On the Assessment of Reactance and Invasiveness in Videographic Data: A Context-Sensitive Approach to Assess the Role of the Camera in Recording Settings

Abstract

Videography is the method of choice for generating data to enable fine-grained analysis of face-to-face-interactions. Regardless of different forms of analysis, the question arises as to how recording technology influences the filmed non-covert situation. In what ways can researchers assess the extent to which those filmed understand the situation as a recording situation and what role they attribute to the camera? The clarification of these questions is of central importance in the context of qualitative research and thus the usability of the recordings as social science data. After a short presentation of the discourse on invasiveness and reactance, we develop a set of instruments based on a conversation-analytically informed approach that helps to assess invasiveness and reactance in video data. We apply this to empirical case studies from different research projects. It will be shown that the temporal, spatial, thematic, and social levels of the non-covert recording situation's context can be used to determine reactance and to assess invasiveness, even if the limitations are clear.