The People in the Pictures Research: Taking Care with Photo Elicitation
Ethics and Integrity in Visual Research Methods
ISBN: 978-1-78769-420-0, eISBN: 978-1-78769-419-4
Publication date: 5 June 2020
Abstract
This chapter introduces the approaches and methods employed in a four-country research project that resulted in the 2017 report The People in the Pictures: Vital perspectives on Save the Children’s image making. It presents and explores the ethical issues that emerged throughout the process of the research, particularly in relation to photo elicitation – the use of images (still and moving) within both interviews and focus groups. Interviews and focus groups took place in the UK, Jordan, Bangladesh, and Niger with a total of 202 research participants. The research involved sharing Save the Children content (fundraising materials, published reports, online news features, TV adverts, and short films) with research participants. Research participants included those featured in some of these visual communication materials (referred to as contributors), and other individuals within their communities (referred to as non-contributors). The following principles and decisions informed the research design: safe and ethical practice; inclusive, engaging and accessible approaches; the participation of children; prioritising first-hand accounts; no photography or filming; and the preparation of location- and language-specific resources for each interview and focus group. The main ethical issues to emerge during the design of the research related to predicting (and responding) to any potential negative impacts of the research on participants, particularly contributors, but also children. The researchers also experienced some unexpected ethical encounters, including visual materials causing some concern or distress. Additionally, assuring research participants’ anonymity led to the necessity of extra care when publishing the report and the use of images within that.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I wish to acknowledge SCUK, first for commissioning The People in the Pictures research and second for its permission for the author to share her reflections on the research within this chapter. I would also like to thank Dr Edward Ademolu, David Girling, and Anna Gormley for their contributions to this chapter and Dr Rachel Tavernor for providing encouraging feedback on a first draft. My first encounter with photo elicitation was observing anthropologist Dr Julie Flowerday at work in Hunza, Northern Pakistan in 1994. She was conducting interviews about changing landscapes, using photographs taken in the 1930s, and holding the interviews in the same position as the original photographs were taken. I was impressed, and her approach has stayed with me over the years.
Citation
Warrington, S. (2020), "The People in the Pictures Research: Taking Care with Photo Elicitation", Dodd, S. (Ed.) Ethics and Integrity in Visual Research Methods (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Vol. 5), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 43-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820200000005007
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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