Researching religion: the iconographic elicitation method

Abstract

This article aims at offering a contribution to context-related methods in anthropological fieldwork. The multidimensional realities of ethnographic fieldwork require much creativity in adapting research strategies to peculiar research contexts. This idea is illustrated with a description of a variant on the elicitation method as developed during research on Marian pilgrimage. Researchers studying religion come across specific problems such as peoples’ profound emotions and private suffering that may strongly inhibit communication with the researcher. The elicitation method as used in the project explicitly aimed at overcoming the problem of silence and outburst of tears among emotionally touched respondents, which seriously hampered initial interviews based on verbal stimuli. In contrast to this, emotional responses to the iconographic stimuli appeared to evoke stories revealing important religious meanings, whereas precisely this emotional dimension made it difficult for the people to express themselves when approached by the use of conventional interview techniques.

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