Social and Emotional Experiences of Dorming with a Pet through Photo Elicitation

This study employs the visual methodology of photo elicitation as a way of better comprehending people’s lived experiences through research. Photo elicitation uses photographs to prompt discussion in order to generate data and insight, making it particularly useful for capturing individuals’ perceptions of their day-to-day realities. This study therefore aims to use photo elicitation as a way to further understand the social and emotional experiences of undergraduate college students who live in a dorm with a pet. Participants submitted at least 10 labeled photographs, each accompanied by a brief description documenting these experiences over the course of 3-8 weeks. Participants then met in small groups, with researchers present, to discuss how the images portray the socioemotional narratives associated with them. Following these small group discussion sessions, the data was analyzed based on thematic analysis. The results consist of photos being categorized and sorted into themes illustrating the participants’ personal accounts. The themes revealed an overall positive regard towards dorming with a pet, but also demonstrated times of hardship surrounding certain aspects associated with living on a college campus with a pet. Using photo elicitation, this study provides insight into the unique socioemotional depictions of emerging adults dorming with a pet on an undergraduate campus, an area that has not been explored extensively in previous research.