Glossary

This glossary compiles the main legal, ethical, and methodological terms used throughout the website. It is designed as a quick-reference tool to help readers better understand the concepts, procedures, and open-data practices discussed across the different phases of visual social research. Terms are organized alphabetically from A to Z. Click on each letter to browse the glossary.

Part 1: Research Phases
Part 2: Glossary from A to Z

Part 1: Research Phases

1. Conceptual Phase: The conceptual phase is the preliminary stage of a research project in which initial ideas are transformed into a coherent research design or proposal. During this phase, researchers define the study’s objectives, establish its scholarly relevance, identify research gaps, and position the project within the existing literature. They also assess the availability of resources, including pre-existing datasets, archival sources, and visual materials. In visual social research, the conceptual phase additionally involves determining what will count as visual data and specifying the analytical or documentary role these visuals will play in the study. This stage is also crucial for addressing ethical and legal considerations, including informed consent, privacy, data protection, copyright, authorship, reuse conditions, and data openness. Rather than implementing procedures, researchers define the guiding principles and assumptions that will shape subsequent methodological decisions. A first version of the Data Management Plan (DMP) is commonly drafted during the conceptual phase. At this point, the DMP functions as a strategic framework outlining how visual data will be produced, organized, documented, stored, preserved, and potentially shared or reused throughout the project. Researchers may also begin consulting Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) or ethics committees, especially when sensitive or personal visual data is involved. In many cases, projects are submitted to funding agencies for evaluation at the conclusion of this phase.

2. Research Design Phase: This is the stage of a research project in which the conceptual premises established during the conceptual phase are translated into a systematic and operational research plan. At this point, researchers refine the methodological approach, define the research setting, specify sampling and data collection strategies, and determine the analytical procedures through which the research questions will be addressed. In visual social research, the research design phase is particularly important for operationalizing decisions concerning visual data. Researchers establish how images, videos, screenshots, diagrams, and other visual materials will be generated, selected, accessed, documented, and analyzed in relation to the study’s theoretical framework. This phase also marks the transition from general ethical principles to concrete procedural arrangements. Issues such as informed consent, anonymity, copyright, data protection, access permissions, and conditions of reuse are translated into formal protocols, often in dialogue with Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) or research ethics committees. Where required, ethics applications are commonly finalized during this stage. At the same time, the preliminary Data Management Plan (DMP) is revised into an operational document that specifies workflows, technical infrastructure, responsibilities, metadata standards, storage solutions, preservation measures, and sharing conditions for visual data. In this sense, the research design phase functions as the point at which conceptual intentions are converted into actionable methodological, ethical, and organizational procedures.

3. Empirical Phase: This is the stage of a research project in which data are generated, collected, accessed, or selected in accordance with the methodological design previously established. It is the moment when the research plan is implemented in direct engagement with the field, participants, archives, platforms, or other relevant sources of evidence. In visual social research, the empirical phase includes the production, gathering, or selection of visual materials such as photographs, videos, screenshots, drawings, maps, or other image-based documents. These visuals may be researcher-produced, participant-generated, co-created, or drawn from pre-existing sources (“found visuals”). Their collection is guided by earlier conceptual, methodological, and ethical decisions, while remaining responsive to the contingencies of the field and the situated needs of participants. The empirical phase involves not only the acquisition of visual data but also the systematic documentation of the conditions under which such materials are produced or selected. Researchers commonly record when and where visuals were created, by whom, in what relational context, and under which technical, social, or interactional circumstances, since the interpretive value of visual data is inseparable from their context of production. This stage also requires continuous ethical vigilance. In visual inquiry, consent is often treated as an ongoing and revisable process, particularly when images involve personal exposure, intimacy, or unforeseen forms of representation. At the same time, visual materials must be handled securely from the moment of creation or collection through appropriate storage, restricted access, and careful assessment of their identifiability, sensitivity, and future usability.

4. Analytical & Interpretation Phase: This is the stage of a research project in which the empirical materials previously generated or collected are systematically examined to identify patterns, categories, relationships, and meanings relevant to the research questions. During this phase, researchers organize, classify, compare, and analyze the data according to the selected methodological and theoretical framework, transforming raw materials into interpretable findings. In visual social research, this process requires the careful structuring of visual materials and their associated contextual information. Depending on the research paradigm, visual data may be coded, sequenced, compared, annotated, or read in relation to verbal, textual, spatial, or interactional elements. Interpretation does not derive from the visual artifact alone, but from the documented circumstances of its production, circulation, and use. The analytical and interpretation phase is also characterized by sustained reflexive and ethical attention. Researchers are expected to make explicit their positionality, justify interpretive decisions, and document the analytical pathways through which conclusions are reached. Such traceability is essential not only for the transparency and credibility of the study, but also for ensuring that visual datasets, annotations, and metadata remain intelligible for future verification, preservation, or potential reuse.

