Making Comics in Ethnographic Research

• In Event: Ethnographic and Participatory Approaches for Understating Multiple Facets of Educational Practice

Abstract

I examine comics making as a qualitative research method using my ethnographic research as a case example. Comics making impacted how I designed my study, generated multimodal and multi-sensory data, conducted analysis, and share work to broader academic and non-academic audiences. After providing a general overview of my research, I discuss three points about how a comics making approach impacted my research and provide an example for each. The three areas include: 1) translating a text-based theoretical framing into a picture-based platform, 2) redefining a multi-modal approach to doing fieldwork, and 3) re-evaluating research credibility through visualization practices. I also indicate future directions for comics making as research, particularly regarding pedagogy.

Author

• Ebony Victoria Flowers Kalir, Self