The shortcomings of the first phase of interviews were addressed in this second stage. Here the intention was less about the use of cameras to provide a foundation level of data for analysis, and more about deeper reflection on and meaning of the imagery. Analysis could therefore become more sophisticated as interpretations of the imagery could also help refine emerging category themes. Although respondents lacked intimacy with the photos in the same way that the participants did, not having the same sense of ownership perhaps allowed them to approach their interpretations more objectively.
As potential categories began to emerge, their scope, importance and robustness needed to be tested, so it became more important that I directed the choice of imagery to explore significance and to determine the properties and dimensions of those categories (see next section). As this process continued, it became necessary in some cases to discard categories where the conceptual level could not be raised beyond description. Great care had to be taken here to ensure the areas I was choosing to explore arose from being grounded in preliminary data from participants or earlier respondents and that I avoided forcing the data to suit any preconceptions I might have had.