Visual, Narrative and Creative Research Methods: Application, reflection and ethics

163 Pages·2015·1.268 MB·English

by  Dawn Mannay

Visual, NarratiVe aNd CreatiVe
researCh Methods
Visual research methods are quickly becoming key topics of interest and are now
widely recognised as having the potential to evoke emphatic understanding of the
ways in which other people experience their worlds. Visual, Narrative and Creative
Research Methods examines the practices and value of these visual approaches as a
qualitative tool in the field of social science and related disciplines.
This book is concerned with the process of applying visual methods as a tool of
inquiry from design, to production, to analysis and dissemination. Drawing on research
projects which reflect real-world situations, you will be methodically guided through
the research process in detail, enabling you to examine and understand the practices
and value of visual, narrative and creative approaches as effective qualitative tools.
Key topics include:
• techniques of data production, including collage, mapping, drawing and
photographs;
• the practicalities of application;
• the positioning of the researcher;
• interpretation of visual data;
• images and narratives in public spaces;
• evaluative analysis of creative approaches.
Visual, Narrative and Creative Research Methods will be an invaluable companion for
researchers, postgraduate students and other academics with an interest in visual and
creative methods and qualitative research.
Dawn Mannay is Lecturer in Social Sciences at Cardiff University, Wales, and she
employs participatory, visual, creative and narrative methods in her research with
diverse communities.
An essential read for everyone interested in participatory visual and creative meth-
ods. Mannay is an experienced guide through the complexities of the research
process, and sheds valuable light on their dynamics by considering the broader
contexts in which they are embedded.
Gillian Rose, Professor of Cultural Geography,
The Open University
Mannay offers social scientists – from those in the final years of undergraduate study
to qualitative researchers more generally – an insightful guide to visual research.
Beautifully written and accessible, the book tackles important debates concerning
the generation, analysis and dissemination of visual material, drawing on classic and
contemporary literature to offer insights that look beneath the gloss of the visual.
Helen Lomax, Professor in Health and Wellbeing,
University of Northampton
This is an engaging and insightful book that I would highly recommend to stu-
dents, lecturers and researchers. With its exemplary attention to questions of theory,
methodology, ethics and dissemination, it offers a creatively accessible guide to the
possibilities and challenges of working with the visual across the social sciences.
Janet Fink, Professor of Childhood and Personal Relationships,
University of Huddersfield
Visual, NarratiVe
aNd CreatiVe
researCh Methods
Application, reflection and ethics
Dawn Mannay
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Dawn Mannay
The right of Dawn Mannay to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-02431-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-02432-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-77576-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Cenveo Publisher Services
CoNteNts
Acknowledgements viii
List of figures x
1 Introduction 1
Audiences and aims 2
A visual journey 3
Structure of the book 5
References 8
2 Mapping images: Charting the visual and creative
in social science research 11
Introduction 11
Found images and narratives 12
Researcher-initiated productions 17
Participatory productions 21
Conclusion 24
References 25
3 Making the familiar strange: Questions we would
not think to ask 27
Introduction 27
Epistemic privilege 28
Researcher near 30
Making the familiar strange 31
Fighting familiarity with creativity 32
vi Contents
Windows to new worlds 32
Self-assessments and discoveries of the self 34
Deceptive assumptions of shared understanding 35
Masculinity, nationality and familiarity 38
Hospitals, waste and photo-elicitation 40
Conclusion 41
References 42
4 Participatory methodologies: Questions of power
and positionality in creative research 45
Introduction 45
Creativity and voice 47
Participatory practices 49
Power relations and participants 52
Parental involvement 53
Sibling suggestions 56
Imagined audiences 57
Conclusion 58
References 60
5 Problematising interpretation: Applying auteur theory,
disrupting the surface and breaking the frame 63
Introduction 63
Applying auteur theory 65
The world technique 68
Readings without writers 71
Images in isolation 74
Semiotics – the theory of signs 74
Cultural studies 76
Social representations 78
Breaking the frame 79
Conclusion 80
References 82
6 Visual and narrative data production: Time,
artistic ability and incongruence 86
Introduction 86
Time, artistic ability and incongruence 87
The ‘waiting field’ 95
Backyards and wider worlds 102
Conclusion 104
References 105
Contents vii
7 Ethical concerns: Answers to questions we did not
want to ask 109
Introduction 109
Pandora’s memories 111
Ethical dissemination 112
Creative dissemination 115
The unseen voyeur 120
Concluding remarks 123
References 124
