Issues of Video Recording in Ethnographic Studies.

In the context of an ethnographic study of nonverbal communication within the Japanese home environment, issues in the use of videotape recordings for data gathering are discussed. The study investigated language use and behavior of Japanese host families in homestay settings, focusing on the use of nonverbal behavior to facilitate communication. The visual data in this study showed that the host families relied heavily on nonverbal cues during dinner table conversations. While this data was unobtainable by audio recording alone, researchers should be aware of issues in video recording in such field research, in three areas: data collection; data analysis; and reporting. Issues in data collection include: whether the researcher should be present at the time of the recording, or whether this presence creates a distraction confounding results; participants' awareness of the camera; privacy of the participants; quality of recording; and scheduling participant interactions. Concerns in data analysis include these: selection of typical vs. atypical discourse segment, and use of review sessions with participants, to gain further insight. Reporting issues include: acceptability of research results, and participant privacy. The author calls for development of guidelines for use of video recordings in ethnographic research on language use. Contains 30 references. (MSE) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Issues of Video Recording in Ethnographic Studies U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION 1 CENTER (ERIC) NI(This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. ° Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Masakazu lino Obirin University Abstract PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BYPERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) The use of video recording in language studies has become common and has been playing an important role. However, little discussion has occurred regarding various issues relating to its use in research, such as the validity of the data, ethics and privacy. Based on an ethnographic study I conducted to investigate language use and behavior of Japanese host families in homestay settings, this paper looks at cases of non-verbal actions for language facilitation and discusses related issues in this type of research at three discrete steps: data collection, data analysis, and reporting. The visual data in this study showed that, the Japanese host families relied heavily on non-verbal means of communication during dinner table conversations. Although such results are unattainable by the audio recording alone, the researchers also need to be aware of the existing issues of video recording in such field-work research. It seems that there should be some sort of detailed guidelines specifically for the use of video recorded data for academic purposes. I call for more discussion about how video technology can and should be used in language studies.