Conducting research as part of a PhD study offers students a unique opportunity to explore new methods and methodologies. Although we each based our PhD studies on a more traditional participatory action research (PAR) methodology, we also took the opportunity to experiment with a new data analysis method. Working from a critical social science paradigm (Fay, 1987) that translates into critical and
collaborative research practice with an emancipatory intent, our scope of freedom as to how to process data, perform the analyses, then synthesise and report the results, became restricted. We felt that if we were to be genuine in involving practitioners in data analysis, as co-researchers, we needed to adopt approaches that allowed the expression of all ways of knowing. Using the creative arts proved to be an innovative way of working and learning, facilitating the complex interpretation of narrative data, identifying patterns, themes and connections.
As in all qualitative research, in order to enhance process and outcome rigour, the (learning) strategies and methods used by researchers should be congruent with the principles characteristic of the chosen methodology. In this chapter, we want to offer you, the reader, a deeper insight into the key principles underlying this
method for data analysis, before describing how we "danced" with them in each of our studies. Building on the original work of Boomer and McCormack (2010), who used the key principles of practice development, namely participation, inclusion and collaboration,i we developed a "critical and creative data analysis framework".
This framework rests on the three main philosophical principles of hermeneutics,criticality, and creativity. Applying these principles to data analysis we have learned that multiple perspectives usually show more similarities than differences, which we express visually and poetically in Figure 22.1. The interface between two perspectives is not a juxtaposition but a fluid transition, where the sky meets the
sea and the sea meets the sand. Each is separate and yet part of the whole, bigger picture.