going digital: using new technologies in visual ...

Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft

GOING DIGITAL: USING NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN VISUAL SOCIOLOGY Paolo Parmeggiani - University of Udine –Dipartimento DISU

Introduction The aim of this article is to describe how to conduct visual research by using new technologies. Many of us who use digital cameras realize that information and communication technology is changing not only the way we take images, but also the way we see, store, analyse and show them. Of course we can still print photographs on paper, annotate our thoughts with a pencil on the back of each photo or group them on a table according to certain criteria, but often the printed image is only the final phase of a completely digital process. Most of the work is done on a PC. It is likely that new generations of consumer photographers do not even ponder the advantages and disadvantages of digital photography: they just use the technology. But a researcher should ask himself if, and which, digital technology can be effectively integrated into certain research protocol. I am often asked by students 1 to recommend the best software that allows one to collect, edit and analyse multimedia data. I also wondered this myself when I began visual research on digital workflow. Some common questions that motivate this type of research are, “I am collecting many photos, videos and texts. I will probably expand data collection and the techniques I’ll use are not totally clear. What is the best software for storing and editing video, cataloguing images, tracking information and organizing a digital multimedia workflow that will also be useful for my future needs?” Of course there is no single answer due to the variation of specific needs, the available resources and the type of data that will be investigated. During last years [Editor’s Note: It is unclear here whether you are referring to “last year” or “over the last few years”] I experimented with several different tools. This review will draw upon my experiences to describe several types of software, the characteristics and techniques I found useful, as well as their methodological implications. I used freeware or open source 2 software (whenever available) for the Windows operating system.

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I teach Visual Sociology at MA course in ‘Languages and Technology of New Media’, University of Udine.

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Freeware is complete software that does not require payment, has a proprietary license but no access to the source code. Open source is free software licensed to permit changes and redistribution of its source code.

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft A case study: my research investigation as model The background of this analysis is two empirical research projects I have recently completed using a visual sociological approach. The first focuses on a small Italian village, which has changed radically in the last fifty years in terms of landscape, human activity and in the values that people ascribe to these transformations {Parmeggiani, 2007 #839}. I have used a multi-method approach combining "photographic-video fieldwork" based on grounded theory with shooting scripts {Suchar, 1997 #600}, re-photography {Rieger, 1996 #182}, visual content analysis {Bell, 2000 #542} and the technique of photo elicitation interview {Collier, 1986 #232}. A challenge of this research has been finding the most effective software to store, display and analyse still images, audio and textual notes. I found that there are three main categories of programs that can be used by visual sociologists. These groups, which often overlap, are produced respectively for photographers, social scientists and computer users interested in knowledge management. The separation between photography and sociology that Becker described {Becker, 1974 #193} with its differences and similarities also carries on in the IT market. Visual sociologists therefore should try to adapt and use software created for heterogeneous purposes. The first type of software is called DAM (Digital Asset Management); it was developed mainly for use by photographers and its aim is to organize catalogs. DAM is a protocol for managing, presenting and distributing multimedia files. These tools facilitate the organization of catalogs (visual databases of media) which contain references to original files and are used to handle archiving, grouping organization, renaming, rating, cataloging, information management, optimizing, editing, presentation, playback, publishing, exporting and distribution of files {Austerberry, 2006 #881}. The second type of software is called CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis) 3; it was produced for use by researchers and its aim is to code and analyse information. Once useful only for textual analysis, recent versions of CAQDAS now enable the investigation of multimedia data. According to (Lewins & Silver, 2007: 7) the CAQDAS ‘umbrella’: Includes a wide range of packages, but their general principles are concerned with taking a qualitative approach to qualitative data. Qualitative data include text, visual and multimedia forms of non-numerical information. A qualitative approach often includes a need to interpret data through the identification and possibly coding of themes, concepts, processes, contexts etc., in order to build explanations or theories or to test or enlarge a theory. Qualitative data collection techniques include in-depth interviews,

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See CAQDAS Networking Project at http://caqdas.soc.surrey.ac.uk/