5. Communication & Dissemination Phase: The communication and dissemination phase is the stage of a research project in which findings are translated into communicable outputs and made accessible to academic, professional, or broader public audiences. Following the analytical and interpretive work, researchers determine the most appropriate formats, channels, and audiences through which the study’s results will circulate. In visual social research, dissemination may take multiple forms, including scholarly publications, illustrated articles, visual essays, documentaries, video outputs, exhibitions, digital platforms, and other web-based or multimodal formats. The choice of dissemination format is not merely technical but epistemic, as different modes of presentation shape how visual findings are contextualized, understood, and engaged by viewers. This phase also requires careful ethical and legal consideration, particularly regarding the visibility, identifiability, and reuse of visual materials. Decisions must be made about which images can be published, how participants are represented, what permissions are required, and whether certain materials need to be anonymized, restricted, or withheld from circulation. In accordance with open science principles, communication and dissemination are increasingly linked to data accessibility and research transparency. Whenever possible, published outputs are connected to the underlying datasets through repositories, supplementary materials, or persistent identifiers. For this reason, dissemination is closely intertwined with archiving and long-term preservation, since the public circulation of findings depends on the sustained accessibility, documentation, and intelligibility of the visual materials on which those findings are based.

6. Archiving & Preservation Phase: This is the stage of a research project in which visual data are prepared for long-term storage, contextual maintenance, and potential future reuse. Its primary aim is to ensure that visual materials remain secure, interpretable, and responsibly accessible beyond the original study’s duration. In visual social research, preservation involves more than technical file storage. Images, videos, and other visual materials must remain linked to the contextual information necessary for understanding how they were produced, selected, transformed, and interpreted. This includes metadata, captions, consent conditions, and documentation of ethical restrictions. Before deposit in a trusted repository, visual data are typically reviewed, organized, and, where necessary, anonymized or access-restricted. Preservation does not imply unrestricted openness: researchers must determine which materials can be shared, under what conditions, and which should remain partially or fully closed. In this sense, archiving and preservation combine technical sustainability with ethical responsibility, ensuring that future access or reuse does not detach visual materials from their original social, legal, and interpretive context.

7. Re-use: This is the stage in the visual data lifecycle in which archived and documented visual materials are accessed again for new analytical, educational, institutional, or public purposes. Once visual datasets have been preserved in a stable, sufficiently contextualized form, they may be revisited by either the original researchers or other authorized users. In visual social research, re-use is not a neutral act of retrieval but a context-dependent process of reinterpretation. The meaningful secondary use of images, videos, or other visual materials requires attention to the original circumstances of data production, metadata documentation, authorship, licensing conditions, and any attached consent agreements. When conducted responsibly, data re-use can reduce unnecessary duplication of data collection, save time and resources, support research transparency, and enable new questions to be explored through secondary analysis. At the same time, visual re-use demands continued ethical caution, since future users must ensure that new interpretations or forms of circulation do not violate the legal, social, or relational conditions under which the visuals were originally generated.

Part 2: Glossary from A to Z

AI Replicas – Anonymization and recreation strategy in visual social research. This technique uses generative artificial intelligence to create digital versions of original research visuals, protecting participant identities while preserving the material’s analytical essence.
Anonymization – Ethical and legal strategies used to minimize harm by reducing the risk that visual social research participants or other individuals can be identified from visual data. It is the process of altering images or videos to protect the privacy of those depicted while preserving the material’s analytical value. From a data protection standpoint, if a visual is fully anonymized, it can be shared freely without further legal restrictions under data protection laws.
Author – Natural person who created the protected work (Swiss Copyright Act (CopA), Art. 6)

Black-Out-Bars (Black Masking) – Anonymization technique used in visual social research to protect the identity of individuals within images or videos. This method involves placing solid black rectangular bars over identifying features, most commonly the eyes or the entire face.

CC BY – Creative Commons License allowing reuse with mandatory attribution.
CC BY-NC – Creative Commons License allowing reuse for non-commercial purposes only.
CC BY-SA – Creative Commons License requiring derivatives to use the same license.
Consent Form – Freely given, informed agreement to data processing (Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), Art. 6).
Contact Data – Information that allows for the identification or reaching of specific individuals. Researchers must ensure that participants’ contact data is handled with care to prevent unauthorized identification, particularly when working with vulnerable or marginalized communities. Contact data is often necessary to facilitate the ongoing consent process, enabling researchers to check back with participants at key stages of the project (e.g., before public dissemination). Under frameworks like the GDPR, contact data is protected, and researchers must implement security measures to safeguard the privacy of those involved.
Context Sensitivity – A principle dictating that openness and data-sharing practices must be adapted to the specific nature of the visual material and the environment in which it was created. Because visual data are highly context-rich and culturally embedded, they cannot be managed using a universal, “one-size-fits-all” approach.
Contextual Information – The background data, narrative descriptions, and reflexive accounts that accompany visual materials to ensure they are understood and reused responsibly. Because visuals are highly context-rich, providing this information is essential for maintaining the original meaning-making and for supporting the ethical integrity of the research.
Copyright – Legal protection for original literary and artistic works (CopA, Art. 2).
Creative Commons License – Standard license allowing predefined uses of works.
Cropping – An anonymization technique used in visual social research to protect the privacy of individuals by removing specific identifying parts of an image or video. By selecting only a portion of the original visual, researchers can hide faces or sensitive locations before sharing data.
Cross-Border Disclosure – Transfer of personal data outside Switzerland (FADP, Art. 16).

