Biennial Conference 2005 - Melbourne

Information on the 2005 AQR conference

13-16 July 2005, Venue La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus, Melbourne

Conference Theme

The Art and Craft of Qualitative Research � Creativity and Critique was the major theme of the Conference.  Can Qualitative Research be both an art and a science? Can it be planned out in detail in advance like the positivists suggest or is it emergent like any art or craft.  Contrary to what the positivists say, even the �hard� sciences have their art and craft, but with qualitative research we celebrate the creativity of its art and craft. 

The Sub-Themes included

1. Arts-Based Research
   
   There has been an explosion in arts-based research in recent years.  Creative forms of research representation � plays, poetry, narratives, life histories, visual art, and more � have come to the fore, eliciting response, luring participation, and demanding attention. Laurel Richardson (2000) states: �Some ethnographers, now, desire their work to be both �scientific� and �literary.� I am one who so desire� (italics added).  Some have critised the result as being mostly bad art.  Can an academic write a performance text without going through the apprenticeship of being a playwright.  The conference began with the performance of a performance text and an improvisation on the violin of the themes of the conference.
   
2. Translating Research Results into Practice
   
3. Translating Theory into Design
   
   Research papers were presented from all areas of qualitative research whatever the discipline.  The conference was of particular interest to people working in the areas of:
   

• • Health 
    
  • Nursing 
    
  • Midwifery 
    
  • Medicine 
    
  • Education 
    
  • Computer Science 
    
  • Social Work 
    
  • Business 
    
  • Marketing 
    
  • The Arts 
    
  • Sociology 
    
  • Psychology 
    
  • Occupational Therapy 
    
  • Technology 
    
  • Human Communication Science 
    
  • Management 
    
  • Social Ecology 
    
  • Geography 
    
  • Law 
    
  • Anthropology 
    
  • Environmental Studies 
    
  • Counselling 
    
  • Art Therapy 
    
  • Tourism 
    
  • Out Door Education 
    
  • Criminology 
    
  • Language Studies