The Role of Categorisation in Photo-Elicitation Interviewing: Epistemic Reflexivity in Research With Vulnerable Groups

Photo-elicitation interviews (PEIs) offer valuable opportunities to access the perspectives of underrepresented groups by using images to trigger reflection on personal experiences and to mitigate power imbalances between researchers and participants. The method was applied in research on the digital practices of migrant young adults who are outside education and employment and considered at risk of social exclusion, while also constituting a highly heterogeneous group. This diversity posed a methodological challenge regarding how to select images that could meaningfully resonate across participants’ varied life experiences. To address this challenge, photographs were organised into thematic categories, with multiple images included in each category. Treating the categorised presentation of photographs as an “unknown” factor, and drawing on Bourdieu’s epistemic reflexivity, this paper illuminates how this mode of presentation can render participants’ doxic assumptions visible. We present four narratives that illustrate distinct ways in which participants engaged with individual photographs and with the categorisation of those photographs. While existing literature has primarily focused on who produces images, how they are produced, and which images are selected, this study demonstrates that how images are presented also plays a critical role in shaping participants’ reflections on social and digital practices. This insight is particularly significant for research with hard-to-reach participants in vulnerable situations and heterogeneous life experiences.