Visual representations in educational research

Abstract

Inscriptions represent data in different ways, and they also affect the reader in different ways. Photographs are believed to be realistic representations of the world, differing from graphs in their level of abstractness and their power of synthesizing complex information. The work of reading photographs is similar to the work of reading the world around us, which makes photographs easily accessible to audiences. This accessibility and perceived realism contribute to the power a photograph has in exerting a strong emotional impact on the public. Likewise, certain forms of qualitative, visual, arts-based and narrative re-presentations of research phenomena provide deeper levels of audience engagement with the text, and, depending on the purpose of our research, may be the most appropriate way for representing phenomena and providing evidence for our claims.