visual methods the use of participatory photography … · analysing the visual and verbal data...
TRANSCRIPT
VISUAL METHODS
THE USE OF PARTICIPATORY PHOTOGRAPHY AND
PHOTO ELICITATION INTERVIEWS TO IDENTIFIY
THE PLAY AND RECREATION EXPERIENCES OF
CHILDREN AGED 8 – 15 YEARS:
OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY &
FIELDWORK SETTING
• Ethnography: A child centred methodology
• Fieldwork and Participant Observation
•
PARTICIPATORY PHOTOGRAPHY
• Adopting a children’s rights perspective, with particular emphasis on Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• Children as active agents and key informants in the research process
• Photography can be influenced by the seasons (Punch 2002)
CHILDREN GENERATING PHOTOGRAPHS
PHOTO ELICITATION INTERVIEWS
• Incorporates the photographs that children have taken themselves
• The aim is to explore the significance or meaning of the images with the participants (Prosser 1998)
• The child has expert knowledge
• The photographs are crucial in prompting conversation –and simply act as a starting point or stimulus for conversation
ANALYSING THE VISUAL AND
VERBAL DATA
• It is not the photographs themselves which inform, but rather, the analysis of them. . . the analysis of the images is informed by insights gained through ethnographic fieldwork and informants’ responses to the photo-sets (Schwartz 1989:152)
• Visual content analysis: a procedure for quantitatively recording visual representations and provides a ‘background map of a domain of visual representation’ (Bell 2001:27)
ANALYSING THE VISUAL AND
VERBAL DATA
• The triangulation of varied approaches,
accompanied by contextualisation offers
important opportunities for improving the
validity of social research (Lucchini 1996)
• Viewing the photographs in context aided in
producing detailed descriptions of images and in
developing codes, categories and subcategories,
relating to children’s contemporary play behaviours
FACTS & FIGURES
• Participants: 52 participants (Girls 31 & Boys 21)
• Age: 8 – 15 Years
• Total number of photographs: 2,155
• Average number of photographs per participant: 41
• Girls: 10 – 164 photographs
• Boys: 5 – 155 photographs
• Autumn & Winter: 39%
• Spring & Summer: 61%
• Urban: 35%
• Rural: 65%
• Primary School: 67%
• Secondary School: 33%
•
OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES
• The disparities in power and status between adults and children are cited as the greatest ethical challenge for researchers working with children (Morrow and Richards 1996)
• One way to alleviate this power imbalance, as well as enhancing a study’s reliability, validity and ethical acceptability is by using an approach, such as participatory visual methods, which gives children control over the research process (Thomas and O’Kane 1998)
OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES
• Letting children take photos of their everyday places allows them to make decisions about what to include in or exclude from the photographic records of their lives, thus letting them control the images that are presented of their everyday world (Smith and Barker 2004)
• Children and young people record and construct what is important to them, rather than the researcher imposing adult interpretation of importance
FUN, ENGAGING & EMPOWERING
Can we do more stuff like this with you? I liked being part of this. [Boy, 10, Urban]
I thought it was really fun. I’d take some more photos if you wanted. [Boy, 9, Urban]
I wish I had taken more photos. It’s fun to do something different. [Boy, 10 Rural]
Taking pictures was great craic. [Boy, 9, Rural]
I really enjoyed it. It just feels like a fun summer camp kind of thing where you go and take pictures and then you talk about them with your friends. I find it really cool. [Girl, 8, Urban]
FUN, ENGAGING & EMPOWERING
It felt good to be part of the project and I really enjoyed
talking about my pictures. [Girl 12, Rural]
I love taking photos so I really enjoyed it. [Girl, 14, Urban]
I liked that you were interested in me. I really liked taking
photos of where I live like, and of my dogs and horses. [Girl,
11, Rural]
FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS
• Planning – appropriately supported
• Considerable time commitment
SUMMARY
• Children in middle childhood are eminently capable and competent to generate their own data using digital cameras
• Children value the opportunity to be involved in research and have their opinions sought
• Unique insight into children’s lives that allows researchers to deepen their understanding of children’s experiences
