Here are the topics we’ll cover each month of 2026:

We’re discussing my 2022 book Doing Qualitative Research Online, together with updated materials I am developing now.

You can find a discount code and library access information for the first edition here:

• Read and Discuss Doing Qualitative Research Online: Options for obtaining or accessing the book.

If you’ve missed any 2026 newsletters, the archives are open-access:

• Humanize Online Research in 2026
  
• Qualitative Approaches for Research in a Data-Intensive World
  
• What do you mean by a “holistic research design” process? And what does technology have to do with it?
  
• Design human-centered research: More from Chapter 1 in Doing Qualitative Research Online
  
• Create a blueprint for your qualitative study: You are the architect for your research.

Diary and narrative methods were the focus of my Substack newsletters for October 2025. In this post I offer a summary and links to the whole series. I encourage you to subscribe to When the Field is Online to receive each newsletter via email, with original essays, interviews, and resources.

Diary and narrative methods can be used in a variety of ways in qualitative research, or background research for other projects. The main differentiation is between solicited and unsolicited diaries. For solicited diary studies we ask participants to respond to brief questions or prompts over a defined period of time.

With unsolicited diaries, we study narrative materials such as diaries, journals, field notes and/or letters created for the writers’ own purposes.

These methods are often multimethod since written materials often include photographs or artwork. We can mis document review methods with interviews when studying contemporary narratives. These methods also involve hybrid analog-digital research since not all historical materials are digitized.

See this series of newsletters, including explanations, interviews with writers and librarians, and open-access resources:

• Narratives and Diaries in Online Research: Learning about the lived experience from first-hand accounts
• Narrated Lives: Using biographical methods in qualitative research
• Diary Methods: Why and How? How do solicited diaries fit with the research purpose?
• Diaries and Narratives: Unsolicited diaries offer a window into others’ lived experiences
• Crafting stories from historical records: An interview with Molly Beer, author of “Angelica For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution“

And related posts:

• Real or Not? Human participants in qualitative research online
• Archival Methods for Online Researchers: Find and use historical and contemporary materials

Feel free to share these posts with your students and colleagues, and keep in mind the archives are open access.

Learn more about research!

Subscribe to a free monthly newsletter about qualitative research in a connected world to get guidance and open access resources in your inbox.

This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. In other words, you can use and share but you do NOT have my permission to upload the newsletter or art to AI.

Real or Not?
As part of a series about using technology in human-human qualitative research, this newsletter focuses on ways to recruit, verify, and build relationships with people who will contribute to the study, and design suggestions for using methods that go deeper with fewer participants.
https://tinyurl.com/4z6tk74z

Events and New Subscription Options
This newsletter offers information about upcoming online conferences, and a mini-course I am offering with Eleanor Pritchard. I discuss options, including group subscriptions, in addition to the always-free newsletter.
https://tinyurl.com/5xd4hs8j

Academic Life in Liminal Spaces
This newsletter focuses on strategies for dealing with transition as a social sciences scholar. https://tinyurl.com/45p3jz3m

Do Research in Times of Change: Autoethnographic Methods
Learn ways to use in-between time to study your own experiences.
https://tinyurl.com/2ff6bx8e.

Learn more and subscribe!

When the Field is Online: Qualitative research methods and scholarly writing.

Reimagine Research: Career and development for social science researchers in transition.

My Substack newsletters contain original AI-free writing and curated collections of open-access resources. Hope you’ll join me on Substack to learn more about qualitative methods and scholarly pursuits in a connected world.

The American Library Association has proclaimed April 7th as the Right to Read Day.

The theme this year is “Drawn to Freedom” building upon National Library Week’s theme of “Drawn to the Library.” Right to Read Day 2025 honors not just the freedom to read, but the other opportunities libraries provide — the freedom to access information, the freedom to find community, the freedom to learn, and so much more.

I agree that the right to read should be fundamental, a human right. Reading for academic and professional purposes is central to my work as an independent scholar. Reading for fun is central to my life as a human.

I was an early reader, even though there were few books in my home. Once I figured out how to walk to the library on my own, my world opened up. As a teenager I discovered that my local library card worked at Enoch Pratt Library, and was soon cutting class at my mediocre school to sit in the stacks. I brought home piles of books about things I really didn’t understand, but that was part of the learning process: I learned that the life of the mind was possible. Those experiences laid the foundation for becoming the person I am now: a reader and a writer.

The right to read is under attack from every direction!

Book bans and political attacks on libraries and librarians are being fought across the US. Other attacks are more personal. Retaining our focus and attention span means fighting the well-orchestrated pull of screens and notifications. And equally pernicious: the lure of AI tools that promise to “read” and “summarize” text, taking our own thinking and questioning out of the process.

Gen AI tools give not-to-subtle messages: “let us tell you what you need to know!” or even worse “it is not worth your time to read for yourself.” No thanks! I will do my own reading. I will not surrender the joy of discovery, the immersion in stories from other times and places, or the “oh that’s interesting, where does that citation lead?” moments. I won’t surrender my mind to the tech titans who stand with authoritarians and remain silent while our rights are taken away.

