Methodological issues arising from video-stimulated recall with young children

Abstract

Video-stimulated recall is a popular research method in education. During video-stimulated recall, participants watch a video-recording of a specific event in which they were involved, and then discuss their participation in that event. Despite its popularity, this approach raises methodological issues for researchers. This paper investigates some of these issues such as, validity of the accounts and the responses of young children on viewing video-recorded sequences. This paper reports upon a study of young children’s interactions in a playground. The interactions of four to six year old children were video-recorded, and extracts from the video-recording shown to the participants, who commented on what they had done. Video-stimulated accounts provided the standpoint of the participants and those matters of interest to them. These accounts were closely examined using a fine grained analytic approach. This study discusses how participants worked toward the construction of events in the video-stimulated interview and presents video-stimulated recall as a useful method when used alongside fine grained analytic approaches.