David Gauntlett

David Gaun

tlett is from the university of westminister, he does preojects using visual methods (drawing, collage and video) to get the brain working in a different way in comparison to using interviews and focus groups, he feels that visual methods is a more switched on hands on approach which hopefully gets more truthful results. He published a book describing all of this type of work called creative explorations in 2007.  He has similar ideas to the earlier theorist merleau ponty who said ''we live our lives in bodies'' he says that using our bodies is likely to lead to a more realistic response. David uses objects such as lego serious play which is a certain type of lego where people are asked to think and build in metaphor. He asks people to make their identity metaphorically with lego.

This model is an example but they can look like anything depending on the person   

 David argues that making the identity out of lego means they can express their identity as a whole rather than a list giving participants a sense of balance.

The study was conducted with 79 different people in a number of groups such as...

• Architects 
• unemployed people

• charity managers etc

overall there was a very diverse set of people he says it gives people a chance to communicate different types of information he says people get that chance to communicate using intangible concepts expressing things easier than trying to express it with words. You also get the fruitful additional meanings which is the primary meaning that you would get with words but also the additional meaning. He had 11 findings from this study but above all the most interesting was perhaps the set of tensions which people deal with every day and also the stories and metaphors we use circulated to a great extent by the media to understand our lives.

The effects debate-  The effects debate is the theory that the media has a big influence on the way that people act in everyday life. David disagrees with this theory he identifies ten things wrong with the theory:

1. The effects model tackles social problems 'backwards'
2. The effects model treats children as inadequate
3. Assumptions within the effects model are characterised by barely-concealed conservative ideology
4. The effects model inadequately defines its own objects of study
5. The effects model is often based on artificial elements and assumptions within studies
6. The effects model is often based on studies with misapplied methodology
7. The effects model is selective in its criticisms of media depictions of violence
8. The effects model assumes superiority to the masses
9. The effects model makes no attempt to understand meanings of the media
10. The effects model is not grounded in theory