OpenQuestions is run by Joe Bonnell
Joe is an award-winning qualitative researcher, with 20 years’ experience across a wide variety of clients, sectors, and topics. Joe’s research approach is thoughtful, analytical and considered - characterised by an unobtrusive yet warm style which combines observation with conversation.
Early in his career, Joe designed and created “Real World Street” for MediaCom UK, a longitudinal qualitative research panel which won “Best Use of Research” awards in the Campaign and MediaWeek annual awards. Thoughtful, innovative and human-centred approaches that are grounded in people’s everyday lives have been central to Joe’s research ever since; whether that’s designing creative enabling techniques to help young people articulate their experiences of being supported by a charity; carefully structuring remote ethnography tasks to help respondents feel comfortable sharing their lives or taking a deep anthropological approach to understand core human needs like help and community.
Joe has an MA (Distinction) in Visual Anthropology from The University of Manchester, which is recognised as the world’s leading centre for visual anthropology. Joe specialises in participatory and ethnographic research methods, documentary filmmaking and photography. He is particularly interested in ideas of “skilled vision” (Grasseni 2004, 2007) - exploring the ways in which a camera and sound recording equipment can enrich fieldwork relationship and enhance an ethnographer’s ability to look, listen and to conduct ethnographic research.