Join me and commit to fighting for the right to read! (And if you need a book suggestion, just ask!)

This year my (free) Substack newsletter offers guidance and (open-access) resources for new researchers or experienced researchers who want to shift some or all of their data collection online.

Find the unfolding 2025 series online now, and subscribe to receive new ones by email. While the newsletter is a free service, additional materials and a Q & A chat are available to paid subscribers who are kind enough to support my work.

• Being an Ethical Online Researcher
• Ethics in Visual and Creative Methods
• InformING & ConsentING to participate in online research
• Choose online qualitative research methods
• To find research questions: Ask those experiencing the problem
• Find open-access scholarly journals in the social sciences
• Find questions: What problem merits and online qualitative study?

Learn more about research!

Subscribe to a free monthly newsletter about qualitative research in a connected world to get guidance and open access resources in your inbox.

This free newsletter will include explanations and practical suggestions, links to ethics codes and relevant books, as well as open-access articles. Paid subscribers will also be able to access informed consent checklists, a chapter from Doing Qualitative Research Online (2022), a Q & A chat, and additional resources. Subscribe here.

To give you a taste of some of the topics we’ll delve into in March, here are some open-access articles about ethics and online research with human participants.

Online Interviews

Fan, H., Li, B., Pasaribu, T., & Chowdhury, R. (2024). Online Interviews as New Methodological Normalcy and a Space of Ethics: An Autoethnographic Investigation into Covid-19 Educational Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 30(3-4), 333-344. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004231176283

Abstract. Worldwide travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic abruptly changed the norms of conducting qualitative research. Online interviews, long regarded as a second choice to their offline counterparts, are no longer seen as supplementary since they emerged as the dominant mode of data collection during the pandemic. This study employs an autoethnographic approach to investigate the authors’ experiences of adjusting to alternative methodological approaches. The investigation critically reflects on how the author’s agencies in allocating and gathering instructional, social, and economic resources led to a researcher identity reconfigured by choices in making ethical commitment in data collection. This article also sheds light on how the authors, constrained by limited resources, gained better understanding of ethics in practice through negotiation with participants and obtained rich data by exercising their agencies. The article argues that researchers need to place both online and offline methods on equal footing to facilitate a more ethically sensitive approach to data collection.

Online Research with Children and Youth

Barley, R., Carter, C., & Omar, A. (2025). Researching children’s COVID-19 friendship experiences online: Methodological and ethical opportunities and challenges. Qualitative Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941251317710

Abstract. In March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was rife and global lockdowns were implemented research restrictions were also put in place curtailing established research practice with children. These restrictions required researchers to reflexively navigate the interplay between responsiveness and responsibility to ensure that ethical processes continued to be fluid and co-produced. Teasing out the ethical dilemmas, this article examines the enforced online research experience with children during this time to show its complexities and idiosyncratic nature. It draws upon data examples from a pilot case study project with ten 7- to 11-year-olds investigating how children maintained their friendships during lockdown in the United Kingdom. Data were collected through a range of creative participatory research methods accompanied by an open-ended online unstructured interview. This article has implications for researchers and educators for future online data collection with children as it reflects on the ethical maze of doing research with children online. Reflections provide new insights into how allowing children to choose their creative method facilitated the production of agentic knowledge.

Pullen Sansfaçon, A., Gravel, E., & Gelly, M. A. (2024). Dealing With Scam in Online Qualitative Research: Strategies and Ethical Considerations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 23. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231224610

Abstract. In the wake of COVID-19, numerous research projects moved to online data collection to comply with public health guidelines. Since then, many qualitative projects have continued to use online methods to collect data. While online methods facilitated research continuity, they also introduced new opportunities for deceptive behaviors, particularly misrepresentation and multiple participation. Drawing from a recent project that conducted online interviews with young people who detransition after a gender transition, this article describes how fraudulent interviews were identified and dealt with. We present 12 indicators of potential scams in qualitative interviews, including similarities between participants, the type of information provided, participants’ behaviors, and inconsistencies in the narratives. We discuss our overall experience and, in light of recent literature, present strategies to prevent and deal with scams in qualitative research.

Online Research with Indigenous People

Kuhn, N. S., Kuhn, E. J., Vendiola, M. (daniseten), & Lefthand-Begay, C. (2024). Indigenous research ethics and Tribal Research Review Boards in the United States: examining online presence and themes across online documentation. Research Ethics, 20(3), 574-603. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470161241240030

Abstract. Researchers seeking to engage in projects related to Tribal communities and their citizens, lands, and non-human relatives are responsible for understanding and abiding by each Tribal nation’s research laws and review processes. Few studies, however, have described the many diverse forms of Tribal research review systems across the United States (US). This study provides one of the most comprehensive examinations of research review processes administered by Tribal Research Review Boards (TRRBs) in the US. Through a systematic analysis, we consider TRRBs’ online presence, online documentation, and themes across documents, for five entity types: Tribal nations and Tribal consortiums, Tribal colleges and universities, Tribal health organizations, Indian Health Services, and other Tribal organizations. Results include an assessment of online presence for 98 potential TRRBs, identification of 118 publicly available online documents, and analysis of 41 themes across four document types: Tribal research codes and TRRBs’ guidelines, applications, and post-approval documents. Altogether, this research provides a macro-level analysis of the most common types of TRRBs in the US in an effort to increase researchers’ understanding of these important processes as they prepare to ethically engage Tribal communities in research. These results aim to empower Tribal decision makers as they align their TRRBs’ online visibility and documentation with community priorities and strengthen their protections for the rights and wellbeing of their citizens and community. Ultimately, by expanding our knowledge of TRRBs across the US, this contribution seeks to uphold Tribal sovereignty in research and promote ethical approaches to research with Indigenous communities.