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft focus groups and participant observation. Qualitative analytic techniques include Grounded Theory, Framework, and conversation and narrative analysis. I suggest that we add a third type of software known as concept maps; its aim is to display, compare and organize images and verbal concepts together. Concept mapping software is designed to help the user brainstorm, plan, organize, visualize, create and share graphic, diagrams and flowcharts. {Tergan, 2005 #889}. According to Novak, mapping "makes concepts, and propositions composed of concepts, the central elements in the structure of knowledge and construction of meaning.” {Novak, 1996 #583} 7. [editor’s note: What does the 7 indicate? If a page number, include it in the reference] The promise and pitfalls of new technologies What are the advantages and disadvantages of these new technologies for people trying to do visual analysis? Are there methodological implications of using this software? Some claim that software supports the management of a large amount of images, video and text. I think this is generally true, together with the advantage that it is more precise in data processing. One of the advantages is that software can help collaborations and cooperation with other researchers if connected within a network. Therefore, software may help facilitate results because they offer solutions in terms of editing and publishing selected images, video or other information taken from the original data. Certain methodologies can profit from using software, including: photographic and video field work (in the annotating, selecting and sequencing phases), content visual analysis (when the researcher needs to archive images and analyze them according to specific categories, or bridge qualitative and quantitative analysis--e. g. exporting to SPSS4), grounded theory (the coding phase), photo elicitation (the audio/video recording and transcribing phase), and processing interviews (transcribing, annotating, coding and retrieving textual information). On the other hand the software sometimes require a steep learning curve. They are also often expensive, if we take into account the rapid obsolescence of hardware and software. How long can a version of software be used before its cost will be justified? Clearly the software does not substitute for the intellectual work and creativity that the researcher uses in processing the data. Therefore, one should schedule the time to choose the proper tool and to learn the technique

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SPSS is a widely used program for statistical analysis in social science.

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft The researcher should also verify whether the information he creates will be preserved in the future. What happens if he changes software, moves his data to another directory or even changes his operating system? Will that specific type of file still be readable? While a printed photograph will be utilizable after hundreds of years, we do not know whether we will be able to open a specific file format years from now. We must consider, for example, that the operating systems and software used twenty years ago are no longer viable. What will happen to the capability of being able to use our files in the future? Perhaps it is not only our allegiance to traditional, tested working practices that makes us suspicious to try new techniques. Here I will describe and discuss some tools and techniques according to the functions they accomplished in my empirical research. My workflow can be described in five main phases: archiving, displaying, modifying, analysing and communicating. Many software are able to handle several of these functions (for example Iview Media Pro5 or Lightroom6), but most of them aren’t able to simultaneously handle deal with still images, video and text, or they don’t accomplish their tasks according to the researcher’s needs. Archiving The first phase consists of archiving the collected data. After taking pictures or videos, it is necessary to index and log these files into some kind of database. Perhaps the simplest, quickest way to track information about a file is just to create a document with charts containing columns annotating the name of the file and informational categories. If the document is in HTML 7 format, we can link directly the images: in this way we can have direct access to those files and view the pictures that relate to the annotations. There are many freeware and shareware which can simplify these techniques, for example PrintFolders.8 These file management utilities store lists of files and folders into a HTML file and allow us to browse through a whole tree of folders at once. After the software has automatically written filenames and relative paths, we can modify the information with a word processor and add other data. Unfortunately the phase of manually annotating a large database requires a lot of effort. Sometimes our media must be securely connected with textual information about the context regarding pictures, video and audio. Howard Becker argued in the past, "the chief device photographers used is to identify their photographs by place and sometimes by date. " (Becker, 1974: 254) Today, visual sociologists need

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http://www.iview-multimedia.com/

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http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

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HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the predominant markup language for the web.

