Compare methods

	Photovoice	Rapid Ethnographic Assessment
Field	Anthropology	Anthropology
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1997	2001
Originator	Caroline Wang & Mary Ann Burris	James Beebe (building on rapid rural appraisal traditions)
Type	Participatory visual research and action method	Team-based, time-bounded qualitative inquiry
Seminal source	Wang, C., & Burris, M. A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Education & Behavior, 24(3), 369–387.	Beebe, J. (2001). Rapid Assessment Process: An Introduction. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. ISBN: 9780759100114
Aliases	Photo Voice, Participatory Photography, Photo-Novella, Community Photography Method	Rapid Assessment Process, REA, Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP), Rapid Ethnographic Procedures
Related	2	2
Summary	Photovoice is a participatory visual method in which community members use cameras to document their own lives and concerns, then collectively discuss and interpret the images to surface shared issues and influence policy. Developed by Caroline Wang and Mary Ann Burris in 1997, it has three goals: to let people record and reflect their community's strengths and concerns, to promote critical dialogue through group discussion of photographs, and to reach policymakers with that community-generated knowledge.	Rapid ethnographic assessment — also called the Rapid Assessment Process — is intensive, team-based qualitative inquiry that uses triangulation, iterative data analysis, and additional rounds of data collection to quickly develop a preliminary understanding of a situation from the insiders' point of view. Formalized by James Beebe, it compresses the logic of long-term ethnography into days or weeks for applied settings where decisions cannot wait for a year of fieldwork.