Visual ethnography as a methodology in social medicine
Keywords:
laadullinen tutkimus, etnografia, visuaalinen aineisto, visuaalinen analyysiAbstract
Visual ethnography provides a novel methodology for studying health, illness, or well-being. Visual ethnography is a qualitative research methodology that uses visual materials such as photographs, drawings, video recordings, online graphic material, or various visual digital media content. Visual ethnography draws on anthropology, allowing us to study the relationship between visual elements and cultural, technological, embodied, and experiential elements. Although the use of visual ethnography is becoming more widespread in international social medicine research, its use in domestic research has been limited and the principles of its application are still being formed. In this article, we describe the potential and practical application of visual ethnography in social medicine research. We provide data examples to illustrate the use of visual ethnography, the issues to be considered, and the limitations. We highlight examples of both self-produced and ready-made visual material. We also consider the philosophical and ethical issues of research, the specificities of which are essential to the practical implementation of this methodology. We suggest that visual ethnography offers new ways of examining issues related to health, illness, and well-being, and can complement quantitative research methods.
