“Researchers in the arts, media and design often struggle to find serviceable methodologies within the orthodox research paradigms of quantitative and qualitative research. In response to this and over the past decade, practice-led research has emerged as a potent strategy for those researchers who wish to initiate and then pursue their research through practice. This paper examines the dynamics and significance of practice-led research and argues for it to be understood as a research strategy within an entirely new research paradigm - Performative Research. Taking it’s name from J.L. Austin’s speech act theory, performative research stands as an alternative to the qualitative and quantitative paradigms by insisting on different approaches to designing, conducting and reporting research.” – Brad Haseman
Performative research stands as an alternative to the qualitative and quantitative paradigms (methodologies) by insisting on different approaches to designing, conducting and reporting research.
Taking its name from J.L. Austin's speech act theory, in which Austin refers to performative speech as a “audience that accomplish, by their very annunciation, an action that generates affect” (for example saying ‘I do’ as part of wedding ceremony). Therefore, the symbolic data assigned to this third research category functions performatively (compared to numerically/quantitively and linguistically/qualitatively data). It not only expresses research, but become research through this expression. I.e. When research results are presented through expression, they perform the act.
Extracted from Brad Haseman, A Manifesto for Performative Research (2006).