Valuing response art and its application in mixed methods research inquiry

This article explores the role of researcher response art in supporting reflexive practice in mixed methods inquiry. The integration of art-based modes of inquiry and mixed methods research remains underexplored, yet this methodological partnership is well placed to offer collaborative and multidisciplinary insights. In the context of a mixed methods project conducted within a public women’s health setting, we describe an approach that is fundamentally informed by an art therapy perspective; however, is sensitive to the diverse scope and complexity of interdisciplinary healthcare inquiry. Research vignettes detail salient moments in the project, identifying three distinct functions of researcher-made images in mixed methods research. First, researcher response art served to foreground ethical and humanistic dimensions of mixed methods research. Second, response art fostered epistemological clarity and centralized participant lived experience in applied research. Third, researcher images contributed to an enhanced reflexive narrative in the synthesis of the findings.