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ISSN 0027-6021
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AUTHOR:
Charles E. Harrington Dr. and Timothy J. Schibik Dr.
TITLE:
Reflexive Photography as an Alternative Method for the Study of the Freshman Year Experience
SUGGESTED CITATION:
Harrington, C. E.
, Schibik, T. J.
(2003). Reflexive Photography as an Alternative Method for the Study of the Freshman Year Experience. NASPA Journal, 41(1), Art. 2. Retrieved September 09, 2008, from http://publications.naspa.org/naspajournal/vol41/iss1/art2
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ABSTRACT:
This article describes an alternative method for the study
of first-year students’ impressions of their first-semester
experiences in higher education. Using an innovative,
phenomenologically-oriented, individual-environment
interaction technique, a sample of undergraduates from a
public four-year comprehensive university were asked to
take a series of reflexive photographs, representative of
their impressions of the university, describe in writing the
reasons why the photographs illustrated their experiences,
and discuss the various underlying themes of their photographs in subsequent focus-group interviews. This
reflexive photography technique breaks the study subjects
away from the typical researcher-oriented quantitative
technique and allows for a more open and creative analysis
of student perceptions. Our research revealed a number
of primary themes including perceptions about the
university’s physical environment, interactions with faculty, interactions with other students, student support services, and career counseling and preparation for the future with a level of detail and university specificity not available through quantitative techniques alone.
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