Data Controller – Entity that decides the purpose and means of data processing (FADP, Art. 5 let. j).
Data Management Plan – A formal document that describes how research data will be handled, treated, and managed during the course of a project, as well as what will happen to that data after the project concludes. In visual social research, it serves as a roadmap for the entire image lifecycle, ensuring that data is handled ethically, legally, and transparently.
Data Minimization – The principle of limiting the use, collection, and sharing of personally identifiable information to only what is strictly necessary for the research purpose. For visual data, this involves reducing the exposure of sensitive details to protect participants’ privacy and safety.
Data Processor – Entity processing personal data on behalf of the controller (FADP, Art. 5 let. k).
Data Repositories – A digital platform designed to store, preserve, and share research data in ways that support transparency, reuse, and long-term access. Within the framework of open science, repositories are the primary tool for making research data available to the broader scientific community.
Data Retention – The policies and practices concerning the storage, preservation, and long-term maintenance of research data. It involves determining how data will be treated during a study and what will happen to it after the research project concludes.
Data Security – Technical and organizational measures to protect personal data (FADP, Art. 8).
Data Subject – The individual whose personal data is processed (FADP, Art. 5 let. a).
Degrees of Openness – A spectrum of sharing options for research data, moving away from a binary choice between full public disclosure and complete non-disclosure. This flexible approach allows researchers to balance the goals of open science with ethical, legal, and pragmatic responsibilities toward participants and rights holders.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) – The most common example of a persistent identifier used in academic repositories.

Economic Rights – Exclusive rights to use and commercially exploit a work.
Ethical Review Bodies – Also called Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Review Committee (IRC), or ethics board, it is an official committee within a research institution or organization tasked with evaluating research proposals to ensure they adhere to ethical and legal standards. Their primary role is to safeguard the rights, dignity, and safety of research participants.

Facial Blurring – An anonymization technique used in visual research to protect the privacy and identity of individuals depicted in images or videos. It involves applying a digital effect to obscure facial features, making the person unrecognizable to the general public.
FAIR Principles – A set of guiding standards designed to make research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. These principles aim to reduce obstacles to data discovery and reuse, ensuring that digital resources are properly created, curated, and preserved for both human researchers and computational systems.
Fair Use (Limitations) – Statutory exceptions allowing limited use of works.
Found Visuals – Existing materials not originally intended for research, such as advertisements, social media images, or journalistic photographs.
Fully Closed Data – Data cannot be shared due to high privacy risks or legal barriers. However, metadata should still be published so other researchers remain aware of the dataset’s existence, fulfilling the findability requirement of the FAIR principles.
Fully Open Data – Data is freely available for unrestricted reuse and modification, typically requiring only attribution (e.g., using a CC BY license).

Identifiability – The capacity to recognize an individual within research data. This includes both direct identification (where a person is immediately recognizable) and indirect identification (where a person can be singled out by a combination of contextual cues).
Intermediate (Restricted) Access – Data is shared under specific conditions. This may include limiting access to certain groups (like verified researchers), requiring approval from the creator, or restricting use to non-commercial or research-only purposes.

Lawfulness – Requirement that data processing has a legal basis.

Manual Illustration – Anonymization and recreation strategy. It involves transforming original research images into hand-drawn or digital illustrations to protect participants’ identities.
Metadata – The information and documentation that accompanies research data to provide context, explain its origin, and facilitate its discovery and reuse. In visual research, metadata is essential for making context-rich materials like images and videos understandable to secondary users.
Minimizing Harm – An ongoing responsibility that encompasses the entire research lifecycle, from initial data collection and analysis to storage and public sharing. A cornerstone of ethical inquiry, requiring researchers to actively avoid or reduce potential physical, psychological, social, or reputational risks to participants. This principle is often prioritized over mere legal compliance to safeguard the dignity, safety, and privacy of those involved. Harm reduction is achieved through several core practices, including informed consent, anonymization, and textual substitution.
Misinterpretation – The risk that visual data may be misunderstood, distorted, or incorrectly explained when separated from its original context. Because visuals are highly context-dependent, their meaning can shift significantly when they are shared or reused without the researcher’s analytical framework or the participants’ intended meaning.
Misuse – The unethical, harmful, or unintended use of research data by third parties. This risk is particularly high for visual materials, such as images and videos, because they are easily co-opted, distorted, or removed from their original analytical context once shared in open environments.
Moral Rights – Author’s right to attribution and integrity of the work.

