Pilot study of interview protocol for understanding imagination in creative individuals

¶ … Pilot Study - Imagination

Pilot Study for QR Approach

In order to understand cognitive processes such as imagination and creativity, it is necessary for researchers to conduct research that is either based in physiological science, such as a neuroscience investigation, or based in cognitive psychology. Research that enables the study participants to talk about and otherwise disclose their thoughts and perceptions -- when they are engaged in creative activity or when they are thinking about how they use their imagination -- can provide qualitative data about the lived experiences of the participants. These individual accounts make up the thick and rich narratives of qualitative research data. Quantitative research does not provide the deep and introspective information that quantitative methods provide.

Qualitative researchers have long used the term thick rich description to describe an approach to achieving external validity in their studies (Goertz, 1973; Holloway, 1997; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Ryle, 1949). The process of describing a phenomenon in sufficient detail provides a basis for a researcher to evaluate the degree to which conclusions can be drawn from the data, and perhaps transferred -- in general terms -- to other people, settings, situations, and times. Ryle (1949) first used the term thick description, and Goertz (1973) applied it to ethnography. A thin description is a superficial account and is not desirable in qualitative research. Holloway (1997) defined thick, rich description as a detailed account of the field observations and experiences that enable the researcher to make cultural patterns and social relationships explicit and located in their context.

The proposed research study is qualitative and is grounded in the phenomenological position. Qualitative research is holistic in approach and takes into account of the environments and situations in which individual experiences occur. This approach locates qualitative research so as to be concerned with particular instances or cases. A qualitative researcher in interested in understanding the perceptions and meaning-making of individuals in order to describe and explain behavior, phenomena, or social processes from the perspective of the research participants.

Purpose of the Pilot Study

The proposed research study has two purposes: 1) To increase understanding of the nature and functioning of imagination in the lives creative people, and 2) to contribute to theory of imagination based on research data. The purpose of the pilot study is to assess the utility of the interview protocol and investigate the reliability and validity of the instrumentation. Specifically, the pilot study will gauge the flow of the questions, identify any particular difficulties with wording, examine the answers provoked by the questions, and assess if the answers conveyed are relevant to both intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences. The questions will also be assessed with regard to answering the research questions related to the study topic.

What Will the Proposed Research Seek to Discover?

Research in the field of psychology that studies imagination and creativity has associated these psychological faculties with mental images. L.S. Vygotsky (2004) imagination central to human cognitive processes, and uses a cultural-historical approach to frame his research. This concept is aptly presented in the words of Vygotsky (1992; 1930), "All that is the work of the human hand, the whole world of culture, is distinguished from the naturalworld because it is a product of human imagination and creativity based on imagination." Pelaprat & Cole (2011) characterize imagination as a process of image making that has the capacity to resolve or close gaps that are a residual of the biological and cultural-historical constraints humans experience. Pelaprat & Cole (2011) assert that this resolution of the gaps enables the continual time-space coordination that thought and associated action require.

Pilot Study Sample

A convenience sample will be used in the pilot of the proposed qualitative research. Two individuals will participate in the pilot and will constitute the sample for the pilot study. The pilot study participants were selected on the basis of three variables: 1) They are creative professionals and colleagues of the researcher, and so meet the standard for a convenience sample; 2) the participants are currently working in the fields of education and art; and, 3) the participants are interested in supporting the purpose of the study.

Interview Methods

Data-gathering instruments for this pilot study will consist of a structured interview protocol with both open-ended questions and closed-end question (Jansen, 2010). The closed-end questions will predominantly be used for collecting demographic information about the participants. Two participants will be invited to be a confidential interviewee. All interviews will be held in a public space convenient for the participants. The interviews will take approximately two hours to conduct. There will be no payment for the participants' time. The process of obtaining informed consent and the actual interview process will be conducted in conformance with the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Instrumentation

The face-to-face interviews will consist of three sections of questions, each focused on different research questions. The first section will ask about the origin and purpose of imagination as perceived by the participants. The second section will ask about the process of imagination in one's life and its relationship to emotions, thoughts, and senses. The third segment will about the function of imagination and will address if imagination can be a function of intrapersonal and/or interpersonal experiences.