Research Information System
The Macrotheme Review Business and Social Science Research Conference 2014, Paris, France, 19 - 21 December 2014, pp.15, (Summary Text)
The objective of this research study is to introduce visual sociology as an important research approach that can be used in any context and for various purposes. As a research collection and analytical tool, visual sociology helps documenting and analyzing human activities by focusing on the relationship between images and the meanings attributed to them from an anthropological, sociological and cultural perspective. Being a mixed-method research type, a visual sociology approach combines images (photographs and videos) and interviews conducted with the participants who took or recorded those images. The major research activity included interviews that aimed to elicit the meaning of images for participants by using the technique called photo-elicitation. This present study particularly focuses on the visual representations related with foreign language education in Turkey as represented and negotiated by teachers and learners of English as a foreign language. Images related with foreign language education and were uploaded to social network sites were included in the study and a total number of 10 photographs, 5 videos, and 15 participants took part in the study. A visual sociology analysis is argued to help to identify various themes that often go unnoticed by researchers so as to develop further ideas to improve policy as well as instruction.