Photo elicitation as part of a multi-method research design: Family lives and the Environment in Andhra Pradesh, India

This case study outlines the use of photo elicitation as part of Family Lives and the Environment, a multi-method research study involving 24 children (aged 11–14 years) and their families living in varied contexts in Andhra Pradesh, southern India, and the United Kingdom. Family Lives and the Environment aims to improve understanding of the negotiated complexity of child and family lives in relationship with their environments, with regard to meanings of ‘environment’ in everyday family lives and family practices, including how environmental concerns such as those related to climate change do (or do not) arise in children's narratives of everyday life.

In this case, I reflect on one method used in the study – a photo elicitation task, where family members took photos over the course of a week and discussed these in group and individual interviews – and consider how it worked in practice with families in Andhra Pradesh. I pay particular attention to the use of the method with the 11–14-year-old child in each family, in line with the focus of my PhD research, which is linked to and forms part of the overall Family Lives and the Environment project.