8 Conclusion: Looking back and moving forward 128
Crossing disciplinary boundaries 128
Creative data analysis, production and dissemination 131
Open Access and closing doors 136
Concluding remarks 138
References 139
Index 142
aCkNowledgeMeNts
In completing my book, Visual, Narrative and Creative Research Methods: Application,
Reflection and Ethics, there are many people who should be thanked and acknowl-
edged, too many perhaps to fit in an Acknowledgements section so I apologise in
advance to those not named individually. As much of my initial engagement with
visual, narrative and creative methods began with my doctoral research project,
‘Mothers and Daughters on the Margins: Gender, Generation and Education’, funded
by the Economic and Social Research Council (PTA031200600088), I would
like to acknowledge all the participants who made this study possible. Also my
thanks go to Professor John Fitz, Professor Emma Renold and Professor Bella
Dicks for supervising my doctoral research project; and Gill Boden who was my
mentor.
My knowledge and understanding of visual and creative methodologies has
developed through my teaching, therefore, I would like to thank all my students,
particularly those who I have taught in the module ‘Issues in Social and Cultural
Psychology’; and all of the students, researchers and practitioners who have attended
my workshops. These lectures, seminars and workshops have raised many of the
questions, ideas and discussions that feature in the book. I would also like to thank
colleagues at Cardiff University, particularly the psychology teaching team, for sup-
porting and contributing to my modules.
In the same way, the research and writing projects that I have been involved
with have acted as a vehicle to engage with and reflect on a number of qualitative
techniques and I would like to acknowledge all of the participants and some of the
people that I have worked with on these projects: Ceri Wilcock at the Open
University, Clare O’Connell at the University of South Wales, Victoria Edwards,
Ruby Marzella and Dr Aimee Grant at Cardiff University, Ministry of Life,
Fostering Network and the Children’s Social Care Research and Development
Centre (CASCADE), particularly Dr Eleanor Staples and Dr Sophie Hallett.
Acknowledgements ix
I am also grateful to a wide range of authors and inspiring speakers and although
I cannot name them all individually, much of their work is cited in the book. I have
also learned a lot working with my co-conveners in the Childhood and Youth
Research Group, Families, Identity and Gender Research Network, and the British
Sociological Society’s Visual Studies Research Group.
I am grateful to Dr Sara Delamont and Professor Paul Atkinson for their invalu-
able help and guidance in putting together the initial proposal, and to Professor
Gillian Rose for her support and encouragement. I would also like to thank the
proposal reviewers for their comments and suggestions; and the editorial team at
Routledge for their support, particularly Philip Mudd and Natasha Ellis-Knight,
who have had to work with me patiently to attend to permissions, visual image files
and all the essential administrative tasks that were necessary to move forward.
Special thanks goes to all the people who read and made comments on and cor-
rections to my chapters: Dr Michael Richardson, Dr Lisa Morriss, Professor Helen
Lomax, Professor Janet Fink, Dr Katherine Carroll, Victoria Edwards and Melanie
Morgan. I could not have finished this book without your help. I should also men-
tion Dr Rachel Swann, who shares an office with me and had to put up with me
moaning about book-related things for too long.
Borrowing a quote from science fiction author Ray Bradbury [1] ‘You learn to
live with your crazy enthusiasms which nobody else shares, and then you find a few other nuts
like yourself, and they’re your friends for a lifetime. That’s what friends are, the people who
share your crazy outlook and protect you from the world, because nobody else is going to give
a damn what you’re doing, so you need a few other people like yourself’; I would also like
to thank my friends for being there.
Last but certainly not least, with much love, I would like to thank my family –
particularly my partner in life and for life, David, who has grown tired of seeing the
back of my head as I type on my laptop but made sure that I didn’t go hungry,
making lots of meals that were a material demonstration of his love and commitment.
Also our wonderful children, who are no longer children, Toyah, Jordon and Travis,
and their partners Tim, Sherelle and Jamie, for asking how things were going and
listening to me complain. I am also grateful to our granddaughter Taya, who, at only
one year of age, can forcibly demand that I get off the laptop every time she visits –
she has brought a lot of fun and laughter into our lives and will continue to be an
absolute pleasure. We are also looking forward to getting to know our newest grand-
daughter Tilleah who arrived just in time to feature in the Acknowledgements.
Note
1 S cience fiction author Ray Bradbury interviewed in 1972 by two college students driving
him to a speaking gig – an animated interview about friendship, fiction, and death-by-
driving, available at: http://boingboing.net/2015/04/29/ray-bradbury-animated-interview.
html (Accessed 30 March 2015).