The photo‐survey research method: capturing life in the city

Recent promotion of city centre living within UK policy has led to a commensurate interest in city centre conditions and the opinions and experiences of the people who live there. An apposite, straightforward method to capture city centre residents' experiences and views is described in this article. We successfully combined a novel, under‐utilized visual technique (self‐directed photography) with qualitative methods (log‐sheets and interviews) in the form of a ‘photo‐survey’. A background to visual methodologies is presented in this article, alongside a critique of using the photo‐survey with 84 city centre residents to investigate environmental conditions and perceptions within three of the UK's major cities. The method provided a rich, detailed set of data, but also brought a number of noticeable benefits to the data collection process. The photo‐survey not only effectively captured and documented life in the city but also acted as an ‘agent for change’, evoking thoughts and feelings which ultimately encouraged participants to reflect on their existing perceptions and urban experiences. The study also raises some important considerations for future work undertaken with this method and with using photographs as a set of data, and proposes techniques for minimising potential problems.     

“It's a Different Condom,Let's See How It Works”: Young Men's Reactions to and Experiences of Female Condom Use During an Intervention Trial in South Africa

Although male partner cooperation is often essential for successful use of the female condom, only a few studies have directly assessed men's experiences of using the device. We examined barriers to and facilitators of female condom use via qualitative in-depth interviews with 38 young men (18 to 28 years) in South Africa whose partners, all university students, were enrolled in a female condom intervention trial. In all, 21 men used the female condom; the remaining 17 did not attempt use. The main facilitators to female condom use were convenience of use for men, curiosity to see how female condoms compared to male condoms, enhanced sexual sensation, and perceptions of better safety and comfort of the device compared to male condoms. The main barriers were men's limited familiarity with the device, insertion difficulties, and men's concerns about loss of control over sexual encounters. We recommend that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and condom promotion programs around the world target men directly for education on female condoms and that they also work with couples jointly around issues of safer-sex communication and negotiation.