Visual Research Method
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Contents |
Introduction
Visual Methods is a form of research that uses drawings, creating maps and keeping photo diaries, etc to elicit information. This research method encourages participation of the subject rather than the researcher therefore diminishing the dichotomy between the observer and the observed. Visual methods are usually conducted in social science research. This research method is related to Action research, in the sense that it involves researchers going out and getting first-hand experience of the environment which they study. Also, Visual Methods are used for eliciting oral information as well as used to fuel and develop creative and analytical skills.
As Barnhurst (1994) notes, there have been many assumptions about the power of visual and lexical vividness in getting attention and enacting persuasion, even though ‘social psychologists, marketing experts, advertisers, and presumably journalists work from the theory that the vividness of their communications has an influence on other people but not on themselves’ (p. 97).
The main significance about visual research is that it allows the participant to play the role of the interpreter - to understand the participant's behaviour and experience through the participant's eyes first. Therefore the control shifts from the researcher to the participant. Building on traditional qualitative research methods and methods such as focus groups, the visual research process is much more fluid as responses are spontaneous, idiosyncratic and often metaphoric. As with what Ethnography aims to do, visual research recognizes that every individual will have different views, and so these different views need to be acknowledged and understood.
Drawings and Maps
In a case study by Lorraine Young and Hazel Barrett, street kids who live in the African city of Kampala (capital of Uganda) were asked to draw about their experiences on the streets and they discussed about what they had drawn. These children were aged between 9 and 17, and were illiterate. Visual methods such as drawing mental maps such as of places that are important to them as well as their life experiences - such as stealing and selling - are therefore a means of free expression.
A study was conducted regarding illness and drawing by Marilys Guillemin in 2004. Research participants undergoing menopause and heart disease were asked to draw.
"Drawings are not fixed or stable entities. Drawings are produced in a particular space and time. A woman asked to draw how she perceives her menopause today is unlikely to draw the same thing a year, a month, or even a week later. Drawings are as much about the drawer’s history as it is about their present (and, possibly, their future). The drawing as a visual product is a visual record of how the drawer understands his or her condition at that particular place and time. In this way, drawings, like other representations, can be used as ways of understanding how people see their world." (Guillemin, 2004 pp. 275)
Photo Diaries or Photovoice
‘Photovoice’ consists of two major stages: 1) individual photographs taken by the participants, and 2) discussions about the photographs. In the words of Wang and Burris (1997: 369), photovoice ‘uses the immediacy of the visual image to furnish evidence and to promote an effective, participatory means of sharing expertise and knowledge’. Photovoice is used not for quantitative measurement but for drawing on the community’s lore, observation, and stories. (Kwok & Ku 2008; pp. 270)
The children of Kampala were handed cameras and were taught how to use it. They then took photographs of their daily lifestyle. One child, 12 years old, took a photo of another child pick-pocketing in a busy street. The children were not instructed as to what photographs to take - it was entirely up to them. This provided a useful insight into their daily lives when the researcher could not fully participate as an observer in their daily routines. The photographs were not very clear sometimes, which helped to generate conversations and discussions with the children.
In 2004, David Buckingham and Bragg asked teenage participants to keep a visual diary or scrapbook to reflect upon portrayals of sex and personal relationship that they see in the media. These reflections were personal and offered an insightful understanding of how young people engage with the media (See also Understanding Media Audiences using Creative Visual Methods)
To illustrate, document and chronicle the struggles of indigenious women in the Mexican prison in 2006, Melissa Esparza believes that such photographs are particularly important. Collier (1979) writes about the human relationship developed between the participants and the photographer: “[Photographs] invariably reflect the sympathy and transfer of human feeling on the part of the field worker-photographer” (p. 162). Also, in lieu of the absence of literature on indigenous women in prison in Latin America, they become a powerful testimony, evidence of women abandonment.
"The expressions we see on the faces of the women of Ixcotel in these photographs allow us to enter into the human reality of the dehumanizing effects of their imprisonment and their internalization of abandonment. In living for us in the photos, they provide us with deeper understanding of their own experiences and those of all women behind bars." (Esparza 2006 pp. 115)
In 2008, Kwok & Ku asked ten female Hong Kong immigrants to photograph their living environment, aspects of their daily routines, frequented places and favourited or disliked places. Additional space was also given to allow one to relate stories and add comments on the photographs. These photovoices helped Kwok & Ku understand these women's perceptions regarding the physical living environment, the everyday rhythms of their lives, and their perceptions of themselves and their families.
Aesthetic Development Interview (ADI)
ADI is another form of visual research method, which diminishes the involvement of the researcher (interviewer) and encourages free, independent expression from the interviewee. Interviewees are handed an image such as a work of art, and are then asked to talk about what they have seen, what they think, etc. This method encourages people to think aloud.
Material Object Interview
Building on ADI, an object is presented - such as a coin, a fossil, or something which replaces an artwork. The interviewee is then prompted to talk about the object, to let their stream-of-consciousness run as they look at the object. This method involves collecting, coding and analyzing data, bearing similarity to action research.
Understanding Media Audiences using Creative Visual Methods
Visual Methods can be used as part of qualitative research to understand the relationship between media and the audience (Gauntlett 2005). For example, creative media artefacts such as videos, mock magazine covers, collages, etc are produced in representing the understanding of media audiences.
A group of 100 14-15 year old students in South England were asked to draw celebrities whom they aspire to be like. One girl drew a picture of actress Julia Roberts because she thought she was talented, she liked all her films, because Julia Roberts knew how to handle public criticisms and was secure.