Online Research on Sensitive Issues

Whittaker, J., Pearson, E., Mattheis, A. A., Baaken, T., Zeiger, S., Atamuradova, F., & Conway, M. (2025). Catch 22: Institutional ethics and researcher welfare within online extremism and terrorism research. New Media & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251317471

Abstract. Drawing from interviews with 39 online extremism and terrorism researchers, this article provides an empirical analysis of these researchers’ experiences with institutional ethics processes. Discussed are the harms that these researchers face in the course of their work, including trolling, doxing, and mental and emotional trauma arising from exposure to terrorist content, which highlight the need for an emphasis on researcher welfare. We find that researcher welfare is a neglected aspect of ethics review processes however, with most interviewees not required to gain ethics approval for their research resulting in very little attention to researcher welfare issues. Interviewees were frustrated with ethics processes, indicating that committees oftentimes lacked the requisite knowledge to make informed ethical decisions. Highlighted by interviewees too was a concern that greater emphasis on researcher welfare could result in blockages to their ‘risky’ research, creating a ‘Catch 22’: interviewees would like more emphasis on their (and colleagues’) welfare and provision of concomitant supports, but feel that increased oversight would make gaining ethics approval for their research more difficult, or even impossible. We offer suggestions for breaking the impasse, including more interactions between ethics committees and researchers; development of tailored guidelines; and more case studies reflecting on ethics processes.

Online Research in International Settings

Sagitova, R., Syrgak kyzy, Z., & Parmenter, L. (2025). Negotiating local and global: Developing Social Science research ethics policy in a Central Asian context. Research Ethics, 21(1), 161-179. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470161241251637

Abstract. This paper addresses the issue of how local and global norms and requirements are negotiated in the early stages of development of Social Science research ethics policy in a Global South context. A review of relevant literature followed by analysis of relevant national and institutional policies highlights both tensions and creative potential for ongoing research ethics initiatives. It was found that safety, trust and confidentiality issues are common problems reported by social science researchers in Kyrgyzstan. National level documents do not directly address these ethical research issues, but the need for international research ethics principles is recognized. A limited number of institutional policies address research ethics issues, with the majority of relevant documents being codes of conduct focused on virtue ethics. The paper argues that this analysis of the current situation in Kyrgyzstan is likely to be of relevance to many countries, where those responsible for governance of research at all levels are grappling with the tensions of navigating research ethics in ways that are meaningful in local contexts while being congruent with Global North ethics requirements of funders and publishers.

Learn more about research!

Subscribe to a free monthly newsletter about qualitative research in a connected world to get guidance and open access resources in your inbox.

Let’s not let these tools take away our unique voices, suppress cultural nuances, and narrow the ways we share our experiences. Instead let’s affirm each other’s worth and celebrate the richness of our diverse stories.

They could share their stories without AI, why can’t we?

Here are some related resources:

Posts on my Substack newsletter:

• Originality and Academic Writing Month
• Originality and Our Scholarly Voice
• Communicate Your Insights
• Encourage originality: Create a culture of inquiry in the classroom

Guest posts on Methodspace:

• Learning to be Original: In the Age of AI, Students Need to be Taught the Skills of Innovation 
• If AI wrote your article, what would you lose? Some thoughts on wellbeing and writing

Learn more about research!

Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter about qualitative research in a connected world to get guidance and open access resources in your inbox.

Image credits:
Barrier Canyon style, Sego Canyon Wikimedia Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic 

Hamlet: Knight, Charles, 1791-1873, Former owner: MacDonald, George, 1824-1905, Printer: George Woodfall and Son. Folger Reference Image Collection. Image are shared under the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication License (CC0 1.0)

A back story.

A number of years ago I had a ruptured disc. Tests revealed additional problems with my back, ones not readily addressed with surgery or treatment. The intense pain meant I was sidelined from my usual activities, and the iffy prognosis meant I was working through fear and a high level of stress. I dislike taking pain killers. Seeking an alternative, I pulled out long-buried watercolor paints and started art journaling. Art journals are a private record, so I wasn’t concerned about creating “ART” to frame. Instead of worrying about whether my active life would resume, I wondered what shade of pink to use on the rose I was painting. Painting helped me to relax and take my mind off pain and problems.

Limited from doing a lot of hiking, I became a plein air enthusiast, invigorated by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

As my recovery progressed, I was convinced that taking up the paintbrush helped me to heal. At the same time, I thought that others who were dealing with the stressors of health problems and pressures of modern life would benefit from art activities. I started teaching workshops for non-artists and facilitating groups about creativity.

