Utilizing a new graphical elicitation technique to collect emotional narratives describing disease trajectories

Abstract

Elicitation techniques in connection with semi-structured interviews are scantily used, but reported to be beneficial to research. We developed and tested a new visual technique to be utilized in the latter part of semi-structured interviews. It has proved to be feasible and beneficial to use, and it could possibly be used by others. This way of extending the interviews generates more data in a visual form, as well as in a verbal form, by supporting the participants in remembering nearly forgotten parts of their experiences and in expressing emotions associated with those significant experiences. As a contribution to qualitative research, our study showed that the visual data, created by the participants, also contributed to getting the elaborated narratives. © 2011: Marianne K. Thyegesen, Birthe D. Pedersen, Jacob Kragstrup, Lis Wagner, Ole Mogensen and Nova Southeastern University.