Metaphors for Research: What's Yours?
Sometimes, a metaphor can help us understand or express a process. For
example, Ursula K. Le Guin, in her essay "The
Carrier-Bag Theory of Fiction,"(1988) suggests that there are two major
forms of fiction:
- the hunter-hero story, which is progressive and linear,
involves killing large animals or enemies or overcoming one large but
surmountable problem, and produces a hero.
- the life-story or "carrier bag" type, involves one or
more people carrying on and containing or preserving whatever is valued
for the
current work and for the future. The characters support each others'
efforts, or cooperate, and the progress is more web-like than linear. The
story produces no heroes, although some self-sacrifice may be required. It
is full of quirks, twists and surprises; some people suffer, but many grow
and thrive (Parks, 1996).
This distinction between a great effort that yields immediate and large
results or treasure (finding the "one source" for a topic), and the
slower gathering of small pieces to make a larger, lively whole (finding
many good sources and then integrating the information from them) is a good metaphor for the research process. Many students aim for the large
"kill", to get all that they need in one fell swoop, when they would be more successful, and gain more
understanding, from picking the best bits from many places.
There are other metaphors, of course-- a common one is that
research is a game, a treasure hunt, or like piecing together a quilt. The
key to it all is learning to find what you need, and to evaluate what you have.
Parks, John G. "The Teacher as Bag Lady: Images and Metaphors of
Teaching." College Teaching(Fall 1996) 44, 4:132-6.