Seeing information: Visual methods as entry points to information practices

Visual elicitation methods

Visual elicitation methods, which use images to drive interview discussion, form another way to explore participant memories and experiences. Most commonly centred within Library and Information Science on researcher-generated images, visual elicitation methods incorporate photographs as well as diagrams, drawings and other artefacts. In sharing researcher-created modern and historic photographs of a local street, researchers in Orkney prompted an exploration of information interactions in a small island community (Baxter et al., 2015). Similarly, Rivano Eckerdal (2013) and St Jean (2014) used a deck of cards that detailed potentially relevant information sources to guide their interviews with research participants. Visual elicitation methods also include photographs that are created by study participants. Used to stimulate and focus participants’ responses (Prosser and Loxley, 2008), photo-elicitation methods, which include the use of photovoice, are most frequently used to explore participants’ understandings of a specific situation. Driven by discussions of the photographs that participants take and share with the researcher, photo-elicitation methods have tended to be used for library community needs analyses within the field of Library and Information Science (Luo, 2017). Coinciding with the rise of interest in user experience research (Fried Foster and Gibbons, 2007) and emerging from the wish to address ‘unintentional misalignments between a library’s services and user needs’ (Gibbons, 2013), photo-elicitation is one of a suite of research methods that has been employed to inform the design of more responsive libraries. Providing a way for librarians to gather feedback about their patrons’ perceptions and use of library space (Haberl and Wortman, 2012; Neurohr and Bailey, 2016; Newcomer et al., 2016; Pun et al., 2017) as well as student research habits and preferences (Buck, 2016; Click, 2014; Click et al., 2012), these studies provide insight into information needs within changing library environments. Most recently, photo-elicitation has been used in conjunction with the Pixstori app to explore the information experiences of three to six-year-old children (Barriage, 2016; 2017). Facilitating child-led tours of their daycare centre, photo-elicitation was seen to afford these young participants a sense of control over the research as well as to encourage communication with the researcher.

Photovoice forms a specific type of photo-elicitation method. Often confused with photo-elicitation, photovoice is a participatory action research method that was developed by health education researchers in rural China (Wang and Burris, 1994). Noting that female perspectives were often overlooked and underrepresented within community needs assessment projects, Wang and Burris (1994) asked 62 women to take photographs relating to health issues within their community, environment and family. Subsequently shared and discussed locally as well as exhibited for regional policy makers, these photos facilitated collective organisation around health interests while also influencing priorities within rural development projects. Differentiated from photo-elicitation methods by the emancipatory focus, photovoice, which has its roots in feminist inquiry and the work of Freire (2012), has since been defined a process ‘by which people can identify, represent and enhance their community through a specific photographic technique’ (Wang and Burris, 1997: 369). Within Library and Information Science, photovoice has only been used in handful of studies. Positioning photovoice as a tool that can be used to uncover student worldviews, Julien et al.’s (2013; see also Given et al., 2011) study of undergraduates was one of the first to use photovoice as a research method. Since then, two separate groups of researchers have used photovoice to explore the information activities of refugees in Australia (Khoir et al., 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c; Lloyd and Wilkinson, 2016, 2017). Noting that photovoice provides a useful way to mediate the challenges of research with participants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Lloyd and Wilkinson’s (2016, 2017) use of photovoice also draws attention to the social practices that form the foundation of learning during re-settlement. Findings from Lloyd and Wilkinson’s studies as well as from ongoing doctoral work into the information literacy practices of language-learners (Hicks, in progress) will be used as guiding studies to demonstrate these implications further.

Information literacy practices of refugee youth

Photovoice technique was employed in an action research project that explored the everyday spaces of refugee youth (Lloyd and Wilkinson, 2016, 2017). The aim of the project was to identify the information needs, literacies and learning practices of refugee youth and to feed this information back to the government and community organisations who support young people outside of school. Photo-voice technique was justified as an appropriate technique because:

As an inductive and participatory approach, photovoice encouraged engagement with the research process (Lloyd and Wilkinson, 2016) and allowed the researchers to develop a clear understanding of information seeking and learning practices from young people’s viewpoints. Simultaneously, photovoice captured the viscerally and intangible aspects of these practices (Clark-Ibáñez, 2004).

Participants were recruited based on refugee status (their own or their parents’ status) and each participated in a training workshop that addressed practical, ethical and safety issues prior to the project commencement. In the data collection phase, participants spent several weeks taking photos of the types of information and information sources that were important to them and the places where they went to obtain information. During data collection, researchers maintained contact with the participants through Facebook and text messages to remind them of the purpose of the project. At the end of the photography phase, participants reviewed their photos and selected the five that represented their experiences with information. In the ensuing workshop, participants were broken into smaller focus groups to explore both their photos and their reasons for taking them. Centring upon a series of pre-determined questions as well as questions that arose when photos were described and discussed by the group, this dialogic process emphasises the collaborative nature of the photovoice method as participants and researchers worked together to developed a shared understanding of the experience. At the conclusion, the three focus groups came together to view the photos. The three focus groups and the larger combined group session were recorded. Photos and the transcripts of the focus groups and the combined group sessions created the data set that was analysed to identify common themes and perspectives. These were then mapped to aid further analysis.