The more time I spent being creative and reflective, the more value I discovered. I started to see intersections between my work as a qualitative research methodologist and my avocation as an art journaling enthusiast. When my colleague Narelle Lemon announced a call for chapters for a book about creativity and self-care in higher education, I proposed a chapter.

From experience to inquiry

This chapter was distinctly different from my previous writings: while my other work focused on research methodology, this chapter focused on the researcher. In addition to discussing my own experience, I studied the varied types and uses for research journals and field notes. The title, “Journaling right and left” refers to the two sides of the brain (Salmons, 2023). I noted that:

Journaling invites us to exercise both sides of our brains. Betty Edwards, author of the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain , popularised the notion that “for a majority of individuals, information-processing based primarily on linear, sequential data is mainly located in the left hemisphere, while global, perceptual data is mainly processed in the right hemisphere” ( Edwards, 1999 , p. xxii).

We need both as qualitative researchers:

Left-brain journaling allows us to stay organised and to manage the myriad details associated with projects that involve multiple stages over a period of time.

Right-brain journaling allows us to record perceptions of ourselves in our roles as researchers, portray environments, and express thoughts and feelings.

To walk the talk I created a set of original pen and ink drawings for the chapter.

While my other books contain lots of original models, diagrams, and photographs, this was the first time that I created hand-drawn illustrations. There is something more personal about sharing this kind of artwork.

I hoped this chapter would be valuable to researchers in need of spiritual or physical healing. I hoped that this chapter would be valuable to researchers who need to unwind after studying sensitive or disturbing issues. I hoped that this chapter would be valuable to researchers who need unobtrusive screen-free ways to record interview or field notes. I did not hope that tech companies would chop my careful work to bits, or that billionaires would profit from throwing my work together with other stolen words and art.

From handmade drawings to AI slop!

Regardless of the efforts involved or contribution made, Taylor and Francis did not see the need to inform me that they had licensed all this work to multiple AI companies. They did not give me – or any of their authors – the chance to opt-out. Indeed, no information has been provided to authors about the deal and its significance for authors whose agreements pre-date the advent of Generative AI tools. I would not have agreed to this use of the chapter and its illustrations even if some of the millions of dollars they collected trickled down to me. But at this point it is beyond insulting that no royalties for the chapter or other three books that were part of the deal and no explanation about how royalties would be assigned have been offered. All emails have gone unanswered since my last communication from an editorial director who is part of the senior leadership team at Routledge/Taylor & Francis September 27^th.

The next time you think it is cool to create an AI-generated drawing or produce some writing with little effort beyond a well-crafted prompt, pause and consider the years of development and work that went into the words and artwork taken to train the tool.

For more on my experiences with Routledge/Taylor & Francis’ AI deal, see:

Blog posts about my experience:

• Supply Chain of Writing Fools

• Routledge sells out authors to AI

Substack newsletter series about teaching to encourage originality, critical and creative thinking. (Subscribe to “When the Field is Online,” my free monthly newsletter.)

and

Interview with Graham Lovelace

The chapter: Salmons, J. E. (2023). Journaling right and left. In N. Lemon (Ed.), Creative Expression and Wellbeing in Higher Education. Routledge.

Learn more about research!

Subscribe to a free monthly newsletter about qualitative research in a connected world to get guidance and open access resources in your inbox. Note: the June 2025 newsletter will focus on research and art journaling.

This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. 

Thanks to Beth Spencer for this badge indicating that no AI tools were used to create this post!

Anyone who owns a smartphone has a camera in their pocket. We can easily share digital pictures or media with friends, family, or the whole world on social media. We’ve seen dramatic examples where video footage captured on the scene of a crime, natural disaster, or event has reverberated through the news and public discourse. With visual documentation becoming the norm, researchers have many opportunities to collect data in various media forms. Then what? This collection of blog posts and open-access articles includes examples, strategies, and approaches for analyzing visual data.

Learn more! See the new hot-off-the-press The Handbook of Creative Data Analysis from Helen Kara, Dawn Mannay, and Alastair Roy. Read Helen’s blog post about it here.

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Analyzing Video

Blog Posts

Seeing and Hearing the Problem: Using Video in Qualitative Research by yours truly

Video Data Analysis: How 21st century video data reshapes social science research
blog post by Nicolas M. Legewie and Anne Nassauer, co-authors of Video Data Analysis: How to Use 21st Century Video in the Social Sciences.

