Skip to main content
Book cover

Methodological Reflections on Practice Oriented Theories pp 177–191Cite as

Understanding Everyday Kitchen Life: Looking at Performance, into Performances and for Practices

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to methodological debate on how to research everyday life with a reflexive exploration of the ways of looking we developed to analyse video recordings of a 24/7 on-going performance of kitchen life. We bring insights from debate on the affordances of video for the examination of mundane everyday life, utilising theories of practice and phenomenological perspectives on ways of looking. Three strategies for looking and thinking using the video data in our research are discussed: looking at performance, looking into performance; and looking for practices. We elaborate how each way of looking maps onto different epistemological concerns and results in different ways of knowing practices and performance. We conclude by considering the consequences and ask whether it is possible and useful to work across these approaches of looking and comprehending.

Keywords

  • Everyday life
  • Practices
  • Performance
  • Visual methodology
  • Ways of looking
  • Video

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-52897-7_12
  • Chapter length: 15 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-319-52897-7
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    In addition to the video analysis practices of ethnomethodologists, there is also some discussion on the analyses of video diaries (Holliday 1998) and home movies (Hwang 2013). There is also some discussion on the use of software tools, such as Transana and NVivo (e.g. Thorn 2006).

  2. 2.

    The practice of ‘zooming in’ appears to be a generic priority in practices of video analysis. For instance, Schubert (2006) provides an interesting discussion on the question of how footage is selected from the broader sample of visual data for detailed analysis, while software tools, such as Transana, have inbuilt facilities to deal with clips from larger bodies of video data.

  3. 3.

    For instance, Martens (2012b) compares the different priorities for looking at videos of cooking practices by different academic practitioners.

  4. 4.

    See Martens and Scott (2004) for a detailed discussion of the differences and similarities and pros and cons of doing observational work while being present and absent from the interactional space of domestic kitchens.

References

  • Atkinson, P., Coffey, A., & Delamont, S. (2003). Key themes in qualitative research: Continuities and change. Oxford: Alta Mira Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartiaux, F. (2007). Does environmental information overcome practice compartmentalisation and change consumers’ behaviours? Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(11), 1170–1180.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • DeVault, M. (1991). Feeding the family. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gershuny, J., & Sullivan, O. (1998). The sociological uses of time-use diary analysis. European Sociological Review, 14(1), 69–85.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the theory of structuration. California: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, C. (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist, 96(3), 606–633.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Gram-Hanssen, K. (2011). Understanding change and continuity in residential energy consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture, 11(1), 61–78.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Grasseni, C. (2007). Introduction. In C. Grasseni (Ed.), Skilled visions: Between apprenticeship and standards (pp. 1–20). Oxford: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grasseni, C. (2008). Learning to see: World-views, skilled visions, skilled practice. In N. Halstead, E. Hirsch, & J. Okely (Eds.), Knowing how to know: Fieldwork and the ethnographic present (pp. 151–172). Oxford: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halkier, B., Katz-Gerro, T., & Martens, L. (2011). Introduction. Special Issue on “Applications of Practice Theory in Consumption Research.” Journal of Consumer Culture, 11(1), 3–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halkier, B., & Jensen, I. (2011). Methodological challenges in using practice theory in consumption research: Examples from a study on handling nutritional contestations of food consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture, 11(1), 101–123.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Heath, C., Hindmarsh, J., & Luff, P. (2010). Video in qualitative research. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, R. (1998). We’ve been framed: Visualizing methodology. Sociological Review, 48(4), 503–521.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, S. K. (2013). Home movies in participatory research: Children as movie-makers. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 16(5), 445–456.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ingold, T. (1993). The art of translation in a continuous world. In G. Palsson (Ed.), Beyond boundaries: Understanding, translation and anthropological discourse (pp. 210–230). London: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laurier, E. (2013). Noticing: Talk, gestures, movement and objects in video analysis. In R. Lee, N. Castree, R. Kitchen, V. Lawson, A. Paasi, & C. W. Withers (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of Human geography (pp. 250–272). London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lengersdorf, D. (2011). Sociology of social practices: Methodological implication. Paper presented at the 11th conference of the European Sociological Association. Geneva, September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchand, T. (2010). Making knowledge: Explorations of the indissoluble relation between minds, bodies, and environment. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 16, 1–21.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Martens, L. (2012a). Practice ‘In Talk’ and Talk ‘As Practice’: Dish washing and the reach of language. Sociological Research Online, 17(3), 22.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Martens, L. (2012b). The politics and practices of looking: CCTV Video and domestic kitchen practices. In S. Pink (Ed.), Advances in visual methodology (pp. 39–56). London: SAGE.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Martens, L., & Scott, S. (2004). Domestic kitchen practices: Routine, reflexivity and risk. ESRC End of Award Report, 21–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martens, L., Halkier, B., & Pink, S. (2014). Special Issue on “Researching habits: Advances in linguistic and embodied research practice.” International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 17(1), 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mondada, L. (2006). Video recording as the reflexive preservation and configuration of phenomenal features for analysis. In H. Knoblauch, B. Schnettler, J. Raab, & H.-G. Soeffner (Eds.), Video analysis: Methodology and methods (pp. 51–68). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicolini, D. (2009a). Articulating practice through the interview to the double. Management Learning, 40(2), 195–212.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Nicolini, D. (2009b). Zooming in and out: Studying practices by switching theoretical lenses and trailing connections. Organization Studies, 30(12), 1391–1418.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, C., & Armstrong, G. (1999). The Maximum Surveillance Society: The rise of CCTV. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, M., & Hargreaves, T. (2010). Exploring the social dynamics of pro-environmental behaviour change: A comparative study of intervention processes at home and work. The Journal of Industrial Ecology, 14(1), 137–149.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Paterson, M. (2009). Haptic geographies: Ethnography, haptic knowledges and sensuous dispositions. Progress in Human Geographies, 33(6), 766–788.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Pink, S. (2012). Situating everyday life: Practices and places. London: SAGE Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reckwitz, A. (2002). Toward a theory of social practices. A development in culturalist theorizing. European Journal of Social Theory, 5(2), 243–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schatzki, T. (1996). Social practices: A Wittgensteinian approach to human activity and the social. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Schatzki, T. (2002). The site of the social. A philosophical account of the constitution of social life and change. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnettler, B., & Raab, J. (2008). Interpretative visual analysis: Development, state of the arts and pending problems [45 paragraphs]. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(3), Art. 31. Retrieved October 30 2016 from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/viewArticle/1149/2555.

