1. VISUAL MEDIA IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
© LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION AND KEITH MORRISON

2. STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER
Photographs and still images
Video and moving images
Artefacts
Ethical practices in visual research

3. VISUAL IMAGES
Anything we see, watch or look at counts as a visual image
Four kinds of visual data:
Found data
Researcher created data
Respondent created data
Representations (e.g. graphical representations)
Using visual media concerns:
The production of the image
The image itself
The audiences of the image

4. VISUAL IMAGES
Visual media are not neutral; they give messages, and we interpret them in many different ways.
We bring our own values, biographies, cultures and backgrounds to bear on images.
Images cannot be viewed outside the social and cultural contexts of the production of the image, the observing and interpretation of the image, the consideration of who are the audiences, intended or otherwise, of the image.
Images are made, kept and displayed in different places, each of which confers its own required social behaviours and audience reactions.

5. VISUAL IMAGES An image is the product of: certain technologies;
certain compositional features;
certain social contexts.
The image maker is selective: s/he has already decided what to include or not to include, what to focus on, what not to focus on, where to point the camera, where not to point the camera.
Regard images as discourses.

6. PHOTOGRAPHS AND STILL IMAGES
Photographs and still images are both emic and etic. They carry documentary and interpretive meaning, either posed or natural.
Researchers can take photographs and ask the participants to comment on them.
Researchers can ask participants either to take their own photographs or bring them to an interview to discuss them.

7. TYPES OF PHOTO-ELICITATION
Autodriving
The researcher and/or participants can provide the photographs but participants take the lead
Reflexive photography
Participants take the photographs and then, at interview, are asked to reflect on these
Photo novella
Participants take photographs which tell a story about part/all of their lives
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

8. TYPES OF PHOTO-ELICITATION
Photovoice
Participants photograph those parts of their society/community/environment which have meaning for them or which they feel need to change.
Photo-observation
Photographing real objects, events, activities and discussing them
Photo-interviewing
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

9. PHOTO-ELICITATION TECHNIQUE
The photograph, or set of photographs, or sequence of photographs, is used to invoke, prompt and promote discussion, reflections, comments, observations and memories.
Discuss what they show, who took them, when, where, what is the story behind them.
Ask participants to select images from their own or researcher-provided images, or images selected on the basis of sampling techniques.

10. SEVEN STEPS IN PHOTO-ELICITATION
The researcher sets the topic for the research or investigation
Step 2
The researcher identifies and invites suitable participants for the study
Step 3
The researcher briefs the participants about the purpose, agenda, requirements, operation, ethics, constraints, and conduct of the photograph provision
Step 4
The researcher and/or participants decide who will take and/or collect the photographs
Step 5
The researcher and/or the participants take and/or collect the photographs
Step 6
The photographs are brought to, and form part of, the interview or discussion
Step 7
Data are analyzed and the results reported
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

11. VIDEO AND MOVING IMAGES
Video material is live.
Video material can record evolving situations and interactions, details that the observer may miss, and non‑verbal matters.
Video material enables repeated viewing/checking.
Video material catches:
natural social situations;
contrived situations;
posed situations;
special events;
commissioned materials (e.g. a commemorative activity).

12. VIDEO AND MOVING IMAGES
Video material is selective (focus and location of camera, fixed or moving camera).
Consider:
Where, how, why, for whom, how and under what conditions the video was produced;
The interpretations that he or she (or indeed others) make or may make of the moving images;
How these interpretations are influenced by the interpreters’ own backgrounds, values and purposes (i.e. reflexivity).
How to analyse complex images and detail/data overload.

13. VIDEO AND MOVING IMAGES
Address legal and ethical matters:
permission to film
data protection
privacy
covert research
permission to show
intrusiveness

14. THREE CHALLENGES IN MOVING IMAGES
Balancing attention to close-up detail and the broader context, so that the broader context is not lost.
Avoiding data overload, particularly magnifying events or details which might not be meaningful or important to participants.
Representing data, ensuring that audiences are able to judge if inferences that are made from the video are plausible.
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

15. ARTEFACTS
Artefacts may be easy to see/find but difficult to interpret: they do not always carry clear meanings in themselves.
Artefacts can be interpreted very differently; they have multiple interpretations.
Artefacts may indicate the hidden curriculum of an organization.
Artefacts can be seen, heard, smelt, touched, felt, tasted and heard; they are multi-sensory and may require multi-sensory analysis.
Artefacts may be provided by the researcher, participants, others or be present in a situation.

16. CONSIDERATIONS IN RESEARCHING ARTEFACTS
The purpose of the production and location of the artefact.
What it is/was used for and by whom.
Who produced it.
When it was made.
What materials have been used in its making.
What is/was its actual and/or symbolic purpose or function.
How it has been preserved and in what condition.
What value it has to the provider or user.

17. ARTEFACTS Artifacts may be used for exploring sensitive issues
The use of dolls in cases of sexual abuse
The use of puppets with different facial expressions
The use of puppets to act out a situation of conflict

18. ETHICAL PRACTICES IN VISUAL RESEARCH
Informed consent.
Permission for taking images.
Permission for using images.
Permission to take images in public places (what is a public place and what is a private place?).
Legally and illegally taking or storing images.

19. ETHICAL PRACTICES IN VISUAL RESEARCH
Preferred and non-preferred sites for taking pictures.
Identification, anonymization and obscuring of individuals and places (ethical and legal regulation).
Informed consent, anonymity, non-traceability and confidentiality may be difficult.
Ethical codes for using images in research (and ownership of the image).
Do no harm.