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http://www.stratopoint.com/pfolders.htm

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft reference codes, data about the setting, memos, captions and so on. Therefore, in my experience, digital images have a tendency to proliferate and migrate. Often there are multiple copies floating around on hard disks. Sometimes we change the directory or even the computer. In these cases the links to the image files break or it is difficult to update the document with our annotations. Fortunately, almost all digital cameras automatically store the information about the image embedded within the file itself. This information is called metadata. Using metadata is a way of keeping track of connected information even if we move the picture or open it with another type of software. EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is one of the most well-known types of metadata, especially for those using JPEG or TIFF compression.9 The metadata tags used for storing interchange information cover a broad spectrum of elements including, date and time information, camera settings (camera model and make, image aperture, shutter speed, focal length, metering mode and film speed information), location and copyright information.10 Photographers can also store personal information such as labels or captions. There are many specialized software for reading, editing, extracting and writing EXIF information (for example Mihov EXIF Renamer11). I usually rename digital photographs according to their metadata. The software automatically looks for and renames selected files according to their EXIF data. In this way, it is possible to sort pictures by time, even though they were shot with different cameras. For example, the software automatically renames a file from a meaningless number to 20071219-151806k750i (year 2007, month 12, day 19, hour 15, minute 18, second 06, model of mobile-camera K750i). These precious data are always visible and will not be lost even if we convert the format or destroy the original EXIF data. The capacity to record geo-referential information from a GPS device is a new feature, which will probably gain more importance for visual sociology. GeoSetter12 is a freeware tool for Windows for showing and changing geo data of images taken by digital cameras. This software is used for adding GPS data into the metadata areas of digital images. It shows existing geo coordinates and allows the user to set geo data by using embedded Google Maps or by directly entering known values for

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The three most common types of metadata for photos are EXIF, IPCT (International Press Telecommunications Council), and XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform). 10

Other information are , for example, File date, File size, Make, Model, Description, Artist, Copyright, Date modified, Orientation, X -Resolution, Y - Resolution, Resolution unit. 11

http://www.softplatz.com/Soft/Graphics/Converters/Mihov-EXIF-Renamer.html

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http://www.geosetter.de

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft coordinates and altitude. Armed with this information in the EXIF of every photo, it shows exactly where that photo was taken. I bought a GPS receiver, which tracks the GPS coordinates and then syncs with the date/time of each photo to enter the data. This technology allows the user to create very precise maps with small pin icons, representing every single photo he takes with his digital camera. These visual representations can help our analysis take into account the spatial and geographical dimensions of the phenomenon we are studying. There are many commercial DAM software on the market which help organize images into folders and catalog them, even if the originals are in CD, DVD, hard disk back ups or any mountable volume. There are two groups: browsers and cataloging software. While a browser reads information from a file, it does not store it separately (uses metadata) and catalog software stores information on its own separate file. Iview Media Pro, Aperture13 or Lightroom are examples of these types of software that are produced for photographers. It is also possible to use traditional databases, adapting them to our specific needs. In my opinion, this should be used in the case of a long-lasting project which contains a great number of fields (attributes of a record) with a great deal of textual information. While most databases can easily manage textual information and are very useful for retrieving specific data or sorting the records according to criteria, not many databases are able to code still images and video without their performance slowing down. I also tried FileMaker Pro14. It has a large capacity for records and fields, has an easy-to-learn interface, is a more flexible system than other databases and also contains third party plug-ins. The advantage is also that it supports multiple display and report formats. This means that the researcher can create different input and output visual interfaces. The user is allowed to modify the database by dragging new elements into the layouts, the screens and the forms; this way the data displayed is fit for logging information, retrieval of information, web consultation, slide shows of images without text and so on. The disadvantage is that it’s not very easy to navigate, compare and select the photographs (like graphical browsers do), and it’s difficult for it to support logical relationships among codes. Logging interviews and photo elicitations The task of transcribing interviews with a cassette recorder is quite a challenge. But a digital recorder can produce files (usually Wav or MP3), which are much easier to deal with. For example, the freeware

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http://www.apple.com/aperture/overview/

