Participatory Visual Methods Research Articles

Perspectives of youths on cultural ecosystem services provided by Tun Mustapha Park, Malaysia through a participatory approach

Successful buy-in and support for management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) should acknowledge the existing cultural ecosystem services and their connections to the well-being of local communities to gain positive perceptions. It is necessary to engage local stakeholders, especially among the youths, to explore governance complexities of MPAs and how to better understand cultural ecosystem services. Thus, this qualitative study investigated the perceptions of youths on cultural ecosystem services using a visual method, namely photovoice, as part of the participatory research in a newly established MPA of Tun Mustapha Park, Sabah. Three themes were identified in the process, namely social, economic, and environment. The engagement demonstrated the value of using the participatory approach, which yielded important insights of youths as a part of the community, which included the need for additional livelihood means post-establishment of MPA and issues of degradation of the marine environment. This paper contributed to the MPA governance literature specifically on the empirical youth perception which has been underrepresented as well as the employment of visual participatory methods to encourage better expression among the youths towards their living environment.

Using Participatory Visual Methods to Explore Multi-Local Living Arrangements - The Example of Work-Life Biographies and Reflexive Photography

This paper explores work-related multi-locality – living in several places for work-related reasons – using qualitative interviews including participatory visual methods. To give space to multi-locals as people with complex living and working arrangements and to support their narratives, the visual methods work-life biographies and reflexive photography were used during interviews. After introducing the state of research on work-related multi-local living and visual methods, two German case studies, the one in the city of Stuttgart in Baden-Wuerttemberg, the other in the rural district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, are described. The aim of this paper is to ascertain the value of using visual methods to explore multi-local living arrangements. The research questions are: (1) Which (specific) elements do multi-local employees visualise when using work-life biographies and reflexive photography? (2) Which new insights into multi-local living arrangements do the two methods provide? (3) What are the pros and cons of using such methods within qualitative interviews? The study shows that multi-locals used common thematic elements when using the visual methods: For example, especially words, numbers, specific signs and bars in the case of biographies and certain situation, people and objects in case of the photographs. Furthermore, both methods allowed new insights into multi-local living arrangements, such as their temporal and spatial dimensions, the interplay between living and working arrangements over time as well as the place attachment of multi-locals. Using visual methods during qualitative interviews provided clear added value in studying multi-locality, as it created a suitable interview introduction, reinforced spoken statements or facilitated the discussion of sensitive topics. Participatory visual methods can be used to explore a range of topics in qualitative studies looking at participants in complex situations. For multi-locality studies in particular, visual methods can be beneficial in stimulating and addressing a combination of spatial and temporal thinking.

Participatory Visual Methods with caregivers of children with Congenital Zika Syndrome in Colombia: A case study

Background: This study explores the acceptability and feasibility of the use of two different Participatory Visual Methods (Participatory Video and Digital Storytelling) in gathering information on the experiences and perspectives of carers of children with Congenital Zika Syndrome within Colombia. Methods: Participatory Video was used to assess the impact of the Juntos parent-support intervention in the lives of carers, and Digital Storytelling was used to explore the healthcare access for these children. In-depth interviews were conducted to probe participants on their views of these methods. Results: One Participatory Video was produced and four Digital Stories. Of the initial eight caregivers who took part in the Participatory Video process, four completed both the Digital Storytelling process and an in-depth interview about their experiences. The main factors shaping participants’ experiences related to the skills learned in making the videos, the feeling of collectiveness and the control over the processes. Conclusion: Women with children with Congenital Zika Syndrome have reported feeling marginalised and misunderstood in daily life. This case study found that Participatory Visual Methods is acceptable and feasible. Moreover, these approaches can support groups in different aspects, such as providing a space to share their stories creatively, hear others in similar situations as them and increase the feeling of community.

“Theyabduct usand rapeus”: Adolescents’ participatory visual reflections of their vulnerability to sexual violence in South African townships

The abduction and sexual violation of adolescents, especially in township contexts, has increasingly made headlines in South Africa. These incidents are evocative of jackrolling, a phenomenon that plagued townships during the apartheid upheavals in the late 1980s. The abduction of adolescents on their school journeys has been reported in several South African townships. In this paper, we report on a study in which we used participatory visual methods (i.e., cellphilms: short videos made with cellphones) to explore how 19 adolescent girls and boys living in the Inanda, Ntuzuma, and KwaMashu (INK) township precinct, outside Durban reflected on their vulnerability to sexual violence. Although the question was broad, our analysis of the visual data suggests that adolescents believed that their vulnerability to abduction and rape was almost inevitable. As such, in their cellphilms, they chose to portray their risk and vulnerability to abduction, rape, and even murder on their daily journeys to and from school. We found that through this methodology, adolescents were able to illustrate and/or articulate their fear of sexual violence. For them, violence was an inescapable reality that created fear and helplessness. This underscores the need for interventions, including the provision of safe scholar transport and visible policing in the community.

