This collection presents stories from the field that were gathered from researchers using a breadth of visual methods. Visual methods refer to the use of still or moving images either as forms of data, to explore research topics and explorations of artistic practice. In addition to well-established visual methods, such as photo-voice and photo-elicitation, the possibilities for visual methods are flourishing through the proliferation of visual culture and developments in digital technologies. Methodological and ethical issues are emerging as visual methods are adapted and applied to answer new kinds of research questions, and in varied settings and populations. Authors offer practical and thoughtful discussions of emerging methodological and ethical dilemmas they encountered in innovative projects that used visual methods either in combination with other methods or as a stand-alone method. The discussions will be of interest to those seeking to understand the value, and potential ethical risks, of visual methodologies for social research.
Dr. Deborah Warr is Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director, McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit, at the Centre for Health Equity, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research addresses the circumstances of populations and communities vulnerable to experiencing forms of socioeconomic disadvantage and marginalisation.
Dr Marilys Guillemin is Professor, Centre for Health Equity, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. She has published widely in sociology of health and technology, visual and sensory methodologies, and ethical practice in research and health care.
Dr. Susan Cox is Associate Professor at the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics and the School of Population and Public Health, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She is an interdisciplinary qualitative health researcher with interests in the relationship between the arts and health, and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Arts Health Network Canada.
Dr Jenny Waycott is Lecturer at the Department of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. Her research is mainly focused on human-computer interaction and educational technology.
