught in "fundamentalism" of truth and evidence (Denzin, Lincoln, and Giardina, 2006, 770). Because evidence and truth are political, they are not good enough for research. Instead, the authors say that "critical pedagogy" and "prophetic pragmatism" are more important (Denzin, Lincoln, and Giardina, 2007, 776). What this means is difficult to understand, but it seems to be in part that instead of looking at "truth" and "evidence," researchers should create "greater individual freedom in the broader social order" with their work (Denzin and Giardina, 2007, 776).
Both of the articles talk about research in surprising ways. While Bochner and Ellis look at how art can be used as a form of inquiry into the researcher's experience, Denzin, Lincoln, and Giardina complain about what is accepted around the world as research at all. Both articles make an argument that it is important to always look for new problems in how studies are researched.
Bochner and Ellis's art research could be used in studies on how people respond to famous paintings, or to create a ballet that shows people how racism can affect others. These new studies would be research as well as art that could change people's views. Denzin, Lincoln and Giardina's prophetic pragmatism could also be used in a similar way, for instance by looking at how the supposed truth of a traditional research study is actually reached because of some underlying political motive.
References
Bochner, A.P., and Ellis, C. Name, I. (2003). An introduction to the arts and narrative research: Art as inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry 9(3): 506-514.
Denzin, N.K., Lincoln, Y.S., and Giardina, M.D. (2006) Disciplining qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(6): 769-782.
