The multiple feedback methodology
The evaluation of creativity is typically grounded in the consensus between experts concerning what is creative (see Amabile’s Consensual Assessment Technique). And yet, in real life settings, the meaning of creativity is multiple and often contested between people belonging to different groups or communities. The multiple feedback method acknowledges this reality by proposing to focus on divergence rather than convergence in the evaluation of creativity. It requires the researcher to consider which are the relevant groups or communities of evaluators for a particular creative activity, product or practice, invite evaluations of creativity and understand them within their local context. The outcome is not numerical but represented by a diverse picture of commonalities and differences within the assessment of creativity. This method can be used by researchers and practitioners interested to understand creativity in an emic manner and to develop contextual interventions that foster creative processes in education, at work, or in other spheres of human life and activity.
Publication outlining / exemplifying this methodological tool:
Glăveanu, V. P. (2012). A multiple feedback methodology for the study of creativity evaluations. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 25(4), 346-366. Request Article
The subjective camera
The subjective camera is a small device placed at eye level that records the activity of the participant (visual and audio recording) from a first person perspective. This technological device has been used by Saadi Lahlou as part of ‘subjective evidence-based ethnographies’ and for the first time in the area of creativity research by Glăveanu and Lahlou. The usual methodology involves, first of all, establishing an ethical relationship, based on trust, with the research participants who will, later on, wear the subjective camera as they perform their usual creative activities (typically without the researcher being present). Once the recordings are made, they are reviewed by the researcher who, depending on the focus of the study and what is found in the data, selects a series of segments to be discussed with the participant in a follow-up interview. The researcher and participants thus construct an intersubjective account of the subjective experience of creating with the help of the objective evidence represented by the recording. The fact that this is a first-person perspective being recorded aids the participant to reposition him or herself and re-experience the activity. This method can be very useful for those researchers interested to examine the moment to moment dynamic of the creative process and to design tools for learners or apprentices based on knowledge about expert practices.
Publication outlining / exemplifying this methodological tool:
Glăveanu, V. P., & Lahlou, S. (2012). Through the creator’s eyes: Using the subjective camera to study craft creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 24(2-3), 152-162. Request Article
The Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS)
The Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS) is designed to measure self-perceived creativity across different domains. It is a 50 item measure that results in five self-reported scores for everyday, scholarly, performance, scientific, and artistic creativity. Usage is free; citations and scoring for the scale is below.
The instrument can be downloaded here
Scoring: All items should be randomized. The scale is designed to show perceived creative strengths (and weaknesses) and scores should be compared within the sample collected. Although possible, summing the factors for a global score is not encouraged.
Items 1-11 comprise Factor 1, Everyday Creativity
Items 12-22 comprise Factor 2, Scholarly Creativity
Items 23-32 comprise Factor 3, Performance Creativity
Items 33 -41 comprise Factor 4, Scientific Creativity
Items 42-50 comprise Factor 5, Artistic Creativity
Citation for scale itself:
Kaufman, J. C. (2012). Counting the muses: Development of the Kaufman-Domains of
Creativity Scale (K-DOCS). Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 6, 298-308. Request Article
Citation for evidence of validity:
McKay, A. S., Karwowski, M., & Kaufman, J. C. (2017). Measuring the muses: Validating the Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS). Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 11, 216-230. Request Article