Visual Methodologies Revisited

Abstract

This chapter examines some recent advancements and outstanding issues of a more visual social science. It begins by advocating for a broader understanding of visual culture that goes beyond the study of (existing) images and towards the development of visual methodologies that may fully utilize the visual as a proper entrance point into the study of culture and society. After a period marked by a strong emphasis on camera-based technologies as data sources and research tools, visual researchers have begun to develop an interest in other representational techniques, such as freehand drawing, as well as in referents beyond visible material culture and human behavior that can be “visualized.” Furthermore, new technologies continue to significantly increase the scopic and spatial possibilities of visual and multimodal research. The second section of this chapter, then, looks at current obstacles and prospects for visual research by examining how it negotiates and partially overcomes various disciplinary and external expectations and limits. These include: the huge task of integrating and streamlining a very fragmented visual research landscape, the need to work towards more explicit methods and constructive theoretical frameworks, a call for defining and developing medium- and method-specific visual research competencies, and dealing more proficiently with the ever-changing ethical, legal, and institutional rules and expectations concerning visual research.