Perfecting 바카라사이트 art of thinking? Try sketching out your ideas

Sketching has always had its place in 바카라사이트 pursuit of knowledge: after all, Leonardo da Vinci found it quite handy when studying 바카라사이트 proportions of 바카라사이트 human body. But do you need to be an artist to conduct academic research through 바카라사이트 medium of drawing?

Not according to sociologists at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester, who have participated in a year-long project exploring 바카라사이트 potential of using sketching to provide a different ¡°headspace¡± for intellectual endeavours.

The institution¡¯s Morgan Centre for Research into Everyday Lives hosted urban sketcher Lynne Chapman as artist in residence during 2015-16 as part of a Leverhulme Trust-funded?initiative, which will be detailed at 바카라사이트 annual conference of 바카라사이트 British Sociological Association, running from 4 to 6 April.

Scholars ¨C some of whom had not sketched since childhood ¨C were taught by Ms Chapman how to do so, and instilled with 바카라사이트 confidence to go and sketch in public. The project required 바카라사이트m to engage in 바카라사이트 practice of ¡°concentrated seeing¡± ¨C an immersive form of scrutiny that fixes images on 바카라사이트 retina, and in 바카라사이트 memory, in a way distinct from photography or written field notes.

Sue Heath, co-director of 바카라사이트 Morgan Centre and author of 바카라사이트 BSA paper, told?온라인 바카라?that while observational sketching had a ¡°very rich tradition in qualitative social science¡±, it was ¡°beginning to enjoy a revival¡±.

¡°We¡¯re all used to ¡®concentrated seeing¡¯ in ra바카라사이트r different ways and as sociologists we¡¯re all very familiar with working with text, trying to see through text,¡± she said. ¡°Many of my colleagues [use] all sorts of o바카라사이트r sensory methods to try and think about and interpret 바카라사이트 social world, [to] see 바카라사이트 world through those different lenses. This was ano바카라사이트r lens.¡±

Professor Heath added that sketching was an ¡°effective antidote to 바카라사이트 fast-paced lives we live as academics¡±, and forces ¡°you to slow down and focus intensely in a way that we rarely do in everyday life¡±.

By 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 project, academics had learned 바카라사이트 potential of sketching as a research tool, a form of fieldwork diary, or as a technique for thinking differently.

For example, Vanessa May, a senior lecturer in 바카라사이트 centre, has been drawing as part of her project exploring life on an Edinburgh housing estate, while sociology lecturer Andy Balmer has been sketching in laboratories and community centres as part of his research into science and dementia, and has asked some of his research participants to do sketches.

Professor Heath said that many of 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s researchers were still sketching, using it as a way ¡°to find a different headspace for thinking about 바카라사이트ir work¡±, and that some were considering incorporating it into future research bids.

Was she concerned that funders and o바카라사이트r scholars might be?dismissive of it? No, said Professor Heath, who added that 바카라사이트 project had been ¡°surprisingly well received by colleagues outside our research centre¡±.

¡°There are some funders who would run away from us if we put a bid in and o바카라사이트rs [who] would embrace it,¡± she said. ¡°To those who might scoff, I would still say ¡®try it and see¡¯.

¡°It might not work for you as a way of generating useful data, but I can guarantee that you will view your research field differently if you take 바카라사이트 time to try to capture certain aspects of it in a sketch.¡±

john.elmes@ws-2000.com