Research Methods Dr Alice Mah Department of Sociology aamahwarwickacuk Lecture Outline Visual sociology and visual methods Discussion 10 minutes I Analysing existing images II Producing visual methods during fieldwork ID: 917470
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Visual Methods DTC Qualitative" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Visual Methods
DTC Qualitative
Research
Methods
Dr Alice Mah
Department of Sociology
a.a.mah@warwick.ac.uk
Slide2Slide3Lecture Outline
Visual sociology and visual methods
Discussion (10 minutes)I. Analysing existing imagesII. Producing visual methods during fieldworkEthnographyPhoto-elicitation interviewsSpatial visual methodsDiscussion (10 minutes)ConclusionsBreak and the Workshop
Slide4‘Seeing comes before words… and establishes our place in the surrounding world.’ (John Berger, 1977, Ways of Seeing
, p. 7)
Visual material is a central to the social realm, not simply a way we can study. We cannot understand social life without considering the visual aspects of social life. Brief history of visual methods: 19th-20th century: photo-journalists and documentary photographers, use of film and photography in social anthropology, social investigators and social reformers as photographers; visual sociology established in 1980s, developed in the 1990s, and is now increasingly popular (digital age).Visual methodologies produce rich data, are open to a range of interpretations, and can provide insights into producers of visual material, consumers of visual material, and social contexts of image production and consumption.Visual sociology
Slide5Visual methods
Three types of visual methods
(Banks, 2001):making visual representations (studying society by producing images)examining pre-existing visual representations (studying images for information about society)collaborating with social actors in the production of visual representationsDifferent types of visual materialtwo-dimensional pictures- drawings, maps, diagrams and charts, photographs, paintings, etc.moving or electronic images, for example TV, video and film, websitesmaterial objects themselves, such as toys, homes, streets, signsVisual methods can be used as stand-alone methods or as complementary with other qualitative methods such as interviews and participant observation.
Slide6Discussion: 10 minutes
What insights can the production and/or analysis of visual materials contribute to
our understanding of the social world? What disadvantages does their use have?
Slide7I. Analysing existing images (e.g. from an archive, a family album)
What we seek to do is to ‘place photographs in the social world, bringing them “to life
”’ (McAllister 2006)* Some suggested methods of analysis:Banks- analyse the internal and external narrativeRose- meaning is produced at three sites, so need to explore all of themChalfen’s ‘events’Numerous other concepts and methods, e.g. ‘memory work’ (Hirsh 1999, Kuhn et al 2006)Think which works better for your picture, use to set yourself questions, focus your vision.*K. E. McAllister (2006) ‘Locating memory’ in A.Kuhn and K.E. McAllister (2006) Locating Memory , NY: Berghaus Books, p. 1.
Slide8Analysing existing images: Banks
To understand the meaning of an image, need to find and use clues to produce two
stories:The external narrative—‘the social context that produced the image and the social relations within which the image is embedded at any moment of viewing’.The internal narrative… ‘its content, the story that the image communicates’ .Identifying the external and internal narrative:The materiality of the picture may provide many clues; you can derive clues from the photograph by considering it as an object as well as an image. Helpful to know what is written on back, whether postcard or snapshot, etc.If the picture is in an archive, it will help to know which file it is in (Which other pictures? Whose documents are they? How were they used?). You may need to do further research (Can you identify the people in the picture through other sources?)(Marcus Banks 2003, p. 11)
Slide9Analysing existing images: Rose
The ‘sites’ at which the meanings of an image is constructed:
The site of the production of the imageThe site of the image itselfThe sites where it is viewed by various audiences, who are reading and using it in various ways.(Rose, 2001, p. 16-32)
Slide10Analysing existing images: Chalfen
Think of photograph as a series of events that went into its making and use- for instance planning the picture behind the camera when taking it, what was happening front of the camera, what was happening at each different times of use. Then we can ask questions ask about each state the following questions:
Who were the participants?In which setting did the events take place?Which topics were addressed? (family relationships, for instance)What message form does the image take? (Christmas card)What code is it embedded in? (realistic, romantic, etc)(Chalfen 2000)
Slide11Analysing existing images: compositional analysis
Content--what story does the picture tell?
Colour -- hue, saturation (vividness, depth), value (lightness, darkness)Spatial organizationFocus-what position are we offered as a viewer?Light- type and intensity of light (candlelight, daylight, etc)Expressive content--the ‘feel’ of the image
Slide12Example: Family albums and domestic photography (Rose 2003; Chalfen 2000)
Interest originates with feminist sociology and art studies in the 1980s
Brings social character of the private sphere into the picture(Changing) character of gender relations is illuminated by family snapsCultural variability of family photography and its uses, including their display in albums, in domestic space, etc.
