Reframing Visual Social Science
Towards a More Visual Sociology and Anthropology
Published on 19. October 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
349 pages
978-1-108-43644-1 (ISBN)
Description
The burgeoning field of 'visual social science' is rooted in the idea that valid scientific insight into culture and society can be acquired by observing, analyzing and theorizing its visual manifestations: visible behavior of people and material products of culture. Reframing Visual Social Science provides a well-balanced, critical-constructive and systematic overview of existing and emerging modes of visual social and cultural research. The book includes integrated models and conceptual frameworks, analytical approaches to scrutinizing existing imagery and multimodal phenomena, a systematic presentation of more active ways and formats of visual scholarly production and communication, and a number of case studies which exemplify the broad fields of application. Finally, visual social research is situated within a wider perspective by addressing the issue of ethics; by presenting a generic approach to producing, selecting and using visual representations; and through discussing the specific challenges and opportunities of a 'more visual' social science.
Reviews / Votes
'A remarkably readable, yet highly scholarly exposure of approaches to research that open up the riches of contemporary and historical sources of visual culture. This book will be of great value to anyone involved at the cutting edge of carrying out visual research. They will find in it practical guidance, critical scholarship and encouragement to go further into this exciting field of study.' Catherine Burke, University of Cambridge 'Reframing Visual Social Science offers a fresh, powerful and theoretically sophisticated perspective on the visual turn that's been reshaping social research for the past fifteen years. Focusing on the seam between visual evidence and visual representation, Pauwels examines a cluster of contrasting points of view that can discourage or distort visual approaches to the social sciences. Rather than pushing these contradictions aside, however, Pauwels embraces them as opportunities for systematic analysis. Through a combination of case studies and theoretical essays, he articulates that analysis as a comprehensive framework for understanding materials and research practices that are all too often treated sui generis - including photographic field work, ethnographic film, the analysis of found photographs, participatory media projects, and image-rich research reporting. The result is a path-breaking book that links existing treatments of visual social research with new possibilities and perspectives and has a great deal to offer both beginning and mature scholars.' Jon Wagner, Professor Emeritus, School of Education, University of California, DavisMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
80 Halftones, unspecified; 80 Halftones, black and white; 33 Line drawings, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
508 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-43644-1 (9781108436441)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2015
Cambridge University Press
€129.70
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Luc Pauwels is Professor of Visual Research Methods in the Faculty of Social Sciences (Department of Communication Studies) and Director of the Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi) at the University of Antwerp.
Content
Part I. Remodelling Visual Social Science: 1. Prologue and outline: (re)framing visual social science?; 2. An integrated framework for conducting and assessing visual social research; Part II. The Visual Researcher as Collector and Interpreter: 3. Researching 'found' or 'pre-existing' visual materials; 4. A visual and multimodal model for analyzing online environments; Part III. The Visual Researcher as Producer, Facilitator and Communicator: 5. The mimetic mode: from exploratory to systematic visual data production; 6. Visual elicitation techniques, respondent-generated image production and 'participatory' visual activism; 7. The 'visual essay' as a scholarly format: art meets (social) science?; 8. Social scientific filmmaking and multimedia production: key features and debates; Part IV. Applications/Case Studies: 9. Family photography as a social practice: from the analogue to the digital networked world; 10. A visual study of corporate culture: the workplace as metaphor; 11. Health communication in South Africa: a visual study of posters, billboards and grassroots media; Part V. Visual Research in a Wider Perspective: 12. Ethics of visual research in the offline and online world; 13. A meta-disciplinary framework for producing and assessing visual representations; 14. Advancing visual research: pending issues and future directions.