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http://www.filemaker.com

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft Express Scribe15 helps this task because of the variable speed of the playback, which can be synchronized according to one’s speed of typing. Therefore we don’t need to switch between a player and a word processor. This makes the process faster and does not divert our attention from the content of the transcription or the annotation of speech signals. Whoever has tried to transcribe interviews with automatic speech recognition software knows that is impossible to convert spoken words to text if the speakers have not already been trained in that software and if the recording is not made in a silent environment; achieving a high level of recognition accuracy (the most critical factor for making the speech recognition system really useful) is unattainable. However, during my research I verified that it is possible to use voice recognition software if the original interview is played slowly by a PC and the researcher listens to the file with headphones, repeating loudly into a microphone connected to another PC that has the software installed. In this case, if the hardware and software are properly chosen and set, the accuracy and speed of transcription can be satisfyingly efficient. Another problem I faced was to simplify the photo-elicitation data gathering. Usually the researcher, in order to discover the different values that social groups ascribe to the same images and to discern cultural differences, shows prints to interviewees and records their responses about the set of photographs (Harper 1987; Collier and Collier 1986). Unfortunately it is difficult and time-consuming to keep track of the interviewees’ responses. I found that instead of showing printed pictures and simultaneously audio recording the photo elicitation interview, screen recorder software can replace the function of a video camera. The software records the images shown to the interviewee on the laptop screen, together with audio comments. I call this procedure “photo -screen elicitation.”16 For example, the software CamStudio17 records images on the screen and audio from a microphone, creating a video file which will later be transcribed and analysed. There are certain advantages to this process. A laptop can be less invasive than an audio or video recorder because the microphone is almost invisible. Moreover, the researcher does not need to print out pictures and the software can also record movements made by the mouse, tracking when the interviewee points the arrow to a particular area or a detail of specific images.

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http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/index.html

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After my research I came across similar software named ImageInterviewer. It is an open source (Java) and has been developed by Janet Bagg at University of Kent. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to verify if it could export the data as a video file, a format useful for CAQDAS analysis. See http://sourceforge.net/projects/audionotes 17

http://sourceforge.net/projects/camstudio/

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft

Modifying With digital photography we have instantaneous and easy access to crop or adjust images according to hue or saturation control. These functions, once difficult to control, together with changing image size or converting from color to gray scale can help the preparation of images for press. Probably the most numerous and well known digital tools for images are editing software. Among these, Adobe Photoshop18 is perhaps the most widely used bitmap editor in the graphics industries. However, I would like to draw attention to the open-source software Gimp,19 which also can perfectly convert between different image formats, resize and crop photos, modify colors and so on. There are some cases in which I have needed software for the specific purpose of pre-press operation, for optimizing images that were shot at too low of a resolution or were very underexposed. For the first problem, which causes pixelation20 because the image is being printed at larger than a one-to-one ratio, I found Genuine Fractals21 software useful. This is a plug-in for Photoshop. The image becomes encoded as an algorithm and the pixels of the original master image are replaced with a new file structure: you can re-scale it to the desired size and the algorithm will generate new pixels while maintaining sharpness regardless of image size. The second issue is that while many underexposed shots can be easily corrected and lightened, the noise affecting those images is difficult to mitigate.22 It is possible to use filters, but it’s easy to lose details with the grain. Specific commercial software, like Neat Image,23 can handle this very efficiently.

Displaying In my research, one of the most important features of analysis has been visual comparison of images. According to the practice of many researchers, the visual display of information and concept-mapping help one to design, conduct research and to communicate the results. Juxtaposition of visual data allows exploration and discovery of the relations and structure behind our suppositions. Gregory

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http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/

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http://www.gimp.org/

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Pixalation happens when eye can distinguish individual pixels as single-colour square display elements.

