Drawing as a research tool: what does it add?

Background and topic: Representing an epistemological shift within qualitative methodology (Boydell, 2012) healthcare research has increasingly employed visual methods as a means to further understand the patient’s experience of health and healthcare (Broadbent, 2009; Phillips et al, 2015). An advantage of using drawing, rather than any other form visual method, is its potential to offer a way of communicating other than speech. We discuss the use of drawing, in an exploratory, qualitative study, to enrich the narrative account during data collection using semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of palliative healthcare professionals (n=16) from one hospice in West Yorkshire, England (February-May 2016). This study aimed to utilise drawing as a tool to explore the process of drawing to help facilitate the exploration, communication and our understanding of how healthcare staff emotionally resource their roles within a Hospice setting. As such, we were not concerned with an end product, such as a representational image, that would lend itself to measurement and quantification, but the process of facilitation. Aims: To outline and debate the use of drawing, as a visual imagery method, within the research process and (ii) provide a critical reflection of the use of drawing in the research process. Methodological discussion: Discussion will focus on the (i) the practicalities of undertaking drawing during data collection using semi-structured interviews i.e. participant preparation, informed consent and dynamics (ii) participants perspectives in undertaking drawing during data collection using semi-structured interviews i.e. concern with the production of a ‘good’ picture (iii) the practicalities of undertaking data analysis. The presentation will then debate what this visual imagery method adds to: (i) data collection (ii) the the narrative account and (iii) data analysis. Conclusion: This paper will outline the use of drawing as a data collection tool alongside semi-structured interviews to enrich the narrative account.