In this article I outline an original creative method for qualitative research, namely the painting with data technique. This is a participatory methodology which brings creativity and participation through to the analytical phase of qualitative research. Crucially, I acknowledge but also challenge the dominant aesthetic that currently shapes qualitative research and renders life in a monochromatic palette. The painting with data method evidences an alternative aesthetic to the predominant one and I argue that we can understand this methodology by adapting Jennifer Mason’s concept of ‘layering’ to conceptualise how different aesthetics help us to see the different shapes, forms and moulds that make us, our relationships and our worlds. The process moves away from traditional ways of treating transcribed data, and prioritises addition above extraction; juxtaposition over thematisation; and collaging rather than ordering. This alternative aesthetic for qualitative research offers an evocative form and a conceptual schema through which to interpret the world, providing a route to novel insights, that enlivens the interpretative work of the analyst and offers opportunities to make and witness potent connections.

在本文中，我概述了定性研究的原始创造性方法，即使用数据进行绘画技术。这是一种参与性方法，将创造力和参与性带入了定性研究的分析阶段。至关重要的是，我承认但也挑战了目前塑造定性研究并以单色调色板呈现生活的主导美学。采用数据方法的绘画证明了一种替代主要美学的美学，我认为我们可以通过适应詹妮弗·梅森的“分层”概念来概念化这种方法，以概念化不同的美学如何帮助我们看到构成我们的不同形状，形式和模具，我们的关系和我们的世界。该过程摆脱了传统的处理转录数据的方式，并且优先考虑了提取之前的添加；主题化的并置；而不是排序。