Narrative Imagination and Social Change: Instructors in Agricultural Colleges in Ethiopia Address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Ethiopia has one of the highest rates of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the world, making female students particularly vulnerable in its post-secondary institutions. Although there is extensive literature that describes the problem, mainly from the students' perspectives, what remains understudied is the role of instructors, their perception of the current issues, and what they imagine they can do to address campus-based SGBV, particularly in rural settings. In this study, we used the concept of narrative imagination to work with instructors in four Ethiopian agricultural colleges to explore how they understand the SGBV issues at their colleges and what they imagine their own role could include in efforts to combat these problems. Using qualitative narrative-based methods such as interviews and an interactive storyline development workshop, as well as cellphilming (cellphone + film) as a participatory visual method, the data were collected across several fieldwork phases. We consider how we might broaden this framework of narrative imagination to include the notion of art for social change.

Visualising urban redevelopment: Photovoice as a narrative research method for investigating redevelopment processes and outcomes

The use of participatory visual methods has gained significant momentum in visual, urban, planning, and geography research. This article provides methodological understanding of how the photovoice method can contribute to urban redevelopment studies, particularly for producing and narrating interpretive data on the processes and outcomes of urban redevelopment. Photovoice as participant-generated photographs was used to explain and explore the individual experience of involvement in redevelopment projects within selected urban areas in Tehran. Resident research participants captured photographs representing the area and the places within them, and were then individually interviewed in-depth about the significance of the photographs and their own experiences. Other stakeholders, including developers and local authorities, were also interviewed. A total of 36 interviews and 65 photovoice contributions were thematically analysed.Within the urban redevelopment context, photovoice is a multi-faceted resource that can verify the processes and outcomes of urban change. Using this method enabled the scrutiny of the tangible and intangible meanings that the research participants attached to their entities—objects, places, communities, and practices—revealing a certain set of power relations and patterns of controls in urban redevelopment processes. The findings demonstrate the utility and application of photovoice in understandings of place making and heritage value, as well as those of visual narratives of spatial transformation, and residents’ perceptions and attachment. The study also discusses the particular epistemic and methodological limitations of photovoice within the urban redevelopment context, including the research process, its potential, and associated challenges.

Engaging girls with disabilities through cellphilming: Reflections on participatory visual research as a means of countering violence in the Global South

Despite the fact that most countries have ratified the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, girls with disabilities experience multiple forms of violence and oppression. Using a critical approach to arts-based research, we argue that while disabled girls experience multiple vulnerabilities due to the structural conditions which exposed them to violence, the use of participatory visual methods allowed them to reframe their stories. This article discusses the implications for reconceptualizing diverse childhoods in relation to methodologies for empowering disabled girls.

USING PARTICIPATORY VISUAL METHODS TO TEACH CHARACTER EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD IN KENYA

<p>The rising cases of youth engagement in anti-social behaviour in Kenya present the need for educational stakeholders to invest in the teaching of character education. This paper has explored the use of participatory visual methods (PVM) in the teaching of character education. A multiple case-study design was used where eight grade three teachers were selected purposively. Data were generated through drawings, individual interviews and reflective journals. These were later analysed thematically through systematic open coding. The findings showed that PVM are learner centred and that they advance collaborative learning. This child-centeredness encouraged active learning and excitement among learners. It also boosted learners’ memories and overcame the language barriers that learners experience during communication in class. This paper concluded that participatory visual methods are new approaches as an alternative for better teaching of character education in early childhood. This conclusion has implications for early childhood teacher education on child-appropriate teaching styles to be used in character education. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0771/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Quilted cellphilm method: A participatory visual health research method for working with marginalised and stigmatised communities

ABSTRACT The use of participatory visual methods and integration of cellphone technology is expanding in global public health research. Cellphilm method capitalises on these trends by inviting participants to use mobile devices to create short videos about health topics. This paper presents the quilted cellphilm method, which supports the participation of stigmatised populations to engage in research. We present the method with reference to the Celling Sex project, which worked with young women who have transactional sex experience. Four key steps in our unique model are discussed: (a) individual cellphilm-making; (b) participatory analysis; (c) creating a composite video; (d) publicly screening the work. We consider how working individually with participants in the cellphilm-making process built trust. We unpack how offering participants opportunities to engage in either group or one-on-one activities promoted participation in collaborative analysis. We outline how creating a composite video of the cellphilms and organising screenings facilitated knowledge translation and exchange. Overall, the quilted cellphilm method created a supportive community for vulnerable participants to generate products that challenged social stigma. Increased reliance on mobile media, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, makes the quilted cellphilm method an opportune, exciting and accessible approach for participatory public health research.

