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Behind the Scenes: How to Research Creative Processes in Multidisciplinary Groups

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The Palgrave Handbook of Social Creativity Research

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture ((PASCC))

Abstract

In this chapter, I report from an ethnographic study on creative processes in multidisciplinary groups working with developing innovative ideas and focus in particular on the methodological choices involved. The research project was grounded in a sociocultural approach and sought to explore the creative processes and understand the relational aspects, which are often invisible at first glance, but, in this study, they were found to be crucial underlying conditions for enabling creativity. When conducting research on creative processes in groups, it is important to get rich descriptions of the communication and social interactions among group members. An ethnographic design enabled me to get close to and capture these processes from the beginning to the end, identifying patterns and characteristics across the groups. In the chapter, I begin with offering some background information for the project and the sociocultural theoretical framework it adopts. I then briefly present then main findings of the study. Next, I turn to practical aspects related to the methodological procedures and analyses used in the project. Furthermore, I include a discussion of researcher reflexivity and of the ethical challenges involved in doing research in confidential innovation settings.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Ingunn Johanne Ness

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  1. Ingunn Johanne Ness
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Correspondence to Ingunn Johanne Ness .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland

    Izabela Lebuda

  2. Department of Psychology, Webster University Geneva, Bellevue, Switzerland

    Vlad Petre Glăveanu

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Ness, I.J. (2019). Behind the Scenes: How to Research Creative Processes in Multidisciplinary Groups. In: Lebuda, I., Glăveanu, V.P. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Social Creativity Research. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95498-1_22

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