Articles: Analyzing Video Data

Borish, D., Cunsolo, A., Mauro, I., Dewey, C., & Harper, S. L. (2021). Moving images, Moving Methods: Advancing Documentary Film for Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211013646
Abstract. With the widespread use of digital media as a tool for documentation, creation, preservation, and sharing of audio-visual content, new strategies are required to deal with this type of “data” for research and analysis purposes. This article describes and advances the methodological process of using documentary film as a strategy for qualitative inquiry. Insights are drawn from a multimedia study that explored Inuit-caribou relationships in Labrador, Canada, through the co-production of community-based, research-oriented, participatory documentary film work. Specifically, we outline: 1) the influence of documentary film on supporting the project conceptualization and collaboration with diverse groups of people; 2) the strength of conducting filmed interviews for in-depth data collection, while recognizing how place and activities are intimately connected to participant perspectives; and 3) a new and innovative analytical approach that uses video software to examine qualitative data, keep participants connected to their knowledge, and simultaneously work toward creating high impact storytelling outputs. The flexibility and capacity of documentary film to mobilize knowledge and intentionally create research outputs for specific target audiences is also discussed. Continued and future integration of documentary film into qualitative research is recommended for creatively enhancing our abilities to not only produce strong, rich, and dynamic research outputs, but also simultaneously to explore and communicate diverse knowledges, experiences, and stories.

Craig, S. L., McInroy, L. B., Goulden, A., & Eaton, A. D. (2021). Engaging the Senses in Qualitative Research via Multimodal Coding: Triangulating Transcript, Audio, and Video Data in a Study With Sexual and Gender Minority Youth. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211013659
Abstract. The variety of formats in which qualitative data may be collected have been explored within the methodological literature. Yet, the multiple options for coding these data formats have not been comprehensively detailed. While transcript analysis is widely used across disciplines, it may have limitations—particularly for research involving marginalized populations. This paper presents a multimodal coding approach as a methodological innovation for triangulating three data formats (transcript, audio, and video), detailed through the application of this analytic approach during a qualitative study exploring media engagement with sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). Nineteen semi-structured interviews with SGMY were filmed and transcribed. Nine independent coders then utilized the innovative multimodal approach to code the three data formats using a constructivist grounded theory framework. Some codes were similar across modalities, such as those related to safety issues and finding identity and community through media. Others differed between modalities, such as those related to participant affect, perceived contradictions, discrepancies between verbal statements and body language, level of comfort and engagement, and distress when discussing traumatic experiences. Video coding captured the broadest range of emotions and experiences from marginalized youth, while transcripts provided the most straightforward form of data for coding. Multimodal coding may be applicable across qualitative approaches to enrich analyses and account for potential biases, thereby enhancing analytical lenses in qualitative inquiry. Methodological strategies for coding and integrating data types are discussed.

Fazeli, S., Sabetti, J., & Ferrari, M. (2023). Performing Qualitative Content Analysis of Video Data in Social Sciences and Medicine: The Visual-Verbal Video Analysis Method. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231185452
Abstract. Videos are ubiquitous and have significantly impacted our communication and information consumption. The video, as data, has helped researchers understand how human interactions and relationships develop and change, and how patterns emerge in various circumstances and interpretations. Given the expanding relevance of video data in social science and medical research and the constant introduction of new formats and sources, it is critical to be able to conduct a thorough analysis of this multimodal data. However, the few methodologies (e.g., Actor Network Theory, Picture Theory) appropriate to video data analysis lack detailed guidelines on how to select, organize, and examine the multimodality of video data. This article aims to overcome this practice or methodological gap by proposing and demonstrating the Visual-Verbal Video Analysis (VVVA) method, a six-step framework adapted from Multimodal Theory and Visual Grounded Theory for organizing and evaluating video material according to the following dimensions: general characteristics of the video; multimodal characteristics; visual characteristics; characteristics of primary and secondary characters; and content and compositional characteristics including the transmission of messages, emotions, and discourses.

Hopper, M. J., & Quiñones, S. (2012). A Hunch without a Sound: Co-Constructing Meanings of Nonverbal and Verbal Interactions in Video Data. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 547–572. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691201100503

Abstract. This narrative account describes a collaborative qualitative video data analysis process between a bilingual Deaf female researcher and a bilingual Puerto Rican female researcher. Via three processing points, we examine our journeys to co-construct meanings from a single video data source which was part of a larger ethnographic study of an urban community change initiative. We highlight how our respective epistemologies informed the process of watching, analyzing, and interpreting nonverbal and verbal interactions from a video segment. The video watching process included a hunch and discovery of a critical incident. While engaging independently and collaboratively in analysis, we confirmed how the critical incident revealed concepts of access and participation. This article is distinctive in that it highlights Deaf epistemology and qualitative inquiry processes through video data analysis of nonverbal interactions. Our work contributes to the growing body of methodology literature emphasizing collaborative social practices for video data analysis.

Legewie, N., & Nassauer, A. (2018). YouTube, Google, Facebook: 21st Century Online Video Research and Research Ethics. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-19.3.3130
Abstract. Since the early 2000s, the proliferation of cameras in devices such as mobile phones, closed-circuit television (CCTV), or body cameras has led to a sharp increase in video recordings of human interaction and behavior. Through websites that employ user-generated content (e.g., YouTube) and live streaming sites (e.g., GeoCam), access to such videos virtually is at the fingertips of social science researchers. Online video data offer great potential for social science research to study an array of human interaction and behavior, but they also raise ethical questions to which existing guidelines and publications only provide partial answers. In our article we address this gap, drawing on existing ethical discussions and applying them to the use of online video data. We examine five areas in which online video research raises specific questions or promises unique potentials: informed consent, analytic opportunities, privacy, transparency, and minimizing harm to participants. We discuss their interplay and how these areas can inform practitioners, reviewers, and interested readers of online video studies when evaluating the ethical standing of a study. With this study, we contribute to an informed and transparent discussion about ethics in online video research.

