Beyond Words: Using Qualitative Video Methods for Researching Occupation With Young Children

Area of Science:

• Occupational Science
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Child Development

Background:

• Understanding children's occupational worlds is crucial.
• Traditional research methods often fail to capture the transactional nature of occupation.
• A transactional perspective is vital for in-depth occupational research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose videography as an effective qualitative research method for studying occupation.
• To illustrate the application of video methods in researching infant play occupation.
• To address methodological challenges and considerations in using videography with children.

Main Methods:

• Utilized videography in a longitudinal study involving five infants and their families.
• Employed qualitative research techniques for data generation and analysis.
• Focused on infant play occupation to demonstrate video techniques.

Main Results:

• Videography effectively captures the transactional nature of occupation.
• Identified key considerations for data generation and analysis using video methods.
• Gained insights into infant occupational development and meaning-making in their environment.

Conclusions:

• Video methods provide an effective means for occupation-centered research, especially with infants.
• Videography strengthens research by enabling a transactional perspective.
• This method enhances inclusivity and depth in studying children's occupational worlds.