A Beginners Guide to Photovoice Research
What is Photovoice?
Photovoice is a qualitative research methodology that first came to prominence in the 1990s primarily as a result of the work of Caroline Wang. This research methodology has its roots in community activism and advocacy where photos are used to influence social change. By capturing the ‘harsh realities’ of a research topic, the belief is that the issue at hand is less likely to be ignored. The focus is very much on the visual rather than the written.
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Caroline Wang, the researcher that the methodology is synonymous with, defined several concepts for Photovoice in an article titled “Photovoice: A Participatory Action Research Strategy Applied to Women’s Health”, which appeared in the Journal of Women’s Health (1999).
Images Teach
Pictures can influence policy
Community members ought to participate in creating and defining the images that shape healthful public policy
The process requires that from the outset planners bring policy-makers and other influential people to the table to serve as an audience
Photovoice emphasises individual and community action
How does Photovoice work?
A research theme is chosen. It is usually related to social issues in a particular community. The community are then tasked with capturing *evidence* in the form of photos (and more lately video) to *shine a light* on the research topic at hand.
The images may be curated by the research participants with titles or text added to provide additional context. The end goal is to then use the outputs from the research to influence policy makers. One of the key processes of Photovoice research is that through the use of imagery, research participants can reflect on the photographs. This reflection piece of the methodology embodies the qualitative component of Photovoice research. A sense of empowerment is often a benefit of this approach.
Advantages of Photovoice Research
1/ Ubiquity of Cameras
A growing percentage of the population in most countries have access to a Smartphone. The most recent versions of these offer powerful cameras and these cameras (Smartphones) are essentially with people at all times. The use of smartphones for photovoice research can reduce the cost of resourcing tools (i.e. cameras) for research participants, as would have been done in the past.
2/ Simplicity
Given the context of the research (often community based, sometimes with hard to reach groups) the research methodology is easy to understand. Participants simply need to capture images about a particular theme and share them with the wider group as a means to support the narrative.
3/ Inclusivity
The resultant benefits of a fun and accessible methodology are that it can be used with a wide range of participants from young children, to older people as well as those with disabilities.
4/ Interactive & Engaging
Who doesn’t like taking pictures? Results appear on the screen within seconds, offering an immediate response helping to motivate respondents to engage with the research topic further. The collective sense of empowerment means that your research participants will share more, and provide richer insights through reflection within the group.
5/ Qualitative Insights
They say “a picture is worth a thousand words”. It is hard for officials to deny the harsh reality of photographs. Images captured reflect the realities that influence individuals’ lives - in context - in the moment.
6/ Acts as a Rallying Point
The above elements combine to ensure the approach gives a voice to those who may have been marginalised. The output from the research can be used as a means to represent the views of the community to act as a catalyst for change.
Digital Ethnography as a tool for Photovoice research
Mobile apps like Indeemo’s versatile digital ethnography tool (what is digital/mobile ethnography?) are ideal for photovoice research. They are particularly well suited to photos and videos, and are easy to use as part of a photovoice project. With a digital ethnography research project participants complete several tasks (often over several days). The benefits of using digital ethnography to support Photovoice research are compelling.
Easy to use intuitive UI and UX
Available in 20+ languages
Photos from all participants render on a dashboard allowing for easy curation
Task-based diary study approach ensures respondents stay ‘on brief’
Cost-effective research approach
While participants could take photos and share via WhatsApp, an app like Indeemo helps streamline the process, ensuring respondents stay ‘on brief’ and making the curation and reporting process more efficient.
On the one hand it is easy to view Photovoice and Digital Ethnography as two separate research methodologies.
However, qualitative research is hybrid, dynamic, and iterative. Speaking about photovoice and digital ethnography, we are referring to the fusion of both methodologies.
For instance, adopting digital ethnography enables us to leverage the power of remote qualitative fieldwork. Here we can utilise mobile technology and smartphones to observe or research participants.
In addition, through empowerment, our research subjects can use photo, video, and even mobile screen recording capabilities to provide us with a holistic view of their daily life, experiences and behaviours.
Here, we can introduce Photovoice. As researchers observe, we can use Photovoice as a direct communication tool amongst research participants.
This reduces the risk of researcher biases, but also provides participants with the opportunity to uncover insights for us.
Additional Capabilities
In addition to Video Surveys, you can also do the following with Indeemo:
• Recruit Participants in hours
Recruit B2C and B2B participants in hours from a panel of 3 million+ Respondents.
• Speed up analysis with Generative AI
Use Generative AI prompts for summarisation, translation, thematic analysis, sentiment analysis etc. and reduce analysis time by at least 40%.
• Analyse Interviews and IDIs
Import your interviews from Zoom, Microsoft Teams or your computer, transcribe them in 27 languages and analyse them fast with Generative AI.
• Analyse Interviews and IDIs
Import your interviews from Zoom, Microsoft Teams or your computer, transcribe them in 27 languages and analyse them fast with Generative AI.
Benefits of digital ethnography for Photovoice
In summary, photovoice is a powerful research methodology with a focus on ‘the visual’. It is a creative and collaborative way of conducting rich qualitative research. In addition, Photovoice research encourages participants to reflect, providing contextual insights into their thoughts and feelings as a result of the photographic evidence resulting from this research methodology.
Digital ethnography helps those running photovoice research projects to do so more efficiently. On the one hand, it enables researchers to gain additional insights through the principles of remote ethnographic research. It leverages the power of mobile technology and smartphones, and can work in tandem with Photovoice research.
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