Meier zu Verl, C., & Tuma, R. (2021). Video Analysis and Ethnographic Knowledge: An Empirical Study of Video Analysis Practices. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 50(1), 120–144. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241620973716
Abstract. This paper discusses the practical foundations of ethnographically informed video analysis by investigating empirically one of the core activities of video research in sociology: the video data session. Most discussions are shaped by methodological considerations, little is known however about actual video analysis practices. By making these practices itself an object of analysis, we do show how interpretation is a social and communicative activity. In doing so, we highlight different forms of knowledge that are a resource for and topic of ethnography and video analysis. To frame our argument, we discuss the current methodological discourse on videography. Subsequently, we focus on empirical video data from video data sessions of a research network in order to discover the details of video analysis practices. We conclude this paper by highlighting our empirical findings: Video analysis is carried out communicatively by labelling knowledge, creating quotable objects through bodily reenactments, translating professional knowledge, and reassessing irritations.

Paganopoulos, M. (2022). Imagined Cities of the World: From Expanded Cinema to Expanded Ethnography. Media Watch, 13(1), 9–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/09760911221085836
Abstract. By looking at ethnography as a multi-sited and evolving field in the tradition of George Marcus and Michael Fischer, the article returns to the cinematic concept of ‘expanded cinema’, focusing on current forms of expansion in audiovisual ethnographic representation (i.e., ‘expanded ethnography’). In doing so, it analyses the live cinematic performances of Supereverything* (The Light Surgeons, 2011–2017) and Invisible Cities (59 Productions, 2019) in terms of convergences, correspondences and intermedial staging, all of which dialectically synthesise the expanded field as it emerges from within the world system. The article deconstructs the aesthetical dialectics that produce the collective feeling of enlargement of the ethnographic field from a singular stage to a multiplicity of actors and stages (fields) via staged live interconnections made between intermedia technologies and social/bodily intersubjective relations, as they emerged via exploratory practices on and beyond the limits of the stage. By using sources deriving from cinematic theatre and philosophy, the article argues that the illusion of enlargement of the effigy of the world picture is techno/socially manufactured as part of the marketed media turn to imagination and subjectivity, with political consequences for ethnographic representation and its ‘expanded’ claim to a reality beyond the material history of the cosmopolis.

Serafinelli, E., & O’Hagan, L. A. (2022). Drone views: a multimodal ethnographic perspective. Visual Communication, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14703572211065093
Abstract. Drone visuals are rapidly becoming part of our sociocultural imaginaries, generating distinct images that differ from traditional visual conventions and producing unexpected perspectives of the world that reveal hidden aspects of our surroundings. Despite the growing use of camera-laden drones in a range of commercial and non-commercial activities, to date, little scholarly attention has been paid to the semiotics of drone visuals. This article is the first to draw specific attention to the compositional structure of drone visuals, combining social semiotic analysis with ethnographic insights to assess how they are changing the way we think about the world. Exploring drone hobbyists’ and developers’ perspectives on drone usage and the visuals they generate, the authors identify and examine three frequently occurring characteristics of drone visuals: top-down views, 360-degree panoramic views and ‘classic’ landscape perspectives. The critical analysis of these peculiarities leads them to argue for the potential of these innovative visions to reshape our visual culture. In their conclusion, the authors aim to open a conversation about the way technological advancements mark important sociocultural changes in sense-making processes, geographical imaginations and everyday life experiences.

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Analyzing video data from YouTube or TikTok

Dekavalla, M. (2022). Facework in Confessional Videos by YouTube Content Creators. Convergence, 28(3), 854-866. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565221085812
Abstract. This article analyses the role of facework in the discourse of confessional YouTube videos by female fashion and beauty content creators, where they disclose personal problems, and offer viewers advice. It uses thematic analysis to identify discursive tactics that protect viewers’ face. The article argues that the parasocial nature of the connection that these videos attempt to establish with an audience that content creators know little about makes it important for them to reflexively adapt to these viewers’ needs for fellowship and autonomy. Their disclosures may be intended to create closeness, but at the same time they need to cater for distance and prepare the ground for this content to be received as well as possible. However, just like the connection that the videos seek to establish, the facework they contain is also parasocially situated: the videos speak to an imagined viewer’s need for inclusion and this viewer’s possible objections, as these are perceived by the content creator. The article contributes to a better understanding of the construction of closeness in this genre of mediated discourse.

