Audio/video databases of people’s experiences of problems
Values and reflective processes, Effective altruism, Research that can help us improve, epistemic institutions
Grantmakers and policymakers are usually far removed from the problems that people face in their daily lives, especially from the problems of people who are more marginalised. Part of the solution to this should be that grantmakers and policymakers make sure to talk to a variety of people to involve them in decisionmaking. However, databases of audio and video interviews with people could also help. For example, interviews could be held with a variety of people around the world to ask them questions like “what are the main problems you face in your life?” and “how have things changed for the better or worse over your lifetime?” Questions about values could also be asked, such as “what do you hope to see for yourself/family/community/country in the future?”
This would likely give a richer picture of people’s experiences and problems than surveys, and could help distant decisionmakers understand and empathise with the situations of people they are making decisions about.
Additional notes:
This process would need to be done carefully and sensitively, making sure that this doesn’t become an exploitative or manipulative process. There is lots of expertise within the health research, international development, and humanitarian fields on how to do this sort of research well. Where possible, people could be supported to make their own videos about the problems that they face, in a similar way to the Photo Voice methodology.
https://healthtalk.org/ is a useful model. A team of qualitative researchers hold interviews with people who have health conditions to understand their experience, and these are collated into a resource that includes audio and video clips from the interviews. e.g. see their section on depression: https://healthtalk.org/depression/overview
Anthropologists sometimes use film to understand the people they study. This project could draw on ethnographic filmmaking techniques.
Audio/video databases of people’s experiences of problems
Values and reflective processes, Effective altruism, Research that can help us improve, epistemic institutions
Grantmakers and policymakers are usually far removed from the problems that people face in their daily lives, especially from the problems of people who are more marginalised. Part of the solution to this should be that grantmakers and policymakers make sure to talk to a variety of people to involve them in decisionmaking. However, databases of audio and video interviews with people could also help. For example, interviews could be held with a variety of people around the world to ask them questions like “what are the main problems you face in your life?” and “how have things changed for the better or worse over your lifetime?” Questions about values could also be asked, such as “what do you hope to see for yourself/family/community/country in the future?”
This would likely give a richer picture of people’s experiences and problems than surveys, and could help distant decisionmakers understand and empathise with the situations of people they are making decisions about.
Additional notes:
This process would need to be done carefully and sensitively, making sure that this doesn’t become an exploitative or manipulative process. There is lots of expertise within the health research, international development, and humanitarian fields on how to do this sort of research well. Where possible, people could be supported to make their own videos about the problems that they face, in a similar way to the Photo Voice methodology.
https://healthtalk.org/ is a useful model. A team of qualitative researchers hold interviews with people who have health conditions to understand their experience, and these are collated into a resource that includes audio and video clips from the interviews. e.g. see their section on depression: https://healthtalk.org/depression/overview
Anthropologists sometimes use film to understand the people they study. This project could draw on ethnographic filmmaking techniques.