The mark of the researcher's hand : the imperfections of craft in the process of becoming a qualitative researcher
Abstract
This article draws on insights from the author’s doctoral training and fieldwork in pottery making to extend conversations about the ‘craft’ of qualitative research. Specifically, the imagery of potter and clay is introduced to explore the unfolding of craft – or the development of well-thought-out research – in the process of becoming a qualitative researcher. A longitudinal account of making research and making pottery zooms in on the deeply personal relationship between the craftsperson and their materials to explore the affective relations that emerge in craftwork. By tilting the emphasis towards the processes that bring things into being, rather than the objects that are produced, craft-in-research is conceptualised as a reciprocal shaping of bodies that unfolds in and through the simultaneous becoming of researcher and research.
Citation
Brown , A 2021 , ' The mark of the researcher's hand : the imperfections of craft in the process of becoming a qualitative researcher ' , Management Learning , vol. 52 , no. 5 , pp. 541-558 . https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507620972235
Publication
Management Learning
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1350-5076Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.