Elicitation as a Mind-Set: Why Visual Data Matter?

Abstract

This article explores how the use of participatory visual methods can enhance and promote a mind-set of elicitation for researchers throughout the research process. By exploring five case studies that used images at varying stages, the authors analyzed these cases exploring how the use of images demonstrates a valuable mind-set of elicitation at every stage of the research process. This article explores how the use of participatory visual methods and an elicitation mind-set can, by way of summary, promote recruitment, enhance deeper data collection, further engagement by community members in research, and support richer knowledge intermediation back to a community. This article explores how the nature of images used in research in smaller Prairie-based or rural and Northern communities did, through the use of visual and participatory methodologies, expand the success, impact, and reach of elicitation in research.