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Photovoice methodology in master thesis projects: outlining a pedagogy of ethics for participatory research

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Photovoice is a participative research approach in which participants are invited to identify, represent, and enhance their community via the collection of photos or video fragments that represent their life circumstances and experiences. The approach is now also commonly used in master thesis projects. While experienced researchers are often well trained in the ethics of visual research, master thesis students and the research participants they involve in their study often are not. Can we automatically assume that they develop an internal ethical compass to decide whether a certain photo can be taken or used in the context of the research project once they are out in the field? In this paper, we provide an insider perspective into the content and form of the ethics sessions we organized for participants involved in a series of photovoice research projects conducted in the context of a master thesis assignment. Three master thesis students investigated adjustment processes of international students in a European higher education context. Each of them focussed on a different group: Asian students, South-American students and South-African students. A follow-up study provided insight in what the impact was of these ethics sessions on how participants behaved in the field and how they justified their behaviour. A short reflection on these supplementary findings is included in this report.
Number of pages: 30
ISBN:9789067842259
Publication year:2020
Accessibility:Open