Creative Methods Experimentation #1: Using Life Mapping to Creatively Explore Life Experiences

This is part of a series of three standalone online sessions, scheduled for Thursday 12th February, Thursday 5th March and Thursday 26th March 2026.

This series of three sessions offers postgraduate researchers the opportunity to engage with leading experts who are pushing the boundaries of qualitative inquiry through creativity, innovation, and collaboration. The sessions explore how researchers are extending and reworking traditional qualitative methods, experimenting with creative methods, arts-based and research-creation practices, and developing approaches to co-production that open up new forms of knowledge and participation.

Each lecture will be structured around one or two key readings, providing a shared foundation for discussion. Participants will not only have the chance to reflect critically on the ideas and techniques presented, but will also be encouraged to experiment with selected methods in practice, testing their potential within their own areas of research. Together, the series aims to cultivate methodological versatility by combining theoretical reflection, practical experimentation, and collective dialogue.

The first session of the series will host Dr Katherine Davey, Senior Research Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University. It will explore the research method of life mapping. The reading exemplifies the use of life mapping in a project on transitions across housing and homelessness, but also illustrates how life mapping can be applied to conducting sensitive research with other marginalised communities or on similarly complex topics. The session considers the potential of life mapping to move beyond rehearsed stories to gain richer and more detailed insights of people’s lives, as well as how associated ethical considerations can be carefully managed.

The key reading for this session is:

Flaherty, J., & Garratt, E. (2022). Life history mapping: Exploring journeys into and through housing and homelessness. Qualitative Research, 23(5), 1222-1243.

Outcomes

Participants will gain:

• Understanding of life mapping as a method – how it can be applied to explore complex social issues such as housing, homelessness, and other sensitive topics;
• Practical insights into working with marginalised communities – recognising the potential of life mapping to uncover richer, less rehearsed narratives;
• Awareness of ethical considerations – strategies for managing sensitivity, trust, and care when researching lived experiences;
• Methodological adaptability – ideas for how life mapping can be creatively extended and tailored to diverse research contexts.

Contributors

Dr Laura Trafi-Prats is a Reader in the School of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Deputy Director of Advanced Qualitative Methods for the WRDTP.

Dr Katherine Davey is a Research Fellow in the School of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is currently working on a Leverhulme Trust-funded project: Mapping Interventions for NEET Young People in England (MINE). The research aims to understand the nature and scope of early interventions targeted at young people ‘at risk’ of becoming NEET and foreground the voices of the young people accessing them through an ethnographic approach.