Photo-Based Evaluation: A Method for Participatory Evaluation With Adolescents

Abstract

Actively engaging adolescents in meaningful program evaluation is a topic of growing interest. One possibility for such engagement is the use of photographs as part of visual evaluation, so that youth can directly engage with the research process. In this Method Note, we describe the development and implementation of a participatory, photo-based evaluation method for youth health promotion/prevention programs. Youth in this study were participants in a gender-transformative healthy relationships program for boys. We present literature supporting the use of photographs as a visual research method and for involving youth as active participants in evaluation, and explore the feasibility, utility, and acceptability of this innovative application of existing methods based on researcher experience and youth feedback. We conclude with implications for photo-based evaluation of health promotion/prevention programs, highlighting the promise of this method for promoting critical youth engagement in evaluation and the creation of meaningful knowledge translation tools.

“To Be a Guy Is to Be Human”: Outcomes of the WiseGuyz Program Through Photo-Based Evaluation

“…The setting for this project was a high school in a rural setting in a Western Canadian province. The school was selected as it had been offering WiseGuyz for the past 2 years, was interested in participating, and allowed us to pay youth photographers for their time ( Exner-Cortens, Sitter, et al, in press ). The median income at this school was 1.5 times the Canadian federal poverty line.…”

“…We describe our photo-based evaluation method in brief here, as it is fully described in Exner-Cortens, Sitter, et al (in press) . In sum, it blends elements of visual storytelling and photovoice methodology, with a focus on youth photographer-led interviews and adult-led data analysis ( Exner-Cortens, Sitter, et al, in press ).…”

“…We describe our photo-based evaluation method in brief here, as it is fully described in Exner-Cortens, Sitter, et al (in press) . In sum, it blends elements of visual storytelling and photovoice methodology, with a focus on youth photographer-led interviews and adult-led data analysis ( Exner-Cortens, Sitter, et al, in press ). The participatory, reflexive, and action-focused emphasis of this method is also well-aligned with feminist evaluation principles ( Brisolara & Seigart, 2014 ).…”

“…The third author then transposed the poster into a digital format 2 and created a photobook that features all youths’ photos, titles, and narratives. The poster display was shared by the youth photographers at two community events (the Centre for Sexuality’s annual general meeting and the WiseGuyz graduation ceremony for all 2017–2018 participants; Exner-Cortens, Sitter, et al, in press ).…”

“…For adolescents, the use of photos to actively engage youth in a participatory evaluation process that meaningfully explores perceived outcomes is promising ( Halsall & Forneris, 2016 ), but we found no established methods for using photo-based youth participatory evaluation to understand changes in a health promotion program. Thus, we developed such a method ( Exner-Cortens, Sitter, et al, in press ) and, in this paper, present key themes as they pertain to perceived changes around masculinity from the initial use of this method in a rural setting. This project was guided by feminist evaluation principles ( Brisolara & Seigart, 2014 ).…”