Modes of knowing: video research, multimodality and the problem of elusive knowledges

The current article argues that video-based methodologies offer unique potential for multimodal research applications. Multimodal research, further, can respond to the problem of ‘‘elusