Studying visual literacy: Research methods and the use of visual evidence

Introduction

Visual literacy represents a set of essential competencies for modern learners in academic and everyday information practices. Image users are not only viewers, but also creators and active contributors of visual information. Visual literacy has traditionally been affiliated with art history and art education but is now becoming an important concept across academic disciplines and in social media environments. Advances in digital technology have contributed to the proliferation of images and increased the relevance of visual literacy. Images are used in professional, scholarly, and daily information practices (Beaudoin, 2014; Ewalt, 2016; Yoon, 2011). The abundance of visual resources has opened new possibilities for teaching and learning in an academic environment (Elkins, 2007; Matusiak, 2013; Ulbig, 2010). Among many literacy types, it is the visual one that is often recognized as the most essential for 21st-century learners (Avgerinou, 2009; Felten, 2008; Hattwig et al., 2013).

The importance of visual literacy skills has increased with the development of the Web as a highly visual medium and the ease of taking images and sharing them. Images are an essential component of communication in the social media environment. Online users can post images on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and other applications. Visual information is an important element of messages shared on Twitter (Thelwall et al., 2016; Yoon and Chung, 2016). However, being surrounded by visual media does not necessarily mean that users know how to create images or interpret their meaning. In the Web 2.0 environment, people are not only consumers but also producers of visual content and need adequate skills in creating and processing images. In addition, evaluation skills are extremely critical as images are easily manipulated and used in creating distorted messages. In the world of fake news, users need to be multi-literate and be able to evaluate the authenticity and credibility of textual as well as visual information (Cooke, 2018; Shen et al., 2019).

With the expanding roles of images in communication, education, and everyday life practices, visual literacy is gaining more attention in research and in library practice. The concept of visual literacy has been debated for over five decades (Michelson, 2017). However, empirical studies investigating how individuals select, evaluate, and use images, or create and share visual content, are relatively new and often multidisciplinary. They present new opportunities as well as challenges in the selection of research methodology and the type of collected data. Researchers with diverse educational and disciplinary backgrounds may choose different research methods and strategies. Data can be collected in multiple forms of representation. In addition to textual and numeric data, researchers can use visual resources in the research process and collect data in the visual form.

The emerging character of visual literacy practices provides a fertile ground for studying the evolving field of research methodologies. Use of images in teaching and student learning with visual resources can be examined using a variety of research methods and sources of data. As Berg and Banks (2016: 470) note, “research does not only require a static set of skills and abilities (competencies), but rather the readiness to continually evolve and grow in experience, knowledge, and abilities”. This paper reports the findings from a study that examined the use of research methodologies in empirical studies of visual literacy practices and investigated the type of visual evidence gathered during the research process.

Background

Literacy practices mediated by digital technology involve interaction with resources in many different modes of representation and require multiple literacy skills. Information literacy has been at the center of library and information science (LIS) research and practice, but the LIS field is also acknowledging other literacy types and exploring the relationships between them. A taxonomy of literacies identifies multiple dimensions and lists a number of literacy types, including digital, information, scientific, media, technological, etc. (Stordy, 2015). The conceptual frameworks recognize the complexity of what it means to be literate in the digital environment and attempting to combine or unify different literacy types. Visual literacy is a key component of metaliteracy and transliteracy frameworks that identify a wide range of required literacy competencies and combine or integrate different literacy types (Ipri, 2010; Mackey and Jacobson, 2014; Thomas et al., 2007). Interestingly, visual literacy predates many of the newer literacy types and frameworks. It is even older than the concept of information literacy. Many definitions of visual literacy exist, and it has been only recently that researchers began to reach some agreement on the meaning of the term (Michelson, 2017).

Methodological approaches

With the expanding role of images in an academic environment and social media and the calls for teaching visual competencies, visual literacy is becoming a new area of research investigations. In empirical studies, researchers can select from a variety of methodological approaches, strategies, and data collection techniques to study participants’ skills in creating, interpreting or evaluating visual resources. Research in the LIS field tends to adopt methodological approaches established in social sciences, including quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method designs (Connaway and Radford, 2017; Creswell, 2013). Research practitioners in the library field typically use social science methods, although they often report lack of adequate training in research methodologies (Alemanne and Mandel, 2018; Kennedy and Brancolini, 2012, 2018; Luo, 2011).

Early methodological reviews of LIS publications distinguish between qualitative and quantitative types of research and consider a combination of both (Järvelin and Vakkari, 1990). Furthermore, the authors identify research strategies, such as historical research, survey, case study, bibliometric analysis, and experiment. Data collection techniques include questionnaires, interviews, observations, thinking aloud, citation analysis, content analysis, and historical source analysis. Hider and Pymm (2008) adopted this classification and added new data collection techniques, such as focus groups, journal entries, transaction log analysis, and task analysis.

The typology of research approaches as qualitative and quantitative is now well established in the LIS field. Recognition of the mixed-method design, however, is relatively new. Fidel (2008) examined the use of the mixed-method approach and concluded that the implementation of this research design is minimal in LIS, accounting for 5% of surveyed publications. Low adoption of mixed-method approaches was also found in the methodological review of research studying information behavior of image users (Matusiak, 2017). Comprehensive reviews of research methods in LIS research studies indicate that surveys are one of the most frequently adopted methods (Aytac and Slutsky, 2015; Chu, 2015; Luo, 2011; Luo and McKinney, 2015; Matusiak, 2017).

Literature review of studies examining visual literacy provides examples of survey and case study research as well as attempts to adopt new research strategies. Brumberger (2011) conducted a survey of college students and evaluated their skills in interpreting images and in producing and editing visual communications. Emanuel and Challons-Lipton (2013) undertook a similar study surveying the visual skills of digital natives and focusing on image recognition. Case studies offer insight into teaching visual literacy in disciplinary contexts and provide examples of classroom activities (Beaudoin, 2016; Bell, 2014; Matusiak, 2013; Ravas and Stark, 2012). Matusiak et al. (2019a, 2019b) examined students’ visual literacy skills and the use of images in the context of academic work in a qualitative exploratory study. The researchers adopted Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR), a method developed in counseling psychology.

However, the literature review provides only a snapshot of research methods used in studying visual literacy practices. The purpose of this study was to examine the research methods in a systematic manner and to investigate the use of visual evidence collected during the research process.

Methodology

This study undertakes a systematic review of the research methodology employed in the study of visual literacy. It conducts content analysis of the articles on visual literacy in terms of research strategies within the quantitative and qualitative traditions and mixed-methods designs, data collection techniques, user populations, and use of visual materials in the research process. The following research questions have been posed for the study:

What types of participants are involved in the studies of visual literacy?

For the purpose of this study, the author analyzed empirical research studies of visual literacy published between 2011 and 2017 and indexed in two databases: Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) and Communication and Mass Media Complete (CMMC). The selection of the date range is based on the literature review that indicates the scarcity of empirical studies in the early research on visual literacy (Hattwig et al., 2011; Schwartz, 2018). The publication of the ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (2011) sparked more interest in this area of research.

This study consisted of two phases: (1) the identification of empirical studies that report research on visual literacy (2) content analysis of the sample. The core list of publications was identified through a series of structured queries using “visual literacy” or a combination “visual or image*” AND literacy in the subject field of LISTA and CMMC databases. All queries were limited to publications in English. After the duplicates were removed, the initial list of publications was further reviewed and filtered to focus on empirical studies. Many results retrieved from the LISTA and CMMC databases on the topic of visual literacy represented theoretical papers and were not selected for this analysis. The review process yielded a total of 30 empirical studies. Ten studies in the sample did not explicitly state the research methodology although they reported findings from informal observations and examples of interactions with visual materials. They were included in the analysis. The unit of analysis in this study is a research publication.

In the second phase of the study, the selected publications were reviewed and analyzed systematically for the research methodology in approaches, strategies, and the use of data collection methods, as well as reporting of data about user populations and types of visual materials used in the research process. Content analysis was used as a method of examining and coding the variables. The following variables have been examined in the study:

Research approach is an overall plan or design for conducting research, not just a method of data analysis (Creswell 2012; 2013). The typology used in social science research includes three approaches:

Findings

The articles in the analyzed sample were published in 14 journals. The largest number of articles (n = 14, 47%) were published in the Journal of Visual Literacy, followed by Art Documentation: Bulletin of the Art Libraries Society of North America (n = 4, 13%) and Journal of Documentation (n = 2, 7%). Ten journals were a source of one study (33%). The international coverage was extremely limited with 25 studies (83%) taking place in the United States and two (7%) in Sweden. Three countries were a place of one reported study: Cyprus, Nigeria, and Puerto Rico. The selection of the LISTA and CMMC databases as a source of publications and restricting the queries to English likely contributed to the limited international coverage of the sample.

Most of the reported studies were conducted in educational settings, including elementary schools, high schools, and universities. Academic libraries and university classrooms provided fertile ground for examining student visual literacy competencies and testing the impact of instruction. As demonstrated in Figure 1, many studies (n = 18, 60%), engaged undergraduate, graduate, or a mix of undergraduate and graduate students. While architecture, visual studies, and art history students (24%) were represented heavily in the sample, several studies also involved participants from the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines (18%), education (18%), cultural studies (4%), and library and information science (4%). A significant portion of the studies was conducted with undergraduate students across multiple disciplines (32%).

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Figure 1.

Types of participants reported in the articles (n = 30).

The studies analyzed in the sample represent the three research approaches: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods. As Figure 2 demonstrates, 10 studies in the sample (33%) were conducted using quantitative methodology, 27% (n = 8) were qualitative, and a smaller number of studies (n = 2) undertook a mixed-method approach. Five studies in the quantitative category used surveys as a data collection technique. These surveys focused on the participants’ skills in recognizing iconic pictures and symbols or interpreting images. Four studies in the quantitative category adopted experimental design by conducting comparison between groups that received no intervention and those that were exposed to a form of visual literacy instruction or worked with visual materials. Case studies, grounded theory, ethnography, and design-based research were used as qualitative strategies. Qualitative studies demonstrated a higher number and a greater variety of data collection techniques with a combination of observations, interviews, and content analysis. The two studies classified as mixed-methods consisted of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, such as questionnaires and observations, but also employed quantitative and qualitative approaches to data analysis and reporting.

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Figure 2.

Research approaches adopted in the examined studies (n = 30).

Ten articles (33%) did not discuss the research methodology. The studies could be classified as case studies as they described participant interaction with visual resources and visual literacy instruction in specific classroom or workshop contexts. However, the case descriptions were based on the instructor’s informal classroom observations and description of student work rather than systematic data collection and analysis.

The use of visual resources as a source of data in the research process is a unique aspect of studies focused on visual literacy practices. Most of the studies in the sample (n = 26, 87%) used images in the research process. Both analog and digital formats were present. The images were selected from secondary sources (n = 18, 60%) or produced by participants during the research process (n = 11, 37%). Three studies involved the combination of images from secondary sources as well as those made as part of a research project. Visual materials were used to elicit comments, as a subject of content analysis, or as a component of observation or testing of participant skills. Table 1 lists types of visual resources selected from secondary sources, provides source information (when reported in the study; otherwise is marked as NA – not available), and relates the use of images to the research strategy.

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Table 1.

Types of visual resources selected from secondary sources.

Image type	Image source	No. of studies	Research strategy
Digitized photographs and artwork	Digital image collections	3	Qualitative case studies
Paintings and icons	Web	3	Quantitative surveys
Digital photographs	Web	3	Qualitative case study; ethnography experimental design
Diagrams, maps, and visualizations	Scholarly publications	2	Experimental design; design-based research
Cartoons	NA	2	Case study; experimental design
Pictures in books	Books	2	Case study – classroom observation
Graphics	Graphic novels	1	Case study – classroom observation
Images of paintings	NA	1	Mixed-methods
Film	NA	1	Case study – classroom observation
Total		18

As Table 1 demonstrates, the studies employed a wide range of visual resources from picture books to images selected from digital cultural heritage collections. The studies that included images in surveys or in classroom instruction focused on participants’ skills in analyzing and interpreting images.

More than one-third of the studies (n = 11, 37%) analyzed images produced by participants and involved the investigation of participants’ competency in interpreting images and creating visual forms of communication. Table 2 lists types of materials generated by participants and used actively during the research process. Three studies adopted comparative experimental design and quantitative analysis. Many of the studies in this category are classified as case studies that relied on informal classroom or workshop observations.

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Table 2.

Types of images created by participants during the research process.

Image type	No. of studies	Research strategy
Drawings	2	Experimental design;case study – classroom observation
Photographs	2	Ethnographycase study – classroom observation
Art work	1	Case study – workshop observation
Cartoons	1	Experimental design;
Digital posters	1	Experimental design;
Graphic novels	1	Case study – classroom observation
Posters	1	Mixed-methods
Video	1	Case study – classroom observation
Visualization	1	Case study – classroom observation
Total	11

A significant number of studies using visual materials in the research process is understandable and expected in research of visual literacy. The variety of image types and sources points to the prevalence of visual materials and wealth of sources that can be used by students, librarians, and instructors for learning and teaching purposes and for researchers as a form of data. The types of visual materials identified in this study demonstrate the diversity of the modern information environment and the need to teach visual literacy competencies.

