ABSTRACT
As a research method, arts-based research (ABR) is designed to explore the subjective spaces of feelings, ambiguity, and perspective to reveal what other forms of research overlook. For the field of writing studies (WS), this might seem like familiar territory as WS has close family relationships to literature and creative writing, where the role of the arts in exploring, revealing, and expressing the human condition is understood to be an essential foundation of our discipline. Research in WS, broadly speaking, focuses on learning, teaching, and communication. The questions, concerns, and problems that researchers take up are multiple and continually evolving as the political, social, technological, and institutional contexts change. ABR research designs can be systematic or wildly recursive. They can take many different directions, and art-making can take place at different stages or in all stages of a project. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
