John James Marshall thesis.pdf - OpenAIR @ RGU - Robert Gordon ...

increased capacity for a transdisciplinary discourse at the intersection of these
disciplinary domains. Computer-based design and fabrication tools form a
basis by which to facilitate this transdisciplinary discourse.
6.4 Critical review of methods
An asset of this research is the breadth of practice, literature and primary
sources which contribute to its findings. The study provides a description of the
expanded context of the researcher’s practice as a qualitative case study. This
thesis has explored a hybrid approach to making 3D objects with computerbased
tools through multiple methods. This included the curation of a public
exhibition and symposium. This ‘curatorial practice-based’ approach proved a
successful research method.
Organising these events gave the researcher access to extensive primary sources
that would have been unavailable otherwise. The researcher used the curation
of the exhibition and symposium to examine contemporary practitioners,
objects, constituents and audiences in a 'live' context. The process of securing
public funding from Arts Council England and creating partnerships with
various stakeholders built peer-review into the curatorial process. The curation
of these events was also useful in defining the bounds of a specific set of
practitioners and objects as case studies. This was effective in narrowing a field
that would otherwise have been impossibly complex.
The multiple sources for data collection the exhibition and symposium created
provided the researcher with opportunities to triangulate evidence and
strengthen the research findings and conclusions. The curation of the
exhibition brought together a group of practitioners and objects that would not
have come into contact otherwise. The exhibition allowed practitioners, peers
and audiences to question and examine the propositions and arguments
developed in this thesis and reach understandings independent of the
researcher. It also provided opportunities for the researcher to capture this
qualitative data through interviews and surveys.
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