Human factors affecting the use of video recording methodology in qualitative research

Abstract

The almost unlimited capacity of video to record visual images under wide ranging conditions has ensured that it has become an indispensable agent in research, particularly for qualitative investigation. Like other research tools its use is bounded by the methodology and its physical limitations. Unlike quantitative investigation however, its efficacy is dependent on the influence of human factors on the processes of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The scientific and practical implications for good practice in qualitative research are discussed and a working framework, the outcome of the author's phenomenographic work, proposed.