The problem of interpretation in vignette methodology in research with young people
Abstract
In this article, we explore how interpretation is dealt with by researchers using a vignette methodology. Researchers using vignette methodology often struggle with interpretation: how to interpret the responses when participants shift between discussing the vignettes as themselves, taking the perspective of the character in the vignette and commenting on what ‘ought’ to happen. We argue that by foregrounding a consideration of the method with an explicitly articulated theoretical position of dialogicality, issues inherent in interpretation become a valuable addition to the research rather than an obstacle to be overcome. In this article, we discuss ‘Louise’ a young carer, detailing the various positions she takes in her talk about the vignette of Mary, a fictitious young carer, to illustrate how a perspective based in dialogical theory contributed to the analysis of her various moves through different identity positions.
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Biographies
Lindsay O’Dell is Director of Post Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Health and Social Care, The Open University. Her research interests concern children and young people who are in some way ‘different’, including young carers, language brokers and neurodiverse children, such as those with autism.
Sarah Crafter is a Lecturer in Developmental Psychology in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at The Open University. Her research interests include home and school learning, culturally diverse childhoods, children who work and representations of space in child and adolescent mental health services.
Guida de Abreu is a Professor of Cultural Psychology at Oxford Brookes University and Director of the Doctoral Training Programme–Children and Young People: Psychological, Educational and Health Perspectives. Her research interests focus on the impact of sociocultural contexts in learning and identity development. Her current empirical work focuses on young people’s experiences of key aspects of their lives, such as being an immigrant or minority student, acting as a language broker, acting as a young carer and living with a chronic illness. This work includes the perspectives of teachers and parents.
Tony Cline is Co-director of the part-time professional doctorate programme for experienced educational psychologists at University College London and Visiting Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Bedfordshire. Tony initially worked in inner city and suburban areas around London as a teacher in primary and secondary schools and as an educational psychologist. After a period as Principal Educational Psychologist for the Inner London Education Authority, he moved into higher education on a full-time basis, where he has led psychology and education studies teams. His current interests include learning difficulties of bilingual pupils, selective mutism in childhood, young people’s representations of child development and the analysis of the concept of school ethos.
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Article first published online: September 6, 2012
Issue published: December 2012
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