Evaluation

The qualitative research project undertaken was to assess whether, and to what extent, society is being manipulated and ordered to behave in an expected manner by the very existence of objects found in everyday society.

The issues of validity and reliability, within the project, were not really a cause for concern, due mainly to the fact that images of people were not the focus of the project and therefore there was little room for manipulation of the subject matter, and the issue of the photographer directly influencing the subject did not arise. One photograph, however, Footsteps in the snow (opposite direction), taken from two differing viewpoints, did highlight the fact that manipulation of the source was possible, albeit accidentally in the instance being discussed. This meant that photographs taken after this point in time were carefully considered, where the framing of the object was concerned, in order not to have any substantial affect on the validity and therefore reliability of the image captured.

Validity and reliability were still an issue, because the selection process for the project, as a whole, meant taking certain elements from the cultural surround and this meant, by default, that other culturally important elements had to be excluded, mainly because the size of the project had to be kept to a minimal photographic collection. The selection process itself was based on objects that formed the larger part of signs within the culture being recorded, but not necessarily in the form of sign that society considers to be a sign, but in the form of objects which have a purpose of instructing society in some manner. The selection process also had to take into account what could be photographed; this became an issue where the photograph entitled Ordering the queue was concerned because this object is normally found in banks and post offices, both of which were off-limits due to security reasons, thus leaving only one possible source for the photograph, which is seen in the image mentioned.

Fortunately, it was possible to obtain a photograph of each of the elements that were selected for the project, all of which were selected by the process of seeking out any and every object that presented itself as a form of instruction; considering the photographs from a reflexive viewpoint, this seemed the wiser way in which to select subject matter for the project and did not appear to have any substantially detrimental affect to the overall project. It was also necessary to be vigilant during the analysing stage of the photographic content, because it was easy to overlook elements that did not readily present themselves in the images captured; this meant that the content analysis of the photographs also took on a semiotic approach as well, in order to get to the true meaning behind what was being photographed and not only to the stage of what society had been taught concerning the objects in the images. This in itself presented some interesting findings concerning the objects photographed and how society has been taught to view something which may have a different purpose to the one they are aware of.

Some of the areas which had little to no effect on the project are those of authenticity and illusion of the subject matter as it is framed for photography, apart from in the one instance already mentioned; similarly, the relationship of time does not really present itself as an issue in this particular study, although within several days of one of the photographs being taken, alterations were being made to the original subject matter by the Council, which means that in a sense the relationship of time should be taken into account when viewing the cultural content matter in the photographs presented, because time has already altered at least one of the sources and the image captured is no longer necessarily a true reflection of the object, although it still remains an accurate reflection of the cultural marker at that point in time.

It could be considered that the photographs merely represent cultural markers within society, and that they cannot be viewed in the same manner as an image of an individual whereby social inequities and ideologies are presented within captured images; however, there is an underlying emphasis on both of these aspects because ultimately it was society that placed the objects and that uses them for the control of the whole of society. In this manner, the objects within the photographs act in the same way as individuals within society, and therefore the issues and aspects of inequity and ideology are presented within the cultural use of the objects photographed. There are clear sources of control inherent in many of the images, and in images where no source of control exists, there appears to be an underlying ideology being voluntarily adhered to, as seen in the Footsteps in the snow (opposite direction) image.

Even though the photographic content is taken in isolation in many of the images, they are understood by society in isolation anyway, so this has not been considered a cause for concern and has not been deemed to affect the results in any way. All of the images can indeed be considered to be copies of reality, which may eventually take on the aspect of ‘myth’ if viewed in isolation to the culture itself, but this is highly improbable, because even without the narrative context, the photographs still maintain a degree of self-explanatory content which is enough, in most instances, to impart the knowledge required to form a substantially sound conclusion about the object within any given image; the narrative context merely allows the viewer of the photograph to explore the meaning, of the image presented, in more depth.

Although this is a very limited study, in terms of its scale, it has proven that society and individuals are ‘ordered’ by the very objects found around them in everyday life, but it has also shown that society itself maintains its structures and orderly society by the very use of these objects. On the whole, this has been a successful project which has explored the many ways, albeit subtle on occasion, in which society is ordered, in an attempt to maintain order where chaos might otherwise ensue.

Critical essay task B

Comment on Validity and Reliability in visual methods and on the Journalistic Image as Visual Sociology.


Validity and reliability in visual methods can be a cause for concern as the possibility of manipulation exists. Manipulation can be seen in the choice of images gathered which may be deliberately selected in order to give a preconceived view of the subject matter. In addition, images can also be photographed deliberately in a way that puts the subject within the image in either a positive or negative light, depending on whether the photographer wishes to depict one aspect or the other. This would mean that both the validity of the images and the reliability of their authenticity would be brought into question. If the selection of images within a visually-based study were selected for their merit and context then this would, by default, bring into question the validity of the study because it would no longer be an accurate measure of the item it was initially intended to measure, which would also bring into question the reliability of the study as well because reliability concerns the extent to which any form of study is valid. By deliberately choosing to frame a chosen aspect, as in the example above, this excludes all other possibilities which may well exist within the subject matter being studied and does not therefore allow for an overall accurate reflection of the subject as depicted within the visual data gathered, which would make it both invalid and certainly unreliable. Validity of a visual image is also affected by the process of external validity whereby the viewer is able to interpret the image correctly and not via a preconceived view which then also allows for misinterpretation which will diminish the validity of the image. (Prosser 1998).

Journalistic images need to be seen in context by the viewer in order to be interpreted correctly. Very often the image that the journalist presents to the viewer is surrounded by text which gives some context to the image. Where the image stands alone and there is no text to allow for its correct interpretation, it then falls to the reader/viewer of the image to be able to place the image within its correct social context by means of the use of prior learned knowledge of the subject matter. An image can only be interpreted correctly if prior knowledge of the subject is already known to the viewer, and therefore that is the only way in which any image can function at the level of visual sociology; the reader has to posses a sociological understanding of all the elements which combine to make the image, in order that visual sociology can be considered accurate to any degree, without this sociological understanding the probability of incorrect interpretation of the sociological facts being presented within a journalistic image may well occur. Sociological analysis of the journalistic image comprises of their evidentiary value, and their sociological meaning; both of these elements are more likely to be understood immediately and within their proper context if the viewer’s background knowledge of the subject is both up-to-date and accurate, otherwise the image could be considered not to have accurate sociological value at all. The knowledge of the subject and the correct interpretation and therefore understanding of the journalistic image is what gives a journalistic image its validity in the field of visual sociology. (Becker 1998: 92-94).


List of References:

Becker, H. S. (1998) ‘Visual sociology, documentary photography, and photojournalism: it’s (almost) all a matter of context.’ In Image-based research: a sourcebook for qualitative researchers. ed. by Prosser, J. London: Routledge: 84-96

Prosser, J. (ed.) (1998) Image-based research: a sourcebook for qualitative researchers. London: Routledge