Research Dilemmas of Using Video Recordings to Capture Mealtimes Practice in Institutional Settings: The Multi-Case Study of the Meaning of Food in Care Homes

The increasing accessibility and ease of video recording, coupled with advancements in editing technologies, present significant opportunities for research within the social sciences. This study builds on the established tradition of visual data usage in ethnographic and anthropological research, particularly through the lens of video ethnography, which seeks to analyze the content of video recordings and the underlying meanings they convey. Focusing on the methodological aspects of this approach, we explore its application in researching older adults in institutional settings, specifically in relation to food practices in care homes. We aim to provide methodological insights and inspiration that emerged during our investigation into the significance of food in later life, utilizing video ethnography in these specific environments. Unlike existing comprehensive guides on video ethnography, our paper offers practical examples and inspiration for applying this methodology in institutional settings related to older adults. We examine the challenges and limitations associated with using video data for research purposes, particularly in capturing the everyday practices of clients of institutional care settings in the Czech Republic. Our research question addresses the challenges and dilemmas of employing video recordings to analyze daily practices in such environments. We identified four types of dilemmas that video-based research presents: video record legitimization, video data shooting, post-hoc technical and analytical dilemmas, and the authenticity of video records. These dilemmas essentially shape both the quality and content of the collected data and the interpretative possibilities of the analysis. We demonstrate that video material for analysis is the outcome of a dynamic process of continuous decision-making, the acquisition of which is continually legitimized and captures the pseudo-real form of common practice. Additionally, we discuss the time demands of video analysis-based research on the researchers themselves.