In keeping with the ethos of participation and empowerment, a final workshop was held prior to the presentations for community service providers and the refugee community. In this workshop, refugee youth participants were presented with and discussed the selected photos and the situational maps that reflected how participants had experienced learning, the enactment of information literacy, and key information sites and sources to ensure accuracy of representation. Researchers then worked with participants to develop a set of key messages that would be delivered in the community presentation. The findings of the community phase of the project were presented by the refugee young people and the researchers to the service provider community. Photos selected by the participants were displayed and then used as ‘talking points’ to initiate conversations between service providers and the participants. Research ethics clearance was obtained prior to the start of the study.

Information literacy practices of language-learners

The second study (Hicks, in progress) that informs this paper uses photo-elicitation methods to inform ongoing doctoral research into the information literacy practices of English-speaking undergraduate students who are learning a language abroad. Exploring how transition within a new cultural context is mediated through the enactment of information literacy practices, this study’s focus on everyday experiences meant that photo-elicitation constituted a way to explore the nuances of student meaning-making as they established themselves within a new setting. More pragmatically, and given that data collection took place over an entire academic year as well as in 15 different countries, photo-elicitation also formed a useful method to gather data between interviews and to gain a sense of everyday life from a distance. In further enabling students to express themselves in their own terms, photo-elicitation also helped to build the rapport that was essential to work with research participants at a distance.

The study comprised 26 students who were studying a language other than English and who were studying, working or volunteering abroad for a period of at least three months. Photo-elicitation was introduced into the study after the initial online interview with each of the participating students. After explaining the purpose of the study as well as engaging participants in a discussion about the ethics of capturing media, students were offered the option of participating in photo-elicitation using either a smartphone app or email. The first option involved the use of students’ personal mobile device and the EthOS Ethnographic Observation System (n.d.), which is a proprietary iOS and Android application (app) for smartphones or tablet computers. A simple to use project management application, EthOS enables participants to record, keep track and share photos with the researcher. The study’s focus on everyday information activities as well as high levels of smartphone ownership (Pew Research Center, 2013) meant that a mobile app was appropriate for this research. The second option, which was designed for students who either did not have a mobile device or a data plan abroad, allowed students to email photographs. Students were instructed to take photos of anything that had helped them to learn about their new setting or that had helped them to settle in. The study concluded with the pre-departure interview in which the students and the researcher discussed the meaning of each photograph as well as what it represented and why they recorded it. Discussions about images were then transcribed and analysed as part of the interview data. Research ethics clearance was obtained prior to the start of the study.

Data collection

One of the most important strengths of visual research methods lies in the ability to facilitate research with communities who may be hard to reach or who may not feel comfortable engaging with more traditional research methods. Refugee participant language and literacy, for example, was mediated in the photovoice study by both the simplicity of the method and the non-textual mediation of experience. In contrast, photo-elicitation was used to work more intensively with groups whose geographic location limited their research interactions. Employed in conjunction with a voice-over-Internet-protocol (VOIP) videoconferencing service, the photo-elicitation study engaged with students who were residing abroad anywhere from two to 16 hours ahead of the researcher’s timezone. Combined with VOIP services, photo-elicitation played a key role in mediating geographic remoteness and developing greater insight into participant lives. The use of photo-elicitation additionally enriched the interview process by building rapport with participants who were both recruited online and were not previously known to the researcher.

Beyond opening the potential for research with new communities, visual methods also extend data collection to and within new spaces. While researchers often establish high levels of trust with the participants in their studies, there are still many personal or everyday spaces that an outsider cannot easily access. In relinquishing control of data generation to participants, visual methods provide an entryway to previously inaccessible locations and broaden the range of settings in which information research can take place. This was particularly visible in both the refugee and the language learner studies, which emphasised learning that takes place outside formal or institutional settings. Participants in both studies took photos in a variety of hard-to-reach settings, including their home and their school or workplace as well as in various locations around their new city or town. Similarly, the ubiquity and the portability of cameras and phones provided access to mobile spaces. Affording insights into information interactions of participants with, for instance, transportation systems as well as with public signage and everyday rules, participant photographs drew attention to the importance of capturing data gathered on-the-go from between settings as well as from more fixed locations. The use of smartphones also bridged digital and physical spaces. The considerable number of screen captures that were presented in the language learning study illustrated both the multimodal nature of student engagement with information abroad and the seamlessness of their digital and physical information interactions.

