Emotional Nuances: Critical Reflections on Emoji Methods

Kamilla Peuravaara

doi:10.16993/sjdr.822

Emotional Nuances: Critical Reflections on Emoji Methods

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

Volume 23 (2021): Issue 1

By: Kamilla Peuravaara

Open Access

|Oct 2021

Abstract

The present article critically reflects on the use of visual method and specifically emojis when interviewing young students diagnosed with autism. Based on disability studies and visual method, the following questions are discussed: What are the opportunities and limitations of using emojis in the individual interview situation? Which questions are possible to ask – and which are not? The aim of the article is to critically discuss the use of emojis in the individual interview situation. Four challenging phases in which use of emojis is multi-dimensional are illustrated. The phases are: Changed positions in the interview situation. Which questions are possible to ask? Which answers are possible to give? Use of emojis to evaluate the experience of being interviewed. The article highlights how emojis enable the expression of emotional nuances, while also giving rise to some difficulties in asking follow-up questions on a “deeper level”.

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