Book Review: Eric Margolis and Luc Pauwels, The Sage Handbook of Visual Research Methods

Abstract

When invited to review The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods for Qualitative Research, I was delighted as the visual has been central to my research (Mannay, 2010), and at the time, I was preparing a visual workshop for the Spring School on Advanced Methodologies for Communication Studies at the Catholic University of Lisbon. Naturally, I wanted to revise and refine my knowledge in preparation, and as this edited collection promised to ‘capture the state of the art in visual research’, I was confident that here, I would be able to re-engage with contemporary theory and practice. The handbook is divided into seven thematic sections; the first, ‘Framing the Field of Visual Research’ begins with ‘An integrated conceptual framework for visual social research’ by, co-editor, Luc Pauwels. Pauwels laments the ways in which visual methods are reinvented, renamed and relabelled, and argues that such practices are ahistorical and detrimental to advancing more mature methodologies. This is followed by an overview of the origin and nature of visual artefacts usefully categorised as ‘found materials as a data source’, ‘researcher-initiated production of visual data and meanings’ and ‘secondary research uses and respondent generated material’. Pauwels offers a frame for grouping, sorting and reflecting on visual approaches, which I found valuable for both situating my own practices and for teaching.