Discussion

The findings of this study indicate that empirical research of visual literacy practices is a new and multidisciplinary area. The diverse background of participants with students from art as well as STEM disciplines indicates a multidisciplinary character of visual literacy research. The examined studies included participants from multiple disciplines and were made up of university students and school children of different ages. The studies were conducted in libraries but also in the classroom and other educational settings. The findings about the type of participants signify that visual literacy is no longer an exclusive domain of art history and art education at universities. Research on visual literacy has expanded to other disciplines and school environments.

A relatively small number of studies indexed in the LISTA and CMMC databases points to the emergent character of this research. The limited number of visual literacy studies is somewhat surprising, especially that images are prevalent in social media and everyday practices but may reflect the traditional focus on text as a primary source of knowledge in academia. Visual literacy is still on the margins of academic discourse despite calls for making it part of the core curriculum in liberal education (Elkins, 2007; Little et al., 2010). The results are also aligned with recent studies on library instruction and students’ skills and perceptions. Schwartz (2018), who reported the lack of awareness of the Visual Literacy Competency Standards, pointed to the lack of training in visual literacy in the LIS programs as one of the reasons for the limited adoption of visual literacy in academic libraries. Information literacy with its focus on textual resources remains at the center of library instruction. Studies reporting the students’ lack of basic skills in selecting, evaluating, and using images for academic work relate it to the limited library and classroom instruction in visual literacy concepts and competencies (Matusiak et al., 2019b).

The methodological approaches of the studies in the sample mirror the trends in LIS empirical research. The dominance of the quantitative approach with the use of experiments and surveys and a lower number of qualitative and mixed-methods strategies were also found in other content analysis or survey studies (Aytac and Slutsky, 2015; Chu, 2015; Luo, 2011; Matusiak, 2017). However, the high number of studies that relied on informal observations as opposed to a systematic data collection found in this study is unusual. Many studies in the sample were conducted by practicing librarians or teachers, and as Aytac and Slutsky (2015) note, practitioner research tends to be descriptive and site specific. The lack of reporting on research designs and data analysis in those studies may also be related to the limited training in research methods in LIS education that was discussed in previous research (Alemanne and Mandel, 2018; Kennedy and Brancolini, 2012, 2018; Luo, 2011).

Kennedy and Brancolini (2012, 2018) identified a number of factors that contribute to the successful completion and dissemination of research by library practitioners, including confidence, mentorship, institutional support, and training. Interestingly, 77% of academic librarians participating in the recent survey reported conducting research, but only 17% believed that their LIS Master’s degree adequately prepared them to conduct original research (Kennedy and Brancolini, 2018). The call for new approaches to teaching research methods in LIS programs has been a reoccurring theme in literature. The authors emphasize the need to go beyond basic overview courses, diversifying course offerings, and incorporating hands-on experience in collecting and analyzing data (Alemanne and Mandel, 2018; Evans et al., 2013; Luo, 2017). The exposure to research methodologies beyond fundamentals of qualitative and quantitative research is important for researcher practitioners who are interested in exploring new research areas, such visual literacy practices.

The use of visual materials as a source of research data is a unique aspect of the studies in the sample. Most of the studies reported the use of images in the research process but did not describe the approaches to analyzing visual evidence. The authors of examined publications reported almost no information how visual evidence was analyzed and integrated with other data collected from surveys, observations, or interviews. As Rose (2016) emphasized, researching with visual materials is challenging as images are constructed through various social practices and are open to multiple interpretations. Visual culture and arts-based research developed visual research methods and guidelines for analyzing evidence (Prosser and Loxley, 2008; Rose, 2016; Weber, 2008). Information science research also offers examples of adopting visual analysis techniques to analyzing information concepts (Hartel, 2017). In addition to adopting formal methods to analyzing visual data, studies of visual literacy and other empirical research that utilizes images as data can benefit from employing a variety of research methods and engaging multiple researchers in data collection and analysis (Matusiak et al., 2019b).

Conclusion

This paper provides an overview of research methods and the types of images used in empirical studies of visual literacy practices. It contributes to the discussion about the uniqueness of visual literacy studies by examining the research methodology in a systematic way and highlighting the use of images in the research process. Although this study finds few unique methodological strategies, the analyzed sample does reveal an emergent, multidisciplinary character of visual literacy research and an opportunity for library practitioners to engage in this new area of literacy research and practice. This study advances LIS research by highlighting the importance of visual literacy in the current information environment and the need for studying literacy practices through a variety of research methods. Research such as this study raises awareness of the importance of selecting an appropriate research strategy and points to the diversity of available research methods and types of data. It supports the argument for expanding training in research methods in LIS education and teaching diverse methods. Studying literacy in the current information environment requires researchers to explore new methodological approaches and research data that go beyond words and numbers.