Policy Press

Encountering the World with I-docs

Interactive Documentary as a Research Method

By Ella Harris

Published

Jan 1, 2025

Page count

160 pages

Browse the series

Creative Research Methods in Practice

ISBN

978-1447374176

Dimensions

216 x 140 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Jan 1, 2025

Page count

160 pages

Browse the series

Creative Research Methods in Practice

ISBN

978-1447374169

Dimensions

216 x 140 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Jan 1, 2025

Page count

160 pages

Browse the series

Creative Research Methods in Practice

ISBN

978-1447374183

Dimensions

216 x 140 mm

Imprint

Policy Press
Encountering the World with I-docs

Interactive documentaries, or i-docs, are web based, multimedia documentaries that immerse audiences through dynamic, interactive platforms. This book unlocks the value of i-docs as a creative research method, providing an engaging guide on how to use i-docs to examine and communicate research subjects.

With examples, conceptual discussion, and practical advice, the book explores how i-docs can illuminate topics including temporalities, power and space, affect and feeling, freedom, and epistemic justice. The book addresses i-docs as a digital form but also shows that even just planning an i-doc on paper can open up new analytical perspectives.

Key features of the book include:

An easy to use template for planning your own i-doc;

Advice on how researchers can ‘think with i-docs’ without even producing one;

Discussion of methodological work with i-docs including participatory i-doc making;

Insights into a range of examples of commercial, activist and research i-docs from around the world.

This book is a valuable resource for scholars, students, community researchers, creatives and activists who want to enlist and ignite the possibilities of i-docs.

Ella Harris is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Story Society at Bath Spa University.

1. Introduction: I-docs as Method

2. Temporality

3. Interfaces

4. Aesthetics

5. Interactivity

6. Co-creation and Multi-perspectivity

7. Conclusion: Thinking with i-docs