Visual Research Methods - Ch.2 Observing Culture and Social Life

lewishine

Ch. 2 of Visual Research Methods focuses on field work and social research. Stanczak states that as researchers, we are on a quest for empirical social inquiry. The book defines this as, “an effort to generate new knowledge of culture and social life through systematic collection and analysis of sensory evidence and other forms of real world data” (Stanczak, 2007, p.26).

This chapter discusses social science vs. documentary. Sometimes documentaries can be looked down upon because their process may not be as rigorous as social science’s processes. While on the other hand, some may think that social sciences rely too heavily on theory driven protocol. Documentaries may not be as empirical, yet many steps and processes are taken to verify data, using different methods and triangulation. This is where transparency comes into play. We take steps to permit transparency by allowing reader or audience into our processes. One way to be transparent is through autoethnography or writing/relating yourself into your research. Allow audience to know what field methods were used in obtaining data. Also, be clear about manipulated editing to achieve desired reactions.

Remember we are trying to pursue members’ meanings (as social scientists). Being transparent in our work takes us back to the one of the main themes of this book; methodology. Understanding methodology then in turn takes us back to another central theme which is epistemology, our reasons for knowing.