Photo-elicitation was first named in a paper published by the
photographer and researcher John Collier (1957). It involves a
qualitative interview stimulated and guided by participant-generated
photographs. This method can help break down barriers between
researchers and participants and can promote rich and collaborative
discussions (Harper, 1994).
Each student in the Fall 2016 Qualitative Methods Research Class
recruited one study participant (n=25) (undergraduate and graduate
students) and trained them in the appropriate and ethical use of this
method. Study participants were asked to explore the meaning of
“Penn’s relationship with the surrounding community” over the
course of one week using their phones to document their
exploration. Using the participant-generated photographs to guide
conversation, each member of the research team conducted an
interview with a participant. Additionally, each student investigator
recruited five members of the Penn community (n=125) and asked
them to answer a free-listing question designed to help us explore
perceptions of Penn’s relationship with the surrounding community.https://repository.upenn.edu/showcase_posters/1028/thumbnail.jp
