'Creative' visual methods in media research: possibilities, problems and proposals

This article provides a critical discussion of the recent trend towards using visual 'creative' methodologies, both in social research generally and specifically in media research. It evaluates a range of empirical studies that have used such methods, and addresses some of the methodological and epistemological claims that are made by advocates of such approaches. While sympathetic to the rationale for using creative methods, the article criticizes the naive empiricism that is frequently adopted here, and the problematic political claims on which it is often based. It is argued that such methods cannot be seen simply as a means of enabling participants to 'express themselves' or to 'tell their own stories' - or indeed of enabling researchers to gain privileged access to what people 'really' think or feel. This argument typically neglects the formative role of the researcher; the generic and formal characteristics of the media that participants are asked to employ; and the participants' understanding both of the context and aims of the research itself, and of the media that are used. The article argues for a more reflexive and critical understanding of how research itself establishes positions from which it becomes possible for participants to 'speak'.