Understanding Relational and Group Experiences through the Mmogo-Method®

This volume describes the development and application of the Mmogo-method® as a projective visual data-gathering method, applied in different contexts and with different groups of people. "Mmogo" means togetherness in Setswana, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. The Mmogo-method® provides a deep understanding of personal, relational and group experiences and is particularly useful in cross-cultural contexts and across age groups. By allowing visual expressions of the self as a complex, dynamic social system it overcomes some of the limitations of traditional data-collection methods, such as questionnaires or interviews. The book draws together contributions by leading social scientists to show how this flexible, visual data-collection method can be used independently or jointly with other data-gathering techniques, such as journalling or in-depth interviewing, to acquire rich information. The research method described here enables investigators to access perceptions, feelings and personal experiences participants might otherwise find hard to verbalize and explain. Researchers in disciplines such as education, social sciences, consumer sciences, market research, and city and town planning will find this book and its innovative method particularly valuable in addressing a gap in available visual and other data collection resources.

Auteur
Vera Roos is a Professor of Psychology at the North-West University's Potchefstroom Campus since 2004. To date she has published 65 peer reviewed papers in national and international journals and contributed to 20 chapters in textbooks. She has also presented various papers and posters at national and international conferences on topics related to community psychology with a focus on enabling contexts, relational psychology, intergenerational relations and the contributions of older persons in challenged contexts. Vera's theoretical approach, namely that the broader social environment informs the dynamic processes in complex systems, provided the background for the development of the Mmogo-method. This method assists social researchers to access the dynamic interactions between people in relation to their communities within a particular context and in a culturally sensitive manner. The Mmogo-method is regarded as a visual narrative that assists people to recount experiences and to makesense of the context in which they function. Vera is committed to promote the relational and collective wellbeing of older people and communities in relation to the contextual realities by eliciting strengths and competencies. Vera Roos is a NRF-rated scientist on level C2.

Contenu
Part I. Foundations.- Chapter 1. Introducing the Mmogo-Method® as a Visual Data -Collection Method; Vera Roos.- Chapter 2. Conducting the Mmogo-Method®: Vera Roos.- Chapter 3. Theories and Heuristic Informing the Mmogo-Method®; Vera Roos and Andries Baart.- Chapter 4. Research Integrity and the Mmogo-Method®: Some Reflections; Jaco R. Hoffman.- Part II. Data Collection and Analysis.- Chapter 5. Implementing the Mmogo-Method®: A Group of Setswana-Speaking Older People's Relational Experiences in a Rural Community Setting; Vera Roos.- Chapter 6. The Mmogo-Method® and the Intergenerational Group Reflecting Technique to Explore Intergenerational Interactions and Textual Data Analysis; Vera Roos.- Chapter 7. Analyzing Visual Data with Text from the Mmogo-Method®: Experience of Meaning During the Third Trimester of Pregnancy; Vera Roos and Amoné Redelinghuys.- Part III. Applications.- Chapter 8. Theorizing from the Mmogo-Method®: Self-Interactional Group Theory (SIGT) toExplain Relational Interactions; Vera Roos.- Chapter 9. Secondary Analysis of Data from the Mmogo-Method® to Develop a Board Game as Intergenerational Intervention; Maryke Hewitt, Vera Roos and Werner de Klerk.- Chapter 10. Using the Mmogo-Method® to Explore Important Places and Their Meaning in Two Communities: The Importance of Context; Karen Puren and Vera Roos.- Part IV. Reflections and Going Forward.- Chapter 11. Participants' Reflections on Participating in the Mmogo-Method®: The Example of Mental Health Workers' Coping Strategies; Vera Roos, Jenni van der Westhuizen and Anna Keyter.- Chapter 12. Researcher's Reflections on Using the Mmogo-Method® and Other Visual Research Methods; Avivit Cherrington.- Postscript; Vera Roos.