This is to evoke a physical response - to enhance the reflective process by using the body, such as in drawing. The process of making something takes longer than giving a verbal response to a question, hence creative visual methods allow more space and time for analytical thinking. For example, an integral part of understanding the impact of news – on ordinary citizens and policy-makers alike – must include an examination of how people process media messages.
Even novel visual images we encounter are not isolated stimuli, but relate to previous images and ideas or arrive accompanied by words. As a result, images, like words, seem likely to be evaluated in relation to pre-existing beliefs and experiences – i.e. schema, defined as ‘general cognitive mental plans, that are abstract and . . . serve as guides for action, as structures for interpreting information, as organized frameworks for solving problems’(Fiske and Taylor, 1991: 665; also Brewer and Nakamua, 1984; Fiske and Linville, 1980; Taylor and Crocker, 1981). When people are confronted with an object, person, idea, or issue, evidence suggests that stimuli congruent with one’s schema are given greater attention (White and Carlston, 1983), are processed more quickly (Belmore, 1987; Brewer et al., 1981; Burnstein and Schul, 1982, 1983; Fiske and Neuberg, 1990; Helmsley and Marmurek, 1982),and are more likely to be stored in memory or to be recalled at a later time (Hastie, 1981).
Again, this research method gives independence to the respondents, also creating opportunities where they could challenge or change the minds of the researcher. With other research methods such as surveys and language based (spoken) methods, the respondents are restricted by set criteria and are already prejudged by categorizing the respondents.
Using visual research methods establishes the observed as active, creative and intelligent rather than passive receivers of media messages, as they are able to create their own interpretations about their media experience. Creative visual methods are based on the understanding of art as an experience, that art is the way to survive, to help us understand the world and ourselves. It is a way to tap into the unconscious self through doing and thinking through.
Lego Serious Play Identities and Learning Project by David Gauntlett, University of Westminster
Below is an image of a Lego as part of a visual research activity that involves metaphoric thinking and making-things, in order to understand ways of learning and to explore personality/identity.
This Lego creation below tells a part of one's personality:
The Verbal and the Visual
Rudolph Arnheim (1969, cited in Gauntlett, 2005) in his book, Visual Thinking argues that language in terms of words written and spoken limit visual thinking as it is "stabilising", and makes "cognition static and immobile". However, as Patricia Leavy points out - the relationship between text and the image is mutually effective (as we can see with visual scrapbooks/diaries):
"...pictures can function as illustrations of the text, or in the opposite process, text as illustrator of the pictures, or they form a mutual, living dialogue, a unified state or dialogical state" (Sava & Nuutinen). Arhnheim also acknowledges that when visual thinking takes places, verbal language is used as part of the process, an "inner-voice" is expressed. And visual works need to appeal to people, to be able to communicate clear messages therefore images alone are sometimes not effective enough in conveying meanings.
As with ADI and photo-diaries for example, the observed would write about their experience of the artwork. Or the researcher would discuss about the photographs with participants, rather than just looking at the pictures and assume their meaning independently of the participant, independent of words.
Some Problems/Conclusion
Some participants in visual research may lack confidence in their ability to draw, photograph, etc. They have different levels of visual skills. Some participants may leave out other details in their expression through their artwork due to social and psychological factors.
Translating symbolic images in the human mind onto two-dimensional drawn images is not a straightforward process. Therefore it is important to look at creative artefacts by participants as "a set of propositions" - and not perceive the artefact as a complete representation of the participant's experience. It is also important to allow the participant to choose the visual method - let them choose for example, to create a video rather than drawing or to do both, and always be allowed to make drafts or several versions, as to avoid restricting responses to a single thought;rather creating a range of responses.
Only by being able to vividly imagine what the lives for example, in prison, are like can we truly be able to understand the meaning of the data. The use of visual evidence (Becker, 1974; Wagner, 1979) is a necessary component, because in conjunction with the other pieces, it allows one to develop this stance. Steven Gold (2004) describes his methods in Using Photography in Studies of Immigrant Communities, “Visual research (is) a tool that complements existing methods” (p. 1553). Not only do photos complement, they also provide a completeness of understanding that is not possible without them, except by actually encountering the participants in the photos directly oneself. (Esparza, pp. 115)
The main advantage of using visual research methods is that it allows open-ended views to be formed therefore giving a more comprehensive understanding of participants and their experiences. What differentiates visual research method from other types of qualitative/ethnographic research methods is that it doesn't require an instant response, it allows more time to think through questions and by creating something, allows them to respond more freely rather than sticking to a set criteria.
References
- Barrett, H. Young, L. 2001, Visual Methods Action Research with Kampala Street Children', Brunel University and Coventry University, UK.
- Gauntlett, D. 2005, Creative Visual Research Methods to Understand Media Audiences', Medienpaed, UK.
- Leavy, P. 2008, Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice, Guilford Press.
- Housen, A. 2009, Research Methods, Visual Thinking Strategies, <http://www.vtshome.org/pages/research-methods>
- Kwok Yan Chi, J & Ku Hok-Bun 2008, 6; 26 "Making habitable space together with female Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong: An interdisciplinary participatory action research project"
- Domke, Perlmutter & Spratt 2002, 3; 131 "The primes of our times?: An examination of the ‘power’ of visual images"
- Guillemin, M. 2004, 14; 272 "Understanding Illness: Using Drawings as a Research Method"
- Esparza, M. 2006, 22; 113 “Documenting the Lives of Incarcerated Indigenous Women in Oaxaca, Expanding the Frame: The Role Visual Research Methods Played in Mexico”
Some Interesting and Useful Websites/Resource
- Gauntlett, D. 2007, Creative Explorations, Routledge.
