Centre for Qualitative Research

The Continuing Development of a Performative Social Science at Bournemouth's Centre for Qualitative Research

By Dr Kip Jones

"Elegant and sophisticated, a thoughtful and provocative rendition of how narrative studies can enhance social science work and provide a bridge with humanities and the arts. Impressive. I'm glad I am part of your assemblage."

Mary Gergen, Social Psychologist, Feminist and Author 2005

Performative Social Science

Exploring the possibilities of a "performative" social science, for me, grew directly out of dissatisfaction with limitations in publication and presentation of my own narrative data. For instance, my reciting papers to audiences or, worse, reading text from PowerPoint presentations directly to them (audiences who were certainly capable of reading slides for themselves) contributed to my self-inflicted discontent. I began, therefore, to look to the arts and humanities for possible tools which might be transposed in order to better disseminate my interview material at conference gatherings. As collage-makers, narrators of narrations, dream weavers, qualitative researchers are natural allies of the arts and humanities. In practical terms, promising possibilities include, but are not limited to, performance, film, video, audio, graphic arts, new media (CD ROM, DVD, and web-based production), poetry and so forth (Jones 2006).

By thinking "performatively", we are able to consider the interview in Denzin's terms: 'not as a method of gathering information, but as a vehicle for producing performance texts and performance ethnographies about self and society' (Denzin 2001: 24) where 'text and audience come together and inform one another (2001: 26) in a relational way. In Law and Urry's (2004) thinking, research methods in the social sciences do not simply describe the world as it is, but also enact it (2004: 391). They are performative; they have effects; they make differences; they enact realities; and they can help to bring into being what they also discover (2004: 392-93). Indeed, 'to the extent social science conceals its performativity from itself it is pretending to an innocence that it cannot have' (2004: 404). This leads us to a consideration of a "performative" social science.

Future Projects

As part of a cross-school effort, a band of researchers have gathered under the umbrella of the Performative Social Science Group This group is developing bid applications to the AHRC and others to provide more workshops and the development of tools using the arts as a basis for social scientists. Ideas currently under consideration are an Artist in Residence at HSC and follow-up evaluation of projects for further dissemination.

Conclusions

We base our efforts in Performative Social Science on the following principles:

Traditional social science 'methods have difficulty dealing with the sensory-that which is subject to vision, sound, taste, smell; with the emotional-time-space compressed outbursts of anger, pain, rage, pleasure, desire, or the spiritual; and the kinaesthetic-the pleasures and pains that follow the movement and displacement of people, objects, information, and ideas' (Law & Urry 2004: 403-404). Turning to alternative methods opens up possibilities for dealing with the sensory.
Engagement in co-operation with others outside of our own disciplines itself can become a creative act, often stretching the boundaries of our understanding and prodding us to come up with fresh and innovative ways of overcoming practical obstacles in knowledge transfer.
It is a historical fact that the major upheavals and transformations in Western art and science occurred during periods of cross-pollination from discipline to discipline.
We believe that art and science are both 'fuelled by creativity' (Taylor 2001) and that the potential for inventiveness resides within all of us. After all is said, 'creativity is that uncanny ability to work within rule boundaries while, at the same time, changing them' (Jones, 2006).

Our objectives include the following:

To establish a 'space and place' for novel interactions-both with each other as well as with fresh interfaces with the data itself-providing a new environment for invention, inspiration and collaboration.
To build a critical mass of social science researchers and postgraduates with a renewed confidence in exploration and use of tools from the arts and humanities in production and dissemination of social science data.
To forge new collaborations and networks with individuals in the arts and humanities and,
To engage in on-going dialogue across disciplines through new networks, leading to,
Collaborative production and diffusion of social science products.

These are exciting times for us in our explorations of a performative social science. The potential to cross disciplinary boundaries and work with colleagues from a wide variety of backgrounds abounds. We invite you to join us in our activities, attend our workshops, seminars and conferences and, more generally, share your ideas and projects with us. We look forward to exploring this exciting new territory with you.

References

Denzin, Norman K. (2001) The reflexive interview and a performative social science. Qualitative Research 1(1): 23-46.
Jones, Kip (2006) A Biographic Researcher in Pursuit of an Aesthetic: The use of arts-based (re)presentations in "performative" dissemination of life stories. Qualitative Sociology Review, April 2006.
Law, John and John Urry (2004) Enacting the social. Economy and Society, 33,3: 390-410.
Taylor, Richard (2001) From Science to Art and Back Again. Science: Next Wave. 27 April 2001.

Contact

Dr Kip Jones

Reader in Qualitative Research, School of Health & Social Care and The Media School

Centre for Qualitative Research
Performative Social Science Group