Non-traditional Knowledge and Communication
Addressing problems arising from the production of academic research within the creative and cultural industries.
Identifying research methods
The University of Hertfordshire has provided robust foundations for creative and cultural industries (CCI) research to improve its quality and consistency.
The UK has been one of the first countries to campaign for CCI research, especially in the area known as practice-led or practice-based research.
It has taken a leading role which other countries, such as Sweden, have been seeking to learn from.
A lack of fundamental research in the field has resulted in on-going debates about the variable quality and consistency of:
- research funding applications
- outcomes
- education
Our program of research investigated the characteristic but problematic area of non-traditional knowledge and knowledge communication between 2008-2011.
Problems identified
The Non-traditional Knowledge and Communication project addressed problems that arise for the production of academic research within CCI.
The principal problems were:
- the relationship between creative practice and the requirements and standards of the academy.
- the nature of knowledge and communication of research that contains elements of practice.
A criterion-based approach was used so that a robust academic research ontology could be developed for CCI, which included non-traditional forms of knowledge and communication.
The ontology enabled the identification, differentiation and evaluation of academic research in CCI and facilitated the development of policy and strategy for furthering research as distinct from professional practice.
Aims of the research
The aims of the project were to:
- analyse the traditional models of research in academia and identify their fundamental characteristics.
- analyse the characteristics of emerging non-traditional models of research.
- determine whether the dominant academic research paradigm should be modified for CCI either in terms of its content or in terms of how it is communicated.