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http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=2

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Noise is a random fluctuation of pixel values in an image

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http://www.neatimage.com/

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft Bateson, discussing how he selects and combine photographs, asserts that "each single photograph may be regarded as almost purely objective, but juxtaposition of two different or contrasting photographs is already a step toward scientific generalization” {Bateson, 1942 #538}: 53. John Grady, commenting on the work of Edward Tufte about the need to display data visually argues that “graphics are an integral step in the analysis of data, and can shape an argument” {Grady, 2006 #662}:224. In my research I study the diachronic process of social change through the method of re-photography {Rieger, 1996 #182}, in which the same subjects and sites are juxtaposed across time. Akin to other methodologies, there is a constant and systematic visual comparison between similarities and dissimilarities, which is the key for noticing relevant phenomena. In the past the researcher had to place all the prints and contact sheets on his desk and carefully pick, mix, stack, choose or put aside certain ones. Today creating a display and efficiently managing large volumes of digital pictures is not a simple task. For researchers it is not enough to collect digital images in different directories: he needs to be able to explore and combine them freely in a visual environment. They need to have macro-micro browsing; in other words, they should be able to easily switch from observing many images to one single picture, or shift from a tiny detail to viewing several photographs together. Researchers should be able to compare numerous images, which means that they need to have selective retrieval of image details. Most DAM software does not allow these procedures, while CAQDAS are text-oriented. Sometimes it is useful to visually display not only pictures, but also more abstract information like keywords, concepts and transcriptions, which help to specify the meanings or relevant aspects of our images. Concept maps, mind maps and graphic organizers are graphical ways to organize information and thoughts. A map visually represents concepts and their relationships through linking ideas, symbols and text. It consists of nodes or cells that contain a concept, items and links. Multiple hubs and clusters can be created. The links can be labelled and direction is denoted by using an arrow symbol. The labelled links explain the relationship between the nodes. Nodes can be linked to primary sources of information, allowing the researcher to access original and unedited information. It is essential to display both words and pictures. I agree with Luc Pauwels {Pauwels, 2006 #660} who quotes Lemke (1998, 110), “No verbal text can construct the same meaning as a picture, no mathematical graph carries the same meaning as an equation, no verbal description makes the same sense as an action performed.”{Martin, 1998 #887} In my empirical research, I have worked on concept maps linking annotations and keywords with the freeware VUE24 (the Visual Understanding Environment), a project based at Tufts University. It is a

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http://vue.tufts.edu/about/index.cfm

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft software that allows the drag and drop function of images, permitting the simultaneous presence of both concepts and photographs in the same map. VUE provides a concept mapping interface for structuring, presenting and sharing digital information within one application. It is a content mapping application, developed to support forms of thinking, research and teaching.25 Users who are interested in visually structuring digital content can use a set of tools and a basic visual grammar (consisting of nodes and links) to organize and access information or map relationships between images, concepts and files. All the linked content can be accessed via the Web or by using local file systems. VUE also provides tools for annotating and exploring semantic structures as well as facilitating thinking and reasoning.26

Conducting qualitative analysis of still images My research is informed by Charles Suchar’s method of "shooting scripts,"27 an interesting technique that involves grounded theory {Glaser, 1967 #512}. This theory argues against the use of pre-existing concepts, noting that if the researcher avoids “illustrating concepts” (something that occurs easily while taking pictures with a camera) and is open to disconfirming his previous ideas, he can discover new points of view. After having framed the subject, I started with an image’s inventory, exploring and taking pictures of every relevant visual element. From my first fieldwork stint I created a list of questions (shooting scripts), which guided the next photography session. My goal was to answer the written questions by taking new images. These visual data were analytically viewed during the “open coding” process, which basically consists of labeling the pictures and giving them a definition (a code). Through the constant comparison of images, the discovery of new relevant codes, the defining of new shooting scripts and new photographic fieldwork, this empirical visual process produced a series of both increasingly precise and abstract concepts. My research constantly connects to the data selected according to variable categories and needs. This selection process occurs during all stages of the research: taking photographs during fieldwork,

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http://vue.tufts.edu/about/index.cfm

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“The VUE 2.0 project has introduced tools for constructing maps from information ontologies. This functionality enables groups of scholars to build maps using a controlled vocabulary which may then be analyzed, compared and merged based on shared concepts”. http://vue.tufts.edu/about/index.cfm 27