Slide13II. Producing visual data during fieldwork
taking photographs or videos from field research to illustrate/reveal research themes
photo-elicitation interviewsparticipant photography or video recording‘spatial’ visual methods (ethnographic and site observations: body language, streets, buildings, public places, movements, gestures, social interactions, walking methods)drawing maps and diagramsdiscussing photographs, images, or other visual materials with informantsvisual diaries (your own or your informants’) * We will focus on just a few of the many possibilities here…
Slide14Photographs in fieldwork
Elizabeth Chaplin (2002) ‘The Residents of South London Road’
Slide15Photo-elicitation interviews
Photo-elicitation interviews: researchers introduce photographs into the interview context
Photographs may be researcher-produced, existing photographs, or produced by research participantsThree main uses of photographs (Harper, 2002):As visual inventories of people, objects and artefactsAs depictions of events that are part of collective or institutional paths (photographs of schools or events)As intimate dimensions of the social (photos of family, friends, the self, the body)Advantages: ease rapport, provide structure, prompt questions, richer data, greater balance of power dynamicsChallenges: confidentiality, ethics, trust, technical skill, sensitivity to context, power relations
Slide16Example of photo-elicitation ‘auto-driven’ interview instructions, Clark-Ibáñez
Slide17Clark-Ibáñez: photo-elicitation images
Slide18Clark-Ibáñez: photo-elicitation images
Slide19Byrne and Doyle: photo-elicitation with focus groups, using existing mining images
Slide20Byrne and Doyle: photo-elicitation with focus groups, using existing mining images
Slide21Les Back: participant street photography, Brick Lane, East London
Slide22Les Back: participant street photography, Brick Lane, East London
Slide23Pink and Mackley:Using videos for visual social research
http://
www.socresonline.org.uk/17/1/3.html‘Experiencing place with video’:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwhROWpH9lc&feature=player_embedded
Slide24Spatial visual methods
‘Spatial’ visual methods: concerned with relationships between people and places/spaces (communities, cities, neighbourhoods, homes, public spaces, parks, rural spaces, natural spaces, confined places, policed places, political places)
Diary-photo diary-interview method (Latham), time-space diagram, diary, photo and interview as complementaryMaterial culture studies (Miller) people’s relationships with objects, photos, materialsSite observations (drawing maps, photographing areas of research; spatial part of ethnographic lens)Mobile methods: researching while on the move (participant and/or researcher), conducive to spatial research
Slide25Spatial visual methods: walking methods and psychogeography
‘Walking whilst talking’ (or driving or on public transport): research participants guide researchers through places: city streets, neighbourhoods, shops, churches, parks, and talk about meanings, memories and ideas related to places. Informal, good for rapport, multi-sensory, rich material.
Psychogeography: researchers explore the social and psychological impacts of places on people; primary method through researcher walking and observing. Earlier antedecents: Walter Benjamin’s flaneur and George Simmel’s Metropolis and Mental Life, 1903; ‘founded’ by Guy Debord 1955, contemporary example: Ian Sinclairs’s London Orbital). Criticisms: spectator/voyeuristic/detached/popular.
Slide26Research example: Industrial Ruination, Community, and Place (Mah 2012)
See in particular chapter 5 ‘Reading landscapes of ruination, deprivation, and decline,’ pp. 129-152
Outlines social and spatial analysis approach of ‘reading’ social and spatial landscapes of industrial and urban declineCombines visual, spatial, mobile, and ethnographic methods
Slide27Driving tours with research participant in Ivanovo, Russia: Mah
Slide28Driving tour with research participant (taxi driver) in Walker, Newcastle: Mah
Slide29Discussion (10 minutes)What are some key ethical issues that relate to using visual methods in fieldwork?
How might these ethical issues be addressed?
Slide30Conclusions
Visual methods capture multi-dimensional, rich data.
Analysing photographic images gives us insight into the social institutions, like the family, and social practices in which they are produced and viewed.The production of visual images is itself a social practice which helps to define and constitute social life. We can use images to gain a vivid view of how people see themselves and their environments, and how they locate themselves within them.Participant photography can give us greater access to marginalised groups and to sensitive topics (but risk of power imbalance and ‘using’ vs. empowering /giving real ‘voice’) .Ethical issues of confidentiality, informed consent, trust and power relations.