Reflection: A Conversation Between Kip Jones and Patricia Leavy: Arts-Based Research, Performative Social Science and Working on the Margins

Source: https://uwaterloo.ca/murray-alzheimer-research-and-education-program/research/projects

This is a reflection of the article "A Conversation Between Kip Jones and Patricia Leavy:
Arts-Based Research, Performative Social Science and Working
on the Margins". As the title implies, this article is an interview with Kip Jones and Patricia Leavy who are arts-based researchers.

The articles starts off with defining what arts-based research is. It is defined as "as the use of tools from the Arts (and Humanities) in carrying out Social Science research and/or disseminating its findings" (page 1). As the interview continues, they talk about the benefits of arts-based research and in particular the importance of  making research more accessible to the "lay person".

As I read this article, I thought about the work of MAREP (Murray Alzheimer Research Education Program). MAREP conducts psycho-social research related to dementia and quite often their research is arts-based.

While there are many of examples of the work of MAREP, a very simple and practical example that comes to my mind is the "A Meaningful Life" photo exhibit that they supported through the "Journey through Dementia with Photography Project". Through this project the life of a man living with dementia was captured through photographs. The photos are displayed through the Alzheimer Day Program in Cambridge. To me, this is an excellent opportunity to share information about what it is like to live with a dementia and do it in a way that is accessible to people -an excellent example of arts-based research.

As I turn a chapter in my own life and am about to embark on grad school, I hope that the research that I conduct has impact on other people's lives. I don't want to conduct research that ultimately "collects dust" because the only people who read it are other people in the academic community. I think that using art within research is very important because it is a way to make research accessible to everyone in the community.