“Shooting scripts are lists of research topics or questions which can be examined via photographic information (Rothstein, 1986), (Collier & Collier, 1986). They provide a means by which photography can be grounded in a strategic and focused exploration of answers to particular theoretically-generated questions (Gold, 1989)” {Suchar, 1997 #600}

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft choosing concepts to develop and selecting images for presentations or papers. It is important to point out that, particularly during the early stages of research, the categorisation must be flexible. It should be done according to the logging of new data, because, as Becker argues (Becker, 1974: 245), the analysis should be continuous and contemporaneous with the data gathering. Usually the researcher looks carefully at his images and finds something that he or she might previously have ignored. This orients his next observations and new photographs. What he finds in the new images directs a new "category-building" which rearranges the previous categories. The old photographs must be sorted again according to the new concepts. Becker states that researchers "develop tentative hypotheses about the object of their study, setting it in a context of theories and other data, and then orient their next day's observations and interviews along the lines suggested by the analysis" {Becker, 1974 #193}: 245. According to grounded theory, it is essential to code the data because this allows for comparison.28 Coding means assigning chunks of data to categories that the researcher develops in an ad-hoc manner. This includes defining codes, ordering images and concepts in categories, building hierarchical and non-hierarchical formats and building up the conceptual structure. In the past researchers worked with contact sheets and prints, looking for visual embodiments of their ideas, or, conversely, grouping images according to categories. Today, the phase of coding (open coding, axial coding, and selective coding according to {Strauss, 1990 #520} can be done within the CAQDAS.29 I used the freeware PhotoMesa30 to help with the open coding process of photographs. This software is very useful for exploring images and supporting user-defined semantic regions. 31 Researchers can code, annotate, browse and search for photos by using semantic regions which are, generally speaking, the user’s own categories. Semantic regions provide a formal model of spatial and dynamic reorganization

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“Continuous interaction between the collecting and coding of data and the writing of memos is essential. As the research advances, the researcher develops an increasingly abstract and complex conceptual structure, specifying the connections between the concepts of the emerging theory and regularly returning to the data to check whether this theoretical structure is in fact supported by the data” {Markku, 1998 #577}: 42). 29

“In open coding the categories are developed by focusing on their properties (attributes of a category) and examining their nature, relationships and dimensions. (…) Whereas in open coding the main aim is to freely generate new categories and specify their properties and dimensions, axial coding means working intensively with one category” (Markku, 1998: 43). 30

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/photomesa/

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Semantic regions are “an innovative way for users to construct display representations of their conceptual models by drawing regions on 2D space and specifying the semantics for each region” {Kang, 2006 #659}.

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft of photo data based on users' mental models, based on the methodology of open coding. This browser allows one to navigate through pictures. It uses a visual, zoomable interface: this way of navigating provides a visual space where it is easy to group and compare images. It eliminates many mouse-clicks to scan images stored in different folders and allows the researcher to zoom in or glide back out, not only in a single picture, but also in a group. 32 This software is useful for observing, sorting by category, revising the definitions of categories and also selecting convenient images for the following needs.

Coding and theory building There are several CAQDAS (which unfortunately are not freeware) that are useful for working with multimedia data (video, audio, still images and texts). The most well known are Nvivo 733 and Atlas.ti.34 Atlas.ti is a CAQDAS that supports mixed media qualitative analyses. It helps researchers systematically analyze complex text and multimedia data though a process of coding, annotating findings, weighing, evaluating importance and visualizing relations between them. The program keeps track of all notes, annotations, codes and memos and provides analytical and visualization tools designed to lead to new interpretative views of the material. Particularly useful for me has been the direct linkage of code to segments of data, such as to a detail within an image. I often used the CAQDAS Transana,35 which is primarily designed for transcription and analysis of video or audio data. It can also be used also for still images by simply converting a copy of a picture into a video file. If an image lasts even only a tenth of a second, it can be considered a time-based media and then linked to a textual transcription (the description, caption or annotation). In the beginning, I used this software to create transcripts of my photo elicitation video-interviews and to record field notes and memos. Later it helped me to define keywords and apply them to portions of

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To click the left mouse button to zoom in on any photo, then click the right button to glide back out.

