Creativity & Inspiration: A Research Proposal Research Proposal Samples

Abstract

The study seeks to examine the relationship between hard work and inspiration in creativity. Previous studies indicate that inspiration is a major prelude to creativity. The study will test whether this assertion is true or not. Thus, the study will evaluate whether creativity plays a bigger role in creativity than hard-work and structured studies instead. To this end, the proposal insists that a sample of ten university students will be required to create something in a field they consider to be creative at. Respondents are to keep a log that will document their points of inspiration over a 3-week period. Aspects of structured work and continuous work will also be documented. The final deliverable or plan for creation of the deliverable will be presented to the researchers alongside their journals that involves their activities. The researchers will judge whether inspiration or structured hard work played the leading role in the creativity process.

Introduction

Most artists, professionals and researchers involved in the creation of new ideas and theories tend to be guided and motivated by inspiration. This is because the creation of a new phenomenon desires some kind of unique motivation or inspiration that is necessary to create something that was not in existent in the past, that people will identify with or find useful. The purpose of this paper is to formulate a scientific system through which the relationship between creativity and inspiration can be construed through empirical methods, steeped in psychology as a science.

Literature Review

This section of the proposal will examine and review existing literature relating to past studies and research into creativity and inspiration as two distinct phenomena. This section will include the examination of groundbreaking theories and definitions that serve to describe the core concepts. It will culminate in the formulation of a set of conclusions that can be applied to the rest of the research and the modeling of the study.

Theoretical Framework

Inspiration is viewed as a form of vivid recall induced by a positive affect. This is because fundamentally, inspiration is about a situation that gets a person to get a positive view of how to do something and he vividly gets the idea and the grasp of that idea and applies it to attain the end in sight.
Creativity on the other hand is a situation whereby the work or ideas of a person is authentic and is in an applicative stage. This means that creativity is a situation whereby a person applies his new innovative ideas and views to formulate something new that was hitherto unknown.

Inspiration and Creativity: Conceptual Analysis

Different scholars have various views and opinions about how inspiration and creativity works together to formulate new ideas and theories. One of the positions is that inspiration is the motivational response to creativity. This means that inspiration is a form of motivation that helps to create ideas that culminates in products and deliverables in creative endeavors.
On the other hand, two studies were conducted by Thrash et al (2010). The first study sought to test whether creative ideas and inspiration were factorally distinct or not. The methodology included the testing of 165 graduate students who submitted online questionnaires relating to their creative ideas and the level of inspiration they had in the week before the idea was generated. The findings showed that creativity in most situations is preceded by some kind of inspiration. The second study of Thrash et al (2010) examined whether creative products were due to hard work (effort) or inspiration. This study included 148 university students who were to write various research papers. Ten judges randomly assigned grades to the papers. After the grading, they were asked to identify the writers’ levels of effort and inspirations. When the results were collated, it was identified that the readers were able to accredit creativity to inspiration and technical merit to effort.

Research Methodology

The fundamental aim of the proposed study is examine new evidence that shows the correlation between creativity and inspiration. To this end, there will be a two-stage study that will examine and review important elements and aspects of creative science and reviews.

Participants of Study

In order to examine the actual correlation between creativity and inspiration, there will be a random selection of 10 participants. Each of the participants will be asked what he is best in creating. Thus, a range of events and activities that requires innovation and creativity will be identified per each respondent.

Research Process

In the first interview, the respondents will identify a range of activities that s/he can carry out appropriately. From there, the respondent will be asked if there is something s/he will want to create in one of the activity ranges. The individual will be allowed to narrate a sketchy element of what he wants to create. The respondent will be given 3 weeks to produce what s/he has thought of. Within that period, the individual will be encouraged to take a log of the times s/he got ideas of how to actually implement the theory that was envisioned. And in the process, new ideas must be listed.
On the third week, the respondent will be asked to either produce a detailed plan of what s/he wanted to do or the deliverable of what was done. The respondent’s log-book/journal will be evaluated and the trends in inspiration gathering and the impact of the inspiration on the project in question will be evaluated. This will lead to the formulation of conclusions on how this was done and the role inspiration played in the achievement of the final deliverable.

Data Analysis

Thus, each case will be evaluated on merit and they will be classified under inspiration pointers and elements of hard work. This will show the inputs that was made by inspiration in conceptualizing the project and how these inspiration pointers played a role in creating the final project. From there, three judges will score the percentage of inspiration and the percentage of hard-work that went into the creativity process.

Theorization

The role of hard work and the role of inspiration will be independently reviewed and this will be used as the basis to ascertain whether hard work or inspiration was the main pointer that led to the creation of the deliverable. The fundamental end will be to figure out the extent to which inspiration, rather than hard work and uninspired effort was applied to the achievement of the end in question
The higher the percentage of inspiration, the more likely the conclusion will support the fact that inspiration is a major prelude to creativity. On the other hand, where most of the respondents achieved their end by hard work and continuous work according to a defined schedule, it is going to be conclusive that hard work, rather than inspiration guides creativity.

Bibliography

Feist, G. J. (1998). A meta-analysis of personality in scientific and artistic creativity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(4), 290-309.
Fürst, G., Ghisletta, P., & Lubart, T. (2014). Toward an Integrative Model of Creativity and Personality: Theoretical Suggestions and Preliminary Empirical Testing. . The Journal of Creative Behavior.
Oleynick, V. C., Thrash, T. M., LeFew, M. C., Moldovan, E. G., & Kieffaber, P. D. (2014). The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities. . Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8.
Thrash, T. M., & Elliot, A. J. (2003). Inspiration as a psychological construct. . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, , 871-889.
Thrash, T. M., & Elliot, A. J. (2004). Inspiration: Core Characteristics, Component Processes, Antecedents, and Function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 87(6), 957-973.
Thrash, T. M., Elliot, A. J., Maruskin, L. A., & Cassidy, S. E. (2010). Inspiration and the promotion of well-being: tests of causality and mediation. Journal of Social and Personality Psychology. Mar;98(3):, 488-506.
Thrash, T. M., Maruskin, L. A., Cassidy, S. E., Fryer, J. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Mediating between the muse and the masses: inspiration and the actualization of creative ideas. . Journal of personality and social psychology, 98(3), , 469.
Thrash, T. M., Moldovan, E. G., Oleynick, V. C., & Maruskin, L. A. (2014). The Psychology of Inspiration. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(9), , 495-510.