![]() #Video diary rooms freeThey are free to stop and ponder, skip back and forth between questions, be brutally honest, and offer as much or as little detail as they wish, all with less fear of direct judgement from the researcher. It is empoweringīeing alone in a video diary room hands control over to the participant. ( 2014) to investigate outdoor adventure experiences 5. A video diary room was used by Cooley et al. Make sure questions are understood before a participant is left to answer them. You can use a more advanced question structure, directing participants to different questions depending on their answers (e.g., “ If this experience has been beneficial, please answer the blue question card. It is useful to begin with an easy warm-up question (e.g., “ How has your day been so far?”), rather than jumping into questions requiring more thought. These questions should be open-ended, ensuring the participant provides detailed answers rather than “Yes/No” responses. If you choose to leave your participant alone in the diary room, providing question cards helps to keep entries on track with your research question. It can be directed to any research question I typically emphasise that there are no right or wrong answers, participants have the freedom to talk for as much or as little as they wish and to skip between questions as necessary. The procedure simply involves selecting your participant, providing them with any relevant documentation (e.g., informed consent, study information sheet), and a short briefing before they begin. The person left to run your video diary room need not even be a researcher as long as they receive some training. Running a diary room does not require finely honed research skills. From my experience, emphasising confidentiality (i.e., that entries will not be shown to anyone other than the research team) also promotes engagement. You could also allow the entry to take the form of a ‘mini’ 1-to-1 interview by talking through the questions. If a participant is uncomfortable being video recorded, offer a dictaphone instead or suggest that they note down their answers before beginning their entry. It can also be flexible in how it is conducted. For example, responses could be collected at a single time point or by following participants over a period of time. The diary room can also be used in a variety of research designs. It fits with most sampling techniques (I typically adopt purposive sampling to ensure diversity). A park bench, meeting room, tent, phone booth, courtside… the possibilities are endless! 2. #Video diary rooms portableDiary rooms can be portable and flexible enough to be set up almost anywhere. The bare essentials needed are a recording device and a private space to reflect. It can fit inside your pocketĪ video diary room does not need to be glamorous. I draw from this experience to share with you 8 things to consider when adding a video diary room to your research toolkit. Over several years, my research group has used diary rooms to explore the great outdoors, higher education, elite sport, multiculturalism, disadvantaged youth and even sailing expeditions. “A video diary room involves momentarily taking participants out of an experience, and into a private space, to reflect verbally on that experience in front of a video camera.” (Cooley et al., 2014). The diary room is particularly appealing to participants who struggle to express themselves in writing or who find the thought of more formal research methods intimidating, time-consuming or just plain dull. Surveys and formal interviewing are great when a participant is engaged, but under conditions of stress, fatigue or disengagement, a diary room may provide a more attractive option. However, the many benefits of this method are yet to be exploited in the world of scientific research. Using a video diary room to capture thoughts, feelings and lived experiences is commonplace in reality television. ![]()
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