Community Concept Drawing: A Participatory Visual Method for Incorporating Local Knowledge into Conceptualization

Concepts can provide researchers and communities with common ground for communicating and building understandings about the world. However, researchers who engage with communities often encounter unexpected interpretations of concepts in the field. This article introduces Community Concept Drawing (CCD), a participatory visual method aimed at facilitating a deep understanding of how local communities make sense of complex concepts often central to social research. We present the methodological foundations, protocol, and utility of CCD while drawing examples from our case studies in Senegal, Nepal, Morocco, and Kenya to examine the concept of empowerment. While CCD was created to open opportunities for studying empowerment within the field of international development, this article concludes by offering applications for using CCD to examine other concepts in various fields of study.

Zine Production with Queer Youth and Pre-Service Teachers in New Brunswick, Canada: Exploring Connections, Divergences, and Visual Practices

Queer, trans, and non-binary youth navigate school spaces punctuated by erasures, silences, and oppression, and resist these experiences through solidarity-building, activism, and art practice. In this article, we seek to centre experiences of school and society as important spheres of inquiry through participatory visual research with queer, trans, and non-binary young people (ages 12 to 17) and pre-service teachers and community educators (ages 22 to 40) in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Using an intersectional lens, we consider how intersecting power structures—gender, race, class, and disability—produce unequal impacts in relation to school and social experiences in New Brunswick. Centring youth agency, we position youth as knowledge producers through participatory visual methods of inquiry, including the making of zines (DIY print productions). With youth and pre-service teachers, through inquiry into existing and desired school and social experiences, we seek to make visual the practice of intergenerational solidarity building through zine production.
 Keywords: participatory visual research, queer, trans and non-binary youth, pre-service teachers, zines

Beyond the Menstrual Shed: Exploring Caste/Ethnic and Religious Complexities of Menstrual Practices in Far-West Nepal

Throughout Nepal, women and girls follow a range of menstrual practices, many of which leave them vulnerable to negative health outcomes. We applied a participatory visual research method called Collaborative Filmmaking to acquire a nuanced and sensory understanding of menstrual practices and motivations in Kanchanpur, Nepal. The study also provides insight regarding menstrual practice complexities across different castes/ethnicities and religions. Results show an array of menstrual practices related to cleansing, cooking, touching, worshipping, and sleeping. Participants’ menstrual practices varied by caste/ethnic and religious background and were motivated by religious and spiritual beliefs, family tradition, negative consequences, and social pressure.

Viewing the complexities of nursing student professional identity formation: using reflexive photography across learning spaces

The purpose of this paper is to report on how reflexive photography can enhance communication of the complexities involved in student professional identity formation. A cohort of pre-registration nursing students were situated within a major teaching hospital for the duration of their tertiary degree. Three of these students participated in the combined data collection methods of (i) photo elicitation (photographs), (ii) photo feedback (analytical, reflective captioning) (collectively, ‘Visual Participatory Methods’ ‘VPM’), and (iii) a follow-up individual, semi-structured interview. The strength of using VPM were that place-based memories became more vivid and evoked emotions. Discussions were more in-depth and insightful by using photographic depictions and accompanied reflections. Such pairings can be valuable when investigating the role of places in professional identity formation. The findings of this study support the argument for a more integrated and consistent, sociocultural approach to learning and teaching for nursing students.

“We need to do public health differently in this community”: A reflexive analysis of participatory video, affective relations, and the policy process

abstract This reflexive analysis explores feelings evoked at a participatory video screening intended to provoke policy dialogue around the health and wellbeing of Indigenous youth. The Taking Action! Project engaged Indigenous youth, as health promotion activists, in participatory filmmaking to address HIV in their communities. The filmmakers employed creative strategies of ‘speaking back’ to policymakers and the policy processes from which they are typically excluded. I explore the role of affective learning in participatory visual research, and its impact in the policy process. A feminist approach to affect theory is vital to this work concerned with women and girls’ emotional lives and labours. For instance, it may reveal how Indigenous youth and non-Indigenous policymakers may have similar feelings about colonial legacies but may have very different relationships to those feelings. Regarding settler-Indigenous contexts globally, I argue that policy processes require affective attunement to colonial legacies, and to the ways in which policies affect Indigenous peoples’ everyday lives. This can have unexpected outcomes, such as revealing what Sarah Ahmed calls “the secret places of pain”. Painful feelings matter: they both fuel and frustrate action. Participatory visual methods can build bridges for difficult feelings, creating the grounds for both flourishing and friction.

