ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how to make research subjects more meaningful, suggesting identity focused research as an essential part of any qualitative research. The artist and the social science researcher share a familiarity with qualitative research methods used in the production of practical and theoretical outcomes. In art, the authentic is a concept which could be analysed without recourse to any specific ethical value, apart from thinking about the authenticity of an artists response to something, rather than the authenticity of the subject. Thinking around visual context, and making and using visual data for research, are common practices for artists, but pursuit of data in visual forms give rise to a variety of research outcomes. The belief in an authentic self is framed within humanism but has been politicised by the colonised world in ways which invoke simultaneous meanings. Reflecting on the social and cultural self as a research activity is not routinely practised, or encouraged by tutors in arts institutions.
