The case for and Against Doing Virtual Photovoice

Bibliographic Data

ID2411544
AuthorsJohn L Oliffe (0000-0001-9029-4003), Nina Gao (0000-0001-6658-9928), Mary T Kelly (0000-0002-8666-8567), Calvin C Fernandez (0009-0003-1035-7150), Hooman Salavati (0009-0004-5542-1475), Matthew Sha (0000-0003-2845-0874), Zac E Seidler (0000-0002-6854-1554, Orygen, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Simon M Rice (Orygen, Melbourne, VIC, Australia), Simon Rice (0000-0003-4045-8553, Orygen)
Year2023
Volume22
Publication date2023-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1609-4069 • E-ISSN: 1609-4069
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/16094069231190564
OpenAlexW4384519525
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited36

Photovoice offers creative participatory action methods for conveying community strengths and challenges with the goal of addressing health inequities. Accelerated by COVID-19 restrictions, photovoice has increasingly become virtual, and this shift has given rise to new considerations including navigating online recruitment and data collection, e-participatory action trends and working with multi-site large qualitative data sets. Within these contexts, the current article discusses the case for and against virtual photovoice, drawing from a large study comprising 110 men's experiences of, and perspectives about, equitable and sustainable intimate partner relationships. The findings are shared across three themes. The first theme, e-Efficiencies and concessions contrasts increased recruitment reach and data collection cost-savings with vulnerabilities to phishing and challenges for working with participants' wide-ranging internet literacies and practices. Theme two, Participatory action changed, chronicles the participants' varied relationships to photography including sourcing third-party and archived photographs. Revealed also were privacy concerns whereby some participants opted for audio only interviews and/or restricted the use of their photographs. The third theme, Reckoning breadth and depth in a large dataset, discusses emergent study design considerations including analytics for interpreting and contextually representing large multi-site projects that are made possible through virtual photovoice. While technological advances and COVID-19 have forged photovoice virtually, the case for and against this trend reveals complex considerations that will likely manifest a continuum of approaches ranging virtual, hybrid and in-person models. In summary, we suggest that integral to weighing the case for and against virtual photovoice researchers will need to thoughtfully adapt to changing technologies, as well as potential post COVID-19 tilts for returning to in-person

Action (physics · Citizen journalism · Economic growth · Participatory action research · Photovoice · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · World Wide Web · Children's Rights and Participation · Computer Science · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Urban Green Space and Health