Exploring Methodological Challenges of Using Participant-Produced Digital Video Diaries in Antarctica

Abstract

Technological advancements have created new methods for conducting research. In this article, we explore the benefits and challenges of using participant-produced video diaries as a research method in a remote environment. Participant-produced video diaries provide rich ethnographic data of lived experiences. Moreover, video diaries allow data collection without researchers needing to be physically present, which facilitates research in remote locations. Therefore, we chose video diaries as one method of data collection for our study of a leadership programme for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine conducted in Antarctica. However, the remote location of this study raised methodological challenges beyond the routine issues associated with video diaries. In this article, we critically reflect on these challenges, highlighting implications for using participant-produced video diaries in other remote settings.

‘When I look in the bathroom mirror, I see all the women standing behind me’: An evaluation of a leadership development program for women in STEMM

“…women in leadership, sustainability). The content was delivered over 10-11 months pre-voyage as well as on board the ship to Antarctica (see Nash and Moore, 2018b).…”

“…The study was conducted over a two-year period . Data for this article are drawn from post-program interviews and video diaries only (see Nash and Moore, 2018b).…”

Exploring research relationships and other ethical challenges of participatory visual research in remote environments

“…For example, they have the advantages of providing rich data that 'vividly communicate the sheer physicality of embodied experiences'; to show as well as tell participants' experiences (Bates, 2013: 31;Cherrington and Watson, 2010). We have discussed the benefits and challenges of video diaries as a research method elsewhere (see Nash and Moore, 2018a). In this article, we reflect on the ethical challenges of using video diaries as a research method in our qualitative, longitudinal, mixed-methods study (which uses interviews, focus groups, video diaries and ethnography) of a leadership program for women in STEMM in Antarctica, a remote environment.…”

“…The ethical issues associated with the research described in this article emerge from a mixedmethods study examining leadership for women in STEMM fields (see Nash and Moore, 2018a, 2018b, 2018cNash et al, 2017). This study focuses on a group of women from five countries in the Global North who self-identified as occupying and/or aspiring to a leadership position in STEMM and who were actively seeking to enhance their leadership capacities.…”

“…Study participants were invited to use a creative visual method (video diaries) to produce their own stories about the Antarctic voyage (for an overview of the methodological challenges in this study, see Nash and Moore, 2018a). Video diaries were chosen as the primary means of gathering individual participant data because we believed they would produce the richest source of data given the remote conditions while also being less demanding for participants than alternative methods.…”