Interpretive visual inquiry – methodological review

Drawing on drawings: Moving beyond text in health professions education research

“…Indeed, participant-generated visuals such as Photovoice typically emphasize participative modes of inquiry to give voice to those who are typically silenced [ 14 ]. Several visual scholars have argued that many analytical approaches employed for language (i. e. talk and text) can equally be applied to image-based research such as visual content analysis [ 3 , 5 , 16 , 17 ]. However, other analytic approaches informed by visual and cultural studies can be derived from aesthestics [ 5 ].…”

“…However, other analytic approaches informed by visual and cultural studies can be derived from aesthestics [ 5 ]. Rose [ 18 ], for example, describes three intersecting sites (i. e. how the image is produced, what the visual effects are, and how the image is displayed to the audience) and three intersecting modalities (i. e. technological, compositional and social) for making sense of images [ 5 , 17 ].…”

“…Visual methods are often employed to enhance data collection through rapport building and empathy, facilitating communication, enhancing expression of tacit knowledge, accessing difficult to reach participants (e. g. those with low verbal literacy, children and so on), and encouraging reflection [ 2 , 4 , 14 , 16 , 20 ]. Indeed, many have argued that visual methods (and visual methods combined with text-based methods) can enable richer, more complex, deeper and sometimes hidden data to be collected [ 4 , 6 , 14 , 17 , 20 , 21 ]. Furthermore, sometimes the visual can ‘disrupt well-rehearsed present narratives on a topic’ [ 4 , P. 6], plus they can provoke and capture emotions, embodied states and spaces [ 2 , 4 ].…”

Ethical Considerations for Qualitative Research Methods During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Emergency Situations: Navigating the Virtual Field

“…More broadly, digital video and photography can be assembled, manipulated, and reused via social media (Adami & Jewitt, 2016). This entails the possibility of multiple perspectives and (mis)interpretations of images by various audiences (Pollard, 2015) in ways not initially envisioned by the participant or the researcher. Importantly, the ease with which video and audio data can be collected through platforms like Zoom, when in-person interviews are not possible, should be weighed against the need for such data.…”