Sensory methods
Marilys N. Guillemin, Susan Cox · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2023
There is a growing literature on using the senses in research. This scholarship stems from research on the study of the senses in society and culture more broadly. Scholars have urged us to build our sensory awareness when conducting research and to adopt a more sensorial approach among both researchers and research participants. These approaches are most prominent in anthropology and ethnography but have extended to other disciplinary areas. Health has been a particularly rich area of application for sensory research. Visual research methods are the most well known approach to incorporating the senses into scholarship. Yet, there is a move toward using senses other than the visual, including sound, smell, taste, touch, balance, pain, and thermoception (sensing heat and cold). Sensory research methods offer a number of benefits for health research. They help generate meanings for research areas that are abstract or difficult to articulate and offer an expanded repertoire for meaning-making. However, sensory methods also pose challenges, notably methodological and ethical. Health researchers wishing to use sensory methods need to be aware of both the opportunities and challenges presented by this novel approach to research.