Visual Network Analysis: a qualitative method for researching sociomaterial practice

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative research method, Visual Network Analysis (VNA), which is theoretically situated within the relational turn, and more particularly within sociomaterial and sociotopological approaches. Both approaches consider both human and nonhuman entities in social practices, and adopt a relational perspective in order to study these practices. VNA provides innovative tools for qualitatively analyzing social situations by constructing, analyzing and interpreting visual networks based on tailored observatory and/or interview techniques. To that effect, VNA adopts the notion ‘network’ as a method (rather than as a structural representation of social life) that allows to trace the complex entanglements by means of which specific practices are constituted. The article presents the process of conducting VNA by focusing on four key steps: collecting and coding relational data; visualizing network diagrams through software; analyzing the form of these diagrams; and interpreting the resulting visualizations by offering narrative readings of these forms (focused on the effects they generate). The article concludes with some reflections on the assets and potential of the method proposed.