Evaluation

Using visual methodology worked extremely well in this project, as I do not think I would have seen any power discourses other than that of institution over student if I had been looking at textual information or had taken interview responses as my data source.  My intention, initially, had been to take photographs of as many students as possible in as many situations as possible and intended to go through these photographs repeatedly to find discourse operating within several at the same time using grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss 1967).  However, as I was lucky enough to take photographs of two groups of students in an unusual situation within the same room and on the same day, the opportunity to investigate the similarities and contrasts took me in a new direction.

The unusual situation consisted of a male group from the construction building of the college coming into the study room to complete an assignment.  No members of the group had ever been in the room and they were sitting next to a group of female students who use the room regularly.  The sections of the room are laid out very differently, so it looks like the groups are in different rooms, but they were working within sight and earshot of each other.  The situation’s lack of precedent made any discourse occurring in the male group historically unrelated to that of the female group, which made it more interesting.  This inspired me to look at how the photograph demonstrated their relationships with the space and how they claimed their space.  However, the research brought up the idea of how power within a group dynamic relates to the use of space.

Looking at Goffman’s book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1969) made me think of how an individual sets up temporary space can suggest meaning and how this may or may not be an intentional projection.  Also thinking about Prosser and Schwartz’ ‘Data Collection’ section of their chapter ‘Photographs within the Social Research Process’ (1998, 119) made me realise that my position as a mature student could potentially influence the photographs and would certainly influence my interpretation of them.  However, I was lucky in the respect that, having put an article explaining my intentions in the college newspaper a few days before I started researching, most students were aware of what I was doing.  This limited my influence over the presentation of their workspace as the article had stated I would like the students to ignore me.  On the other hand, I was unable to limit my influence on the students’ captions, as this needed some explanation.  My position as a student in the college also helped to limit the disturbance of my being in the room because the other students were used to seeing me about.

The whole process made me very aware of how subjective research is in terms of the influence of the researcher.  If I had asked each member of the groups for an interview, the process would have been more subjective for several reasons.  The first reason is that if I had spoken to the subjects and interviewed them I would unintentionally form an opinion of them as individuals (as occurred with another group who asked me many questions about my research).  Another reason would be that that the individuals would want to project a certain image of themselves, through verbal communication and performing, as described in Goffman’s Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1969), but I would be less aware of the performance as I would be closer to the subject.  In addition, the practical issues of finding a quiet place and having recording equipment removes the spontaneity of the research.  This takes the interviewee another step away from the original situation and alters their perception of the situation studied, as well as often making the interviewee very nervous and less responsive.  Finally, the research based around the use of space, requires a visual representation to be most effective.  Any other form of communication would be an impression rather than a representation.

However, as Cronin (1998) points out ‘The purposes to which photographs are both taken and used will have an effect on their meaning’.  In other words, they are a representation and not truth for all.  This project has enabled me to give my interpretation of the truth surrounding power discourses operating within claims of space in a temporary study environment.  It would be interesting to see what interpretations further study and other researchers might find.

References:

Cronin, Ó. (1988) ‘Psychology and Photographic Theory’ in Prosser, J. (ed.) Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers. 69-83

Glaser, B. and Strauss, A. (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.

Goffman, E. (1969) Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press

Prosser, J. and Schwartz, D. (1998) ‘Photographs within the Social Research Process’ in Prosser, J. (ed.) Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers. 115-130