Evaluation

Students will evaluate their project by asking how well the visual methodology worked. Where aspects of the plan were not easily implemented due to external circumstances or issues unforeseen at the planning stages, these will be explored and analysed. Reference should be made to the literature available in the reading list. (up to 1,000 words)

According to Prosser and Schwartz (2006) the appearance of naturally occurring objects, events and behaviours provide a gateway to the taken-for-granted, and reflects deeply embedded and therefore unquestioned aspects of culture which are critical to studies of society. The idea that something can become so deeply embedded it fails to be questioned or recognised is exactly what I wanted to demonstrate through my exploration of the influence of Christianity in the area.

At the earliest stages of planning, my intention was to photograph all of the churches in Inverness for the project. However, practical considerations aside, it became apparent there are many other ways to portray this influence. The principles of Grounded Theory as developed by Glasner & Straus (1967) refer to theory that is developed inductively from a corpus of data. Essentially according to the theorists, the grounded theory approach consists of a set of steps whose careful execution is thought to ‘guarantee’ a good theory as the outcome. Indeed according to Straus, the quality of a theory can be evaluated by the process by which a theory is constructed (Borgatti, 2007). With this in mind I attempted to take as many photographs as possible at the outset; to allow the theory to emerge from the data. Whilst a particular strength to this approach is that it allows implicit belief systems to become explicit, through an inductive rather than deductive process, as a social scientist I also found such an approach to be rather challenging due to my own academic experience. Nevertheless applying the principles of grounded theory essentially allowed me to experience a new way of exploring the social.

One particular limitation to my approach involved the organization of data. For example, writing oneself memos is an important part of the research process for grounded theorists. However, I often failed to type up such memos for my blog and instead left handwritten notes lying around precariously, which inevitably meant they would go missing. In addition, it would have been far more efficient to organize the coded data on to a spreadsheet however this was not done and instead, when looking for the final photos to include in my project, I simply organised them as I went.

Photographs have the uniquely iconic capacity to represent the particularities of a specific moment in time and space (Cronin, 2006). The photographs used in the final project aimed to demonstrate this in a variety of ways. Whilst the most obvious image is the church, the project also used images of such things as street names which can often be overlooked. In addition, Inverness has also used former churches for a variety of business ventures, including a bookshop and restaurant (both images captured in the final project). However in retrospect, whilst the project was able to demonstrate the subtle influences of Christianity, it may have been interesting to pursue the original aim and capture images of all the churches in Inverness. In addition, a greater emphasis on iconography within churches would perhaps have given greater nuance to the project aims.

Overall I feel the opportunity to explore image-based research was valuable and insightful. It not only allows one to move away from the more traditional methods of research but, in addition, using images to explore the meaning systems within any society can provide interpretations that are both rich and subtle in a way that perhaps words cannot. As an area of research however, it still only enjoys limited status due to the methodological concerns of orthodox word-orientated researchers. Indeed as Prosser (2006) suggests, social research has to a significant degree marginalized image-based research. This marginalization is further compounded by an academic community working within the qualitative paradigm who have devised a methodology which places emphasis on words, limiting the role played by images. As such image-based research is both undervalued and under applied by the orthodox qualitative research community. However the fact that it is resisted by orthodox researchers does not mean it is less worthy than more traditional forms of research, it simply means its potential has yet to be truly appreciated. As the philosopher of science, Karl Popper (1945), suggests existing knowledge about the world we live in has a provisional status rather than a permanent one. Indeed unless different approaches to the social are allowed to flourish, we risk losing critical and valuable insights into the world which they potentially offer.


Borgatti, S. (2007) Grounded Theory
[online] Available from:
< http://www.analytictech.com/mb870/introtoGT.htm >
Last accessed 20 May. 2008.

Cronin, O. (1998) ‘Psychology and Photographic Theory’, in J. Prosser (ed) Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers, RoutledgeFalmer: London, pp. 69-83.

