"I Don't Know What's Right Anymore": Engaging Distressed Interviewees Using Graphic-Elicitation

• Main Author: Geoff Kuehne
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: FQS 2013-07-01
• Series: Forum: Qualitative Social Research
• Subjects: graphic-elicitation; farmer interviews; Australia; rural sociology; climate change; beliefs; scepticism; interviews
• Online Access: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1909

Graphic-elicitation appears to be a research method that potentially has much to offer, particularly so when working with distressed and disaffected groups. It can be especially suited to presenting contentious ideas with unwelcome implications to sceptical interviewees, in this case irrigation farmers who were questioning aspects of climate change. Five images were introduced in the course of conducting in-depth personal interviews. The interviews were recorded and analysed for recurrent themes related to the images. The graphic-elicitation method allowed some participants to preserve or build their sense of optimism by viewing the graphic-elicitation images in particular ways—they saw in them what they wanted to see. Encouraged by the images some attempted to transfer their felt responsibility toward climate change responses to the government and upstream irrigators by blaming them for their low water availability. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs130321