A delectable set of offerings to close off 2020

A delectable set of offerings to close off 2020

Regional development in Amazonas, Peru: science-society interactions for sustainability

Scientific-technological knowledge maintains the anthropocentric power-pattern and exploitive attitude with regard to nature, but sustainability science asks for an integration of territorial and decontextualized knowledge systems. Visual participatory methodologies involving diverse local stakeholder facilitate dialogue on environmental and sustainability issues. Inspired by visual ethnography and mediated discourse analysis, the present article uses semiological analysis to reconstruct the depicted narratives on the nature-society system in drawings representing “regional development”. The drawings were elaborated in a series of participatory workshops involving university faculty and students, regional government and non-governmental organizations and farmers from local communities in the northern Amazonian region of Peru. The analysis reveals a prevailing anthropo and technology centered, “colonial” conception of the nature-society system, and a marginalization of alternative narratives. Beyond confirming the potential for visual participatory methods to enhance multi-stakeholder dialogue, it demonstrates how semiological analysis can be used to deepen an understanding of the cultural, organizational and technological constraints facing critical, trans-disciplinary efforts to decolonize the technology-centered, anthropocentric mainstream worldview of nature and society.

COGNITIVE MAPPING AS A METHOD TO ASSESS PEOPLES’ ATTACHMENT TO PLACE

ABSTRACT Over the past five decades, the methodological approaches used to understand peoples’ emotional ties to place have been incredibly diverse, employing both quantitative and qualitative techniques (Lewicka 2011). In recent years more ethnographic, participatory visual methods such as cognitive (mental) mapping, narrative mapping, and psychogeography are showing considerable promise in revealing peoples’ attachment to place. This article seeks to illustrate how mental mapping and walking interviews can be used as an effective tool in exposing peoples’ deep emotional connection to place. With a focus on a student-centered business district in Manhattan, Kansas, we demonstrate that Aggieville exemplifies all three types of emotional attachment: functional, territorial, and emotional. Students are functionally attached to Aggieville because it provides nearly all their foundational needs (e.g. food, clothing, housing, employment) enabling them to achieve their life goals. Students demonstrate territorial attachment because Aggieville is a space created by students for students and the accepted activities and behavior are intended for students only. Students have also established an emotional attachment to “The Ville” because it is an important place for them to socialize and bond with others.

Can the displaced speak? Muslim refugee girls negotiating identity, home and belonging through Photovoice

This paper reports on ‘Can the displaced speak?’ a photovoice project conducted with ten Muslim young women with refugee background attending one urban high school in Canada. Through the camera lenses the co-researchers expressed their views and feelings about their identities, their displacement and their perceptions of home and belonging. The project emerged as part of a larger ethnographic study with Muslim youth in Western Canada and it was conducted over a school year with co-researchers from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, who share being Muslim and becoming refugees. The paper contributes to the limited research available conducted with Muslim and refugee young women using participatory visual methods; it discusses the feminist, ethical and methodological underpinnings of the project, presents the voices of ten Muslim girls through their photographs and highlights the process and the impact of using photovoice with young, Muslim girls with refugee background.

Critical reflections on participatory visual methods and voice

Critical reflections on participatory visual methods and voice

Visual mapping of identity: negotiating ethnic identity

Purpose This paper aims to offer a novel participatory visual research method, the mapping of identity (MOI) protocol that embraces the complex nature of contemporary consumers’ lived reality. Design/methodology/approach The MOI protocol is a two-phase methodology. The first phase includes collage creation, based on a taxonomy of attachments, followed by an elicitation interview structured around the participant’s collage. In phase two, the categories elicited in phase one are synthesised into key themes in collaboration between the researcher and the participant. Findings MOI methodology provides an effective platform for participants to bring together disjointed memories, fragments and thoughts. Two individual cases are presented that seem similar on the surface; however, when deconstructing these narratives, their lived experiences and the effect that these narratives have on the construction of the self are very different. Treating participants as co-researchers and letting the choices they make in their collage creation lead the interview empowers the participant and enables the researcher to better understand their complex identity articulations. Research limitations/implications This study contributes a visual methodology capable of exploring and celebrating the complexities of self-identity. Practical implications MOI is a useful tool for facilitating self-exploration in liquid markets. Marketing experts should provide materials that are not too confining and facilitate consumers in expressing multiple voices. Social implications The participatory nature of MOI methodology allows for the emergence of stories from those that might otherwise go unheard, helping to understand unfamiliar and sometimes unrecognised identities. Originality/value Marketing literature recognises the complex nature of contemporary lived reality; however, some of the intricate aspects of this reality have not been dealt with in all their complexity. A reason for this gap is the paucity of suitable research methods. The MOI protocol presented in this paper addresses this, providing an effective visual tool to explore the complex web of contemporary consumer life.