At the same time, visual research methods can limit or constrain data collection. The very visible nature of photovoice, for example, means that it becomes much harder to ensure the confidentiality of both the research participants and the people and places who may feature in their photos. While the structure of photovoice ensures that the research participants themselves have considerable control over the pictures that they choose to take and represent, they may unwittingly breach the confidentiality expectations of others by taking photographs of people or places without their consent. Similarly, the inherent focus on community action within photovoice makes it hard for the researcher to guarantee complete anonymity and confidentiality for either the participant or for family members whose home or other recognisable information may be represented very publicly in an exhibit or as part of an attempt to effect community change. The use of digital photos extends these challenges in several ways. The continued development of facial recognition software runs the risk that individuals who are represented in photos may be able to be identified later if photos are not stored securely and in a safe location. Additionally, the metadata that is automatically recorded when digital photos are taken (for instance, a GPS location as well as time/date stamp) means that participants may be sharing more details about their lives than they realise. These issues should be weighed carefully when considering whether to use photovoice, particularly in relation to marginalised or stigmatised groups.

Clearly worded consent forms and the provision of enhanced training helped to counter these ethical issues. Prior to taking photos, every participant in the photovoice study participated in a training workshop that addressed the practical, ethical, personal safety and privacy issues related to data collection. In the photo-elicitation study, the ethics of taking photos in a location with different cultural norms was additionally discussed at the end of the initial interview and prior to the photography phase. A one page summary of recommendations was further sent to each participant after this discussion, with the explicit request that students ask any individual that featured in their photos for verbal consent to have their photo taken. This requirement was checked when the students discussed photos in the second interview. Photographic aspects of this research project were also highlighted in both the recruitment website and the participant information sheet that were sent to each student before they agreed to participate in the study as well as in the consent form, which further outlined student expectations for privacy and confidentiality. These safeguards were supplemented through a careful examination of guidelines for visual research ethics, which present useful considerations that should be explored before these methods are used (Cox et al., 2014).

The reliance on technology also served to both facilitate and constrain data collection. Providing the participants on the photovoice study with non-networked digital cameras ensured broad participation in the study while also preventing them from ‘accidently’ posting images related to the study online. However, the poor quality of these devices in comparison to that of most mobile phones proved to be frustrating. At the same time, the use of participants’ own cameras in the photo-elicitation study was not without its issues. A lack of memory or storage often limited the number of photos that students could take with their phones, while a broken device as well as a crashed computer meant that some photos were lost before they could be shared.

Data quality

Another important strength of visual research methods is the ability to generate and collect information that may not be easily captured when traditional qualitative methods such as interviewing are the sole means of data collection. Participants’ ability to recognise the specific affordances of a setting that encourage meaning-making facilitates the representation of their own understandings and ideas about what constitutes information. Both complex and contested, the concept of information is notoriously hard to understand as well as to explain. The use of photographs, however, makes it far easier for research participants to portray the information sources and activities that they use in their everyday life rather than attempting to explain these ideas through descriptions. In turn, ensuing discussions can help to clarify and explore concepts while also giving access to viewpoints that might have otherwise been overlooked. As such, and crucially for the Library and Information Science field, one of the key benefits of participatory visual research methods is to empower participants to represent their own understandings of what information means to them.

The focus on participant meaning-making can also help to gain insights into the tacit and nuanced information that structures a setting. Although information research often captures the normative or institutionally sanctioned aspects of practice, it is much harder to capture informal ways of knowing. The focus on participant rather than researcher priorities as well as the opportunity to build upon the clues that are found within photos means that visual research methods help to explore the meaning of taken-for-granted information activities and objects. A photo of a statue, for example, led to a long discussion about way-finding and the importance of observing within the photo-elicitation study. The opportunity to discuss commonplace or seemingly unimportant information activities also means that participatory visual research methods can generate understanding about the contingent affordances of a site or information that is only available and visible in the moment. In surfacing stories about bodily engagement within a setting (for example, movement or the sound or traffic), photos further serve as a touchpoint for embodied recollection rather than merely providing a snapshot of the visual. Capturing the ambiguity and the complexity of a setting, photographic research methods expand the breadth and the scope of research data by drawing out social and corporeal forms of information as well as the textual. The inherently reflective nature of participatory research methods may also facilitate a more critical consideration of events.

At the same time, the question of representation means that the strengths of photographic research methods are also viewed as its weaknesses. Given that photographic data is an expression of the epistemology of the participants, it is important for researchers to acknowledge that images may equally be used to misrepresent as well as to capture a person’s experience. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the use of participant photographs is combined with other methods such as focus groups or individual interviews rather than being employed on its own to safeguard the credibility and the trustworthiness of the analysis. Discussion also helps to ensure that participants’ meaning is captured, particularly when photos do not represent standard (or scholarly) understandings of information. While a photo of one of the language learner’s FaceTime sessions with her dog at home initially appeared to be inconsequential, it eventually helped to illustrate the importance of family connections within information activity and to round out one of the study’s final analytical codes.