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According to its producers Nvivo 7 allows “ to combine subtle analysis with linking, shaping, searching and modelling. Regardless of the type of data or the language it is in, NVivo 7 is also ideal for team projects and research involving multiple methods. Is designed for qualitative researchers who need to combine subtle coding with qualitative linking, shaping, searching and modelling. Ideal for those working with complex data, such as multimedia, wanting to do deep levels of analysis. Also allows researchers to import and export data to and from statistical packages. Is suited to research in the following areas where very large quantities of data need to be analysed: Longitudinal studies, Content Analysis, Action research, Conversation analysis, Ethnography, Literature Reviews, Mixed methods research” http://www.qsrinternational.com 34

http://www.atlasti.com

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Version 2.12 of Transana is still available for free, later version require purchasing.

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft interviews, to single photographs, to navigate through different comments of the same picture and to search for instances of keywords or combinations of keywords. The first phase of working with Transana consists of transcribing the audiovisual data. Transcribing is an analytic step in itself, because it is an opportunity to get a careful insight into collected data. Transana synchronizes segments of video or audio with many verbal transcriptions. This function makes it possible to make multiple verbal accounts of the same video-recorded event, and to describe the same event from different points of view. For example, it is possible to link the same portion of an interview with the verbal transcription, with the non-verbal communication description, with the remarks of the observer and with the field notes. The process of defining keywords is essentially the inductive part of data analysis. The researcher switches from sound or visual data to conceptual interpretation, coding the audiovisual data with definitions. In my research, I consider the different descriptions of the same photograph and define a set of keywords according to the most evident social phenomena. This stage of differentiating the keywords is then followed by a contrasting, deductive phase. The next task is verifying the relationship between different sets of keywords. With Transana, the researcher has prompt access to the desired chunks of the video, for instance, the same picture that was commented on by different people. Through this cyclical test, those segments in which a phenomenon manifests itself (which are coded using the same keyword) are compared with those that are not apparent, observing which other conditions are associated with that phenomenon. The possibility of coding and retrieving multiple keywords and clips allows us to combine and recombine the clips in new categories, creating evidence that more examples are defined by a keyword. In this way the software helps one to compare the different meanings given to the same pictures and to elaborate sociological considerations about the community.

Communicating Sharing and presenting information are both important aspects of research and teaching. Creating slides using Power Point36 is usually the final stage of a long research process. Many DAM or editing software can help with the task of creating movies, slide shows with individual timing and transitions,

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The user can get similar result with the freeware Impress OpenOffice.org. It is a GNU Lesser General Public License, a free software license. See http://www.openoffice.org/.

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft web galleries presentations prepared in Flash 37 or HTML, PDF composites, contact sheets & printouts or desk-top publishing (for example the freeware Scribus38). The concept map software VUE can also be used as a presentation tool. By constructing presentations as “pathways,” users can prepare guided tours through their nodes and links without impacting the underlying semantic structure of VUE’s content map.39 The pathways feature provides a “slide view;” using this tool, any node on a content map may become an element in one presentation and displayed in full-screen mode. This feature enables the presenter to focus on a particular slide or toggle to the context (map view) connected to the displayed item. I would like to emphasize that communicating and collaboration with other researchers is necessary in all phases of research. Nowadays, beyond email, forums, web sites or chats, there are new collaborative resources for sharing perspectives with colleagues. Many of them are referred to as social software or Web 2.0 applications. For educational purposes, I have also found useful the Wiki, a program originally described as "the simplest online database that could possibly work.” [Editor’s note: citation needed]. This technology allows the creation of a kind of cooperative blog. If a group of people decide to cooperate on a project, Wiki allows everyone to easily publish and edit web pages, add text and images or link movies. The most famous example of this is Wikipedia, but there are also other initiatives. One, PeanutButterWiki,40 is private but also has a free hosted wiki service. The web pages are accessible to everyone in the group, and the crucial factor is that members do not need to have certain software or specific expertise; all they need is a browser. Moreover, the editing is very simple, making it effectively possible to not only view and write comments, but also to propose one’s own written or visual contributions to a research project within the same working space. Conclusion As a provisional conclusion I suggest that visual sociological research can now be accomplished more effectively through using information technology. It isn't necessary to rely on only one commercial package, as even a combination of freeware and open source software can lead to successful results.