Rieder, B., Borra, E., Coromina, Ò., & Matamoros-Fernández, A. (2023). Making a Living in the Creator Economy: A Large-Scale Study of Linking on YouTube. Social Media + Society, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231180628
Abstract. This article explores monetization and networking strategies within the consolidating creator economy. Through a large-scale study of linking practices on YouTube, we investigate how creators seek to build their online presence across multiple platforms and widen their income streams. In particular, we build on a near-complete sample of 153,000 “elite” YouTube channels with at least 100,000 subscribers, retrieved at the end of 2019, and investigate the URLs found in 137 million video descriptions to analyze traces of these strategies. We first situate our study within relevant literature around the creator economy, the role of platforms, and issues such as social capital building and economic precarity. We then outline our data and analytical approach, followed by a presentation of our findings. The article finishes with a discussion on how monetization and networking strategies via placing URLs in video descriptions have become more important over time, but also differ substantially between channel sizes, content categories, and geographic locations. Our empirical analysis shows that YouTube, as a highly unequal platformed media system, thrives on the economic pressures it exerts on its creators.

Sued, G. E., & Rodríguez Rodríguez, A. (2023). Partners or workers? Mexican app deliverers on YouTube and TikTok. Convergence, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231179963
Abstract. This article seeks to understand how app delivery workers construct their collective identity through the digital platforms of YouTube and TikTok. Said identity construction occurs in the context of the social controversy surrounding their status as workers without labor rights or as independent partners of digital platforms. To this end, we collected 977 videos and their metadata and analyzed them via cross-platform digital methods. The findings reveal that app delivery workers construct their collective identity through the interplay of two factors. The first is the identity narratives created by delivery workers as video bloggers. The second is the recognition narratives created by different associated actors, such as accountants, media, universities and research centers, and content creators. Through these interactions, the narrative of delivery workers as independent partners acquires more algorithmic strength and visibility than those that discuss their status as employees and their lack of labor rights. Audiovisual technology also works as an instrument to reach individual agency and face the precariousness of daily life.

Sui W, Sui A, Rhodes RE. What to watch: Practical considerations and strategies for using YouTube for research. DIGITAL HEALTH. 2022;8. doi:10.1177/20552076221123707
Abstract. YouTube is the second-most visited webpage in the world and boasts over 2 billion users and 500 h of videos uploaded every hour. Despite this popularity, relatively few articles have discussed the practical use of searching and YouTube as a research tool and source of data. The purpose of our paper is to propose a step-by-step schematic for utilizing the YouTube platform. Our discussions include (a) when/whether to use YouTube for research; (b) selecting an appropriate research design; (c) how to search for YouTube data; (d) what data can be pulled from YouTube; and (e) the contextual limitations for interpreting YouTube data. Further, we provide practical strategies and considerations when searching, collecting, or interpreting YouTube data. These discussions are informed by our own work using the YouTube platform. Effective methods used to search for YouTube data are likely to extend beyond simply searching the platform itself; the search strategy and search results themselves should also be documented. While not exhaustive, we feel these considerations and strategies present themselves as a conceptual foothold for future research using the YouTube platform.

Analyzing Images

Blog posts

Image Use and Reuse with links to recorded webinars

This week I’m reading about photovoice by yours truly

This week I’m reading about photos in online research by yours truly

Articles

Ayala, R. A., & Koch, T. F. (2019). The Image of Ethnography—Making Sense of the Social Through Images: A Structured Method. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919843014
Abstract. Although systematic observation and interviews are the most common techniques in ethnography, a deep understanding requires research tools adapted to exploring beyond the observational scope. Nonconventional methods can support ethnography and complement observations and thus refine the construction of meaning. Qualitative research literature deals disproportionately more with some forms of data, typically text, lacking a structured method for visuals. This article arises from a case study using nonconventional methods, such as sociograms and participant-made drawings, and presents a structured method to attain enriched ethnographic analysis. Using this structured method, the research then draws on representation, visualization, and interaction as ports of entry into group dynamics. The aim being to open a way to discovery when visual and interactional representations do not easily translate into words. Spoken language presupposes an ability to capture and convey thought with precision and clarity and to know how the interlocutor may interpret words. A structured method to analyze images can fruitfully assist in the process. Since every research participant has a view on or a way of making sense of the research subject, the method is universal in application.

Gerstenblatt, P. (2013). Collage Portraits as a Method of Analysis in Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 12(1), 294–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691301200114
Abstract. This article explores the use of collage portraits in qualitative research and analysis. Collage portraiture, an area of arts-based research (ABR), is gaining stature as a method of analysis and documentation in many disciplines. This article presents a method of creating collage portraits to support a narrative thematic analysis that explored the impact of participation in an art installation construction. Collage portraits provide the opportunity to include marginalized voices and encourage a range of linguistic and non-linguistic representations to articulate authentic lived experiences. Other potential benefits to qualitative research are cross-disciplinary study and collaboration, innovative ways to engage and facilitate dialogue, and the building and dissemination of knowledge.

Lobinger, K., Venema, R., & Kaufhold, A. (2022). Hybrid repertoires of photo sharing: exploring the complexities of young adults’ photo-sharing practices. Visual Communication, 21(1), 73–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357219894038
Abstract. Photo sharing has become a routine everyday practice and an object of increasing scholarly interest in visual communication research. Previous studies focused on single photo-sharing practices and on how particular photo-sharing services or devices are used. This article, in contrast, highlights the merits of a repertoire-oriented approach to better understand the complexity and entanglement of photo-sharing practices across various channels in diversified media environments. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews that are combined with creative visual methods, the present study explores the everyday photo-sharing practices of eight young adults. It examines how they decide and reflect on which pictures are shared with whom and via which communication channel.