Prosser, J. (1998) ‘Status of Image-based Research’, in J. Prosser (ed) Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers, RoutledgeFalmer: London, pp. 97-112.

Prosser, J. & Schwartz, D. (1998) ‘Photographs within the Sociological Research Process’, in J. Prosser (ed) Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers, RoutledgeFalmer: London, pp. 115-130.

Mustard Seed

Like the bookshop, the Mustard Seed restaurant was originally built as a church. As can be seen from the photo, they have kept the original structure so it's quite easily identifiable as a church however when I asked family and friends what comes to mind when they think of the Mustard Seed, they all said 'restaurant'.

Tomnahurich cemetery

Initially, when I took these photos I had presumed that cemeteries were Christian burial grounds however after researching this I found that they are not. A graveyard that is attached to a church is however cemeteries are owned by the local authority. Whilst Christian and non-Christian alike can be buried in cemeteries, they still contain Christian iconography such as crosses and angels therefore I've kept the photos in.

bookshop

Leakey's bookshop in Inverness has been transformed from a church into one of the biggest secondhand bookshops in Scotland. Inside they have even kept the pulpit in tact where sermons were given! From my own experience, I often don't see its past history as a church but instead simply see it as a bookshop (with a great cafe inside incase anyone is interested).

hot cross buns

Traditionaly hot cross buns are eaten on Good Friday; the cross representing the crucifixion and the shape of the bun representing the rock that was removed from the front of the tomb on Easter Sunday.

The buns however have a mixed history. Some say they were part of pagan spring festivals and later given the cross by monks wanting to give Christian meaning to the tradition, whilst others suggest the cross represented the moon and its four quarters and, when the Romans arrived in Britain, they introduced spiced buns which were marked with the sign of the cross.

It was believed by some that hot cross buns had miraculous powers. People would hang them from their kitchen ceilings to protect their homes from evil and they were used in powdered form to treat all types of illnesses. It was also said that hot cross buns baked on Good Friday would never go mouldy...!

Holiday traditions often have pagan, as well as Christian roots and many times the symbolism has been changed over time to adapt to those using it in their celebrations.

Easter eggs

According to a survey carried out by a supermarket chain last year, 1 in 6 16-24 year olds knew nothing about Good Friday and over 10% knew nothing about Easter Sunday. However whilst many people may not know what Easter is about, there are many households who still enjoy chocolate eggs over the holidays.

According to various sources, Easter has been associated with old pagan celebrations of the rebirth of earth in the spring. Indeed according to some legends the very name Easter has been derived from ‘Eostre’, who was the Anglo Saxon Goddess of spring. In this way it was earlier addressed as the festivity of Eostre that always occurred during the period of vernal equinox, when the ratio of day to night was exactly the same. But some of the legends say that the Easter festival actually owes its origin to the Hebrew tradition, instead of the Christian tradition. According to the Hebrew lunar calendar it falls in the first month also known as ‘Nisan’. According to Hebrew tradition the reason behind its celebration is that it was during this period that Israel was rescued from the bondage of Egypt.

Eggs were a symbol of fertility in many pagan cultures. Church leaders forbade the eating of them during Lent but lifted the prohibition on Easter. The practice of dyeing and decorating eggs apparently originated in Middle East spring festivals and spread to Europe during the time of the Crusades.

Some facts about Easter

Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25.
Pysanka is a specific term used for the practice of Easter egg painting.
From very early times, the egg has been considered to be the most important symbol of rebirth.
The initial baskets of Easter were given the appearance of bird's nests.
The maiden chocolate eggs recipes were made in Europe in the nineteenth century.
Each year witnesses the making of nearly 90 million chocolate bunnies.
Next to Halloween, Easter holiday paves the way for the confectionary business to boom.

Easter flowers

The colours of yellow and green seem to be very much associated with the Easter celebrations and the coming of spring.