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Flash, commonly used to create animation and various web page components, refers to Adobe Flash Player and Professional multimedia authoring program. 38

http://www.scribus.net/

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http://rit.mellon.org/retreat/2008-mellon-rit-sc-retreat/project-descriptions/vue

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http://pbwiki.com/

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft These software can help in designing research, qualitative data collection, archiving, and indexing and analysing visual data. If I were asked how to evaluate and choose the right tool for visual research, I would answer that it depends on three main factors: the type of data collected, what resources one has, and the methodological approach. The first element (the type of data) refers to the number of items and their features. For a small number of pictures I would recommend the simplest software because of the steep learning curve of some CAQDAS. If only images need to be managed, a reliable DAM software might be a good choice. However, if not only pictures, but also multimedia data (stills, videos and texts) need to be analysed, I would suggest using a database for archiving purposes and a CAQDAS for analysis. The researcher must also define whether he needs to annotate information and access the files as a whole or in sections, parts or segments; this is a essential distinction. Resources should be used according to whether they are economic, whether a project involves other collaborators and the time we plan to spend. From the economic point of view, I verified a digital environment composed of a combination of freeware and open source software that could lead to successful results, except for complex projects involving commercial CAQDAS. It is important to verify if our protocol involves collaboration with other colleagues and if the files the software create are readable by others and will be supported in the future. Exchanging data can be very complex and file formats should, as much as possible, be independent of the application software, hardware and operating system. The flexibility can be a key factor for complex projects. Some methodologies have many advantages. For example, the open coding phase of image corpora in grounded theory can be facilitated with PhotoMesa, which uses the semantic regions model. I point out that CAQDAS can also speed up and improve photo-elicitation methodology. Therefore, the combined use of CamStudio and Transana can lead to better practices. The use of a laptop computer with screen recorder software is less invasive, as compared with a traditional video camera and a mike. This software speeds the recording and digitalizing stages, therefore it guarantees the synchronization with voices. It also makes it possible to record the interviewee’s mouse moves according to its point outs. I think that is useful to consider the hardware, the software and the practices such as a compound digital environment, where different functions can be accomplished independently and modules can be integrated in a personal organization of workflow. Thus, visual sociologists can use software in a way that can compete and even lead to better results (faster, cheaper or more visual) than a single allpurpose commercial software. My dream-software is a user-friendly knowledge management tool to organize images and words, with drag-and-drop features, intuitive ways to assign several different tags and keywords to each picture, instant searching, annotating and classifying capabilities into categories and sub-categories and with features that allow several nodes to be cross-linked to other nodes (images and words). It should probably use a 3-D environment, with different layers where data (still images, audio, movies, texts, codes) and the logical relation among them (and their segments) can be seen or hidden according to our research needs. At the moment software improvements are needed; there still isn't a real integration of multimedia in a visual interface, where researchers can easily edit and link text, images, audio and video. There still 15

Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft isn’t a program that combines the functions of DAM, CAQDAS and concepts maps in a single and friendly software. Researchers still need to experiment with using different programs, evaluating their pros and cons according to specific methods, types and amount of collected information. All these software are only tools: the value of data, the methodology, the researcher himself and his working style are still the key factors which determine the quality of a visual sociology project.

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Going digital: Using new technologies in visual sociology - draft research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Suchar, C. S. 1997. Grounding visual sociology in shooting scripts. Qualitative Sociology 20 (1): 33–55. Tergan, S.-O., and T. Keller. 2005. Knowledge and information visualization searching for synergies. Available from http:// www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=issueandissn= 0302-9743andvolume=3426; INTERNET.

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