Diagrammatic Elicitation: Defining the Use of Diagrams in Data Collection

In: Qualitative report: an online journal dedicated to qualitative research and critical inquiry

Abstract

The use of graphic representations of experience and the social environment in the data collection process is an emerging approach. The terms diagramming, mapping and drawing are often used interchangeably, with no common interdisciplinary understanding of what they mean. The lack of a unifying terminology has resulted in simultaneous but separate developments undermining a more coherent approach to this emergent method. By defining what a diagram is and examining where diagramming fits amongst other data collection approaches, this paper proposes the term diagrammatic elicitation to refer to the use of diagrams in the data collection process. Two subcategories of this approach include: (a ) participant - led diagrammatic elicitation, where participants create original diagrams and (b ) researcher - led diagrammatic elicitation, where the researcher draws the diagram during the data collection process for discussion or participants edit a researcher - prepared diagram. Establishing these terms will allow researchers to share best practice and developments across disciplines.