Open Access – Free online access to scholarly publications.
Open Data – Research materials that are made available for free use, reuse, and redistribution. While the primary goal of open data is to foster transparency, replicability, and collaboration, the visual field requires a nuanced approach that balances scientific openness with the ethical and legal protection of participants and rights holders.
Open License – License permitting use, reuse, and sharing with minimal limits.

Participant Personal Data – Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. Because this data allows for unambiguous identification, it is subject to strict data protection laws and requires explicit, informed consent before it can be shared or processed.
Permitted Access – Defines who can view the visuals (e.g., everyone, specific categories, or access upon request).
Permitted Usage (Reuse) – Defines what can be done with the visuals, specifically regarding the purpose of reuse (commercial vs. non-commercial) and whether modifications or edits are allowed.
Persistent Identifiers – A unique, permanent, and globally recognized digital reference assigned to research data to ensure it remains findable and linkable over the long term, even if its location (URL) changes. In the context of open science, these identifiers are essential for the proper citation, discovery, and tracking of research outputs.
Personal Data – Any information relating to an identified or identifiable person.
Pixelation – An anonymization technique used in visual research to obscure or hide identifying features (e.g., faces, backgrounds, or sensitive locations) within an image or video. It involves reducing the resolution of a specific area so that the details become large, solid-colored squares (pixels), making the original content unrecognizable.
Privacy by Design – Privacy safeguards are integrated into systems from the outset.
Privacy Risk Assessment – An ongoing process used to identify, evaluate, and mitigate potential threats to the privacy, safety, and dignity of research participants. It is a critical component of minimizing harm and should be conducted throughout the research lifecycle, particularly before any visual data is shared or published. The findings of a privacy risk assessment are used to determine the appropriate degree of openness for the data.
Processing – Any operation performed on personal data, automated or not.
Protection-Patronizing Dilemma – Researchers must find a balance between safeguarding a participant’s identity and avoiding the masking of content into obscurity, which can diminish the participant’s agency and make the visual data useless for further research.
Pseudonymization – An ethical and legal strategy used in research to protect participant privacy by replacing direct identifiers (e.g., names) with artificial identifiers or pseudonyms. While it reduces the immediate visibility of a person’s identity, it differs from full anonymization because the data can still be linked back to the individual if the key linking the pseudonym to the original identity is obtained.
Purpose Limitation – Data may be processed only for a specified purpose.

Raw Data – In the context of visual social research, raw data refers to the primary, heterogeneous forms of visual representations (such as photographs, films, drawings, and digital media) that serve as the foundational materials for analysis.
Reenactment – An anonymization strategy used in visual research where researchers recreate specific images or film sequences using actors instead of the original research participants.
Research Paradigm – The broad theoretical, empirical, or methodological framework (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, or participatory approaches) that guides a study. The choice of paradigm is a fundamental factor in determining what is considered appropriate in open data practices, as different traditions prioritize data sharing, transparency, and ethics differently.
Researcher Positionality – The researcher’s social location, professional background, biases, and the power differentials that exist between them and the research participants. In qualitative and participatory paradigms, positionality is a central factor that influences how visual data is co-created, selected, handled, and interpreted.
Researcher Transparency – The professional details (e.g., names, academic affiliations, physical addresses, and email addresses) provided by the research team. This information is essential for accountability, allowing participants, funding bodies, or other scholars to reach the authors for inquiries, consent revocations, or data access requests.
Researcher-Instigated Visuals – Materials created specifically for or during a study, including video recordings of interviews, images produced by participants (e.g., photovoice), or conceptual diagrams.

Sensitive Personal Data – Data on health, beliefs, biometrics, or criminal records

Textual Description – A strategy where original visual materials are replaced with written accounts. This is often used as a pragmatic response to data protection frameworks (such as the GDPR) and ethical concerns to minimize the use of personally identifiable information.
Transparency – The practice of making the research process, the data, and the interpretive frameworks visible and understandable to others. It is considered a primary benefit of open data practices, aimed at improving research rigor and validity and at democratizing knowledge.

Visual Ethical Fabrication – A set of anonymization techniques that involve altering the visual level of an image to obscure the identity of individuals while preserving the material’s analytical meaning. This approach uses digital editing tools to modify specific visual elements such as colors, styles, or compositions.

Work – Intellectual creation with individual character.