Participant-led video diaries

Abstract

Rebecca Whiting, Helen Roby, Gillian Symon, and Petros Chamakiotis develop an unconventional research design using video methods, asking participants to produce their own video diaries, a process which is then followed by narrative interviews. This approach generates multi-modal data: audio, visual, and textual, and involves adopting a qualitative perspective, and a social constructionist epistemology. This participant-led research design allows researchers to investigate a range of issues that are not often recalled in interviews or surveys, by capturing naturally occurring, real-time events and activities, and micro-interactions including non-verbal behaviours. Although video methods are used in other disciplines, they are rare in organizational research. The approach is illustrated by a study which explored how digital technologies affect our ability to manage switches across work-life boundaries. Analysis of participants’ video diaries illustrates the theoretical and reflexive insights that can be gained from this method. The problems and pitfalls encountered in this study are also considered.

The Sociomaterial Negotiation of Social Entrepreneurs’ Meaningful Work

“…Once this period was over they returned the equipment and took part in a short debriefing session. A more detailed analysis of our video method can be found at Whiting et al (). We note here that this observational technique allowed our participants (and the researchers) to capture sociomaterial practices as they unfolded: the ‘temporally emergent’ nature of human and material agency (Pickering, , p. 566).…”

Digi-Housekeeping: The Invisible Work of Flexibility

“…Detailed accounts of the methodology are published elsewhere (Whiting et al, 2018a, 2018b). Here, however, it is noted that the video diary method allowed the capture of intimate moments in participant lives, arguably not usually made visible to either researchers or work colleagues, and also experiences and activities not specifically associated with the research focus.…”

Who’s Behind the Lens?

“…Here we recount our own video-based study where the videocam was in the hands of the participants and through which we sought to explore their experiences of work-life boundary transitions. Our video methodology fitted well with our research topic, proving invaluable for capturing fleeting experiences and intimate moments that would not otherwise have been observed (Symon, Chamakiotis, Whiting, & Roby, 2014; Whiting, Roby, Symon, & Chamakiotis, 2015a, 2015b).…”

“…The aim of our video/interview study, part of a wider multidisciplinary research project entitled the Digital Brain Switch project (Symon et al, 2014; Whiting et al, 2015a, 2015b), was to explore how work-life boundaries are negotiated in a digital world. It examined how contemporary technologies and social media affect our ability to manage role identity “switches” across physical, temporal, and psychological boundaries (Ashforth, Kreiner, & Fugate, 2000; Clark, 2000).…”