Witzer S, Flicker S. Visualizing DEPICT: A Multistep Model for Participatory Analysis in Photovoice Research for Social Change. Health Promotion Practice. 2021;22(2_suppl):50S-65S. doi:10.1177/15248399211045017
Abstract. As a critical narrative intervention, photovoice invites community members to use photography to identify, document, and discuss issues in their communities. The method is often employed with projects that have a social change mandate. Photovoice may help participants express issues that are difficult to articulate, create tangible and meaningful research products for communities, and increase feelings of ownership. Despite being hailed as a promising participatory method, models for how to integrate diverse stakeholders feasibly, collaboratively, and rigorously into the analytic process are rare. The DEPICT model, originally developed to collaboratively analyze textual data, enhances rigor by including multiple stakeholders in the analysis process.

Image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay

The impulse to control what others read, learn, and think is not new, but we face new challenges to our work in the digital age. (See the open-access archives of the Index on Censorship  and the PEN Freedom to Write Index.) While much attention in the United States has focused on recent challenges to curricula, reading assignments, and school or public library collections for children, higher education is not immune. Issues for academic writers – those whose research informs books and articles – go deeper than simple objection to book banning.

I’ll highlight two areas of concern for me: constraints and risks for researchers, and pressures to speed up the writing process using generative AI.

Someone has to research and write a book before it can be banned!

Before a scholarly book, textbook, or article is subject of concern in the classroom, someone had to:

• identify an issue, a problem, topic, or phenomenon
• decide to research it
• develop a design and proposal
• attain approval
• conduct the study
• report findings, insights, or discoveries
• propose a book or draft an article, and
• get it published

At every stage of this arduous process censorship, restrictions, or fear of reprisal can prevent the problem from being studied, or obstruct the project from moving forward. Academic researchers and writers ask themselves hard questions before tackling a problem that could put them at risk:

• Self-censorship: Should I study a potentially sensitive or controversial question or problem of importance to the field or society?
• Research Approval: Will the research proposal be approved by the relevant committee, institution, IRB, ethics review, or other oversight entity? Will the article or book proposal be accepted for publication?
• Support: Will the project get funded? Will I get help from the development office, graduate assistants, and/or staff support?
• Safety: Will I be personally at risk when conducting the study? Will I be the object of cyberbullying? Will this research put participants or gatekeepers at risk? If I am not tenured or an independent scholars without an association with an academic institution will I face additional risks? (See the PEN Online Harassment Field Manual.)
• Dissemination and adoption: Will writings on sensitive or controversial topics be accepted for publication in books or articles? Will they be acquired by libraries? Will such publications be adopted or assigned as course readings?

In light of these risks, do academic institutions need to rethink doctoral supervision and review protocols? Do they need to develop ways to protect researchers in the field, whether in-person or online? Do journal editors and book publishers need to reflect on where they stand in terms of publishing important work that might be subject to restrictions or bans?

AI tells writers what to say (or not).

Let’s take a step back from the finished book and consider the writing process. The advent of free generative AI apps has dominated the news in the last year. Everything from email programs to social media sites now has a built in AI tool (whether we want it or not.) The ubitquitous presence of these tools offers a not-too-subtle message: you cannot write this on your own. You need to use the words we give you – words taken from others’ copyright-protected or online writing without their permission (and without compensation.) The use of generative AI tools for writing has been attacked as plagiarism, but I would go a step further and describe it as a form of censorship and control.

Thanks to Beth Spencer for creating this badge and highlighting the importance of original human creativity!

Writers draw on our own interpretations and insights, critical and creative thinking. If we are using a tool that reframes our thoughts and shapes our expressions, whose perspectives are represented? The tech bros who set the algorithms? What relevant views were omitted?

It is well known that generative AI is biased – so what biases appear in our writing when we use these tools? It is well known that AI produces, or reproduces, misinformation. What scrutiny would be needed to weed out unwanted false or misleading points? Ultimately, what value do you put on your own thoughts and expressions, and how useful is it to give the writing process over to generative AI? Or are we allowing a form of censorship and social control by incorporating the expressions approved by the AI algorithm masters into our writing?

When we reference a peer-reviewed journal article we trust that any participants in the research being discussed were treated with respect as per basic principles of research ethics. Risks to them were minimized, they were informed of risks, and consented to participate. Participation was on a voluntary basis, and they could withdraw if they changed their minds. When we use generative AI source material we must acknowledge that writers and artists were not informed, did not agree to have their material used, and were not allowed to opt-out.

Authentic, courageous research and writing are more important that ever!

In this complicated and sometimes dangerous world, we need the findings of social research! This Banned Book Week, let’s support the researchers and writers who take the risks associated with inquiries into difficult problems, and writing about them in truthful and insightful ways!

Want to focus on your own originality?
Join me in November for Academic Writing Month on Substack!