  • Schubert, C. (2006). Video analysis of practice and the practice of video analysis: Selecting field and focus in videography. In H. Knoblauch, B. Schnettler, J. Raab, & H.-G. Soeffner (Eds.), Video analysis: Methodology and methods (pp. 115–126). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southerton, D., Olsen, W., Warde, A., & Cheng, S.-L. (2012). Practices and trajectories: A comparative analysis of reading in France, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. Journal of Consumer Culture, 12(3), 237–262.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Thorn, C. (2006). Creating new histories of learning for math and science instruction: Using NVivo and Transana to manage and study large multimedia datasets. Conference on Strategies in Qualitative Research, September 2006, Durham, United Kingdom. Unpublished conference paper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Truninger, M. (2011). Cooking with Bimby in a moment of recruitment: Exploring conventions and practice perspectives. Journal of Consumer Culture, 11(1), 37–59.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Warde, A. (2005). Consumption and theories of practice. Journal of Consumer Culture, 5(2), 131–153.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Warde, A. (2014). After taste: Culture, consumption and theories of practice. Journal of Consumer Culture. doi:1469540514547828.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warde, A. (2015). The practice of eating. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warde, A., Cheng, S.-L., Olsen, W., & Southerton, D. (2007). Changes in the practice of eating a comparative analysis of time-use. Acta Sociologica, 50(4), 363–385.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, M., & Shove, E. (2008). Product, competence, project and practice: DIY and the dynamics of craft consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture, 8(1), 69–89.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK

    Lydia Martens

  2. University of York, York, UK

    Sue Scott

Authors
  1. Lydia Martens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sue Scott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lydia Martens .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna, Australia

    Michael Jonas

  2. Department of Sociology, Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna, Austria

    Beate Littig

  3. Department of Sociology, Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna, Austria

    Angela Wroblewski

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Martens, L., Scott, S. (2017). Understanding Everyday Kitchen Life: Looking at Performance, into Performances and for Practices . In: Jonas, M., Littig, B., Wroblewski, A. (eds) Methodological Reflections on Practice Oriented Theories. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52897-7_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52897-7_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52895-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52897-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)