Using visual images in research

Images are a particularly powerful form of evidence in educational research. In addition to the researcher recording still images or videos of events as a primary source of data, the images themselves can also be used as a stimulus or starting point for discussion in interviews that will enable the researcher to gain insights into a particular issue that they otherwise may not have been able to explore.

Types of visual image that may be useful in social science research include:

still images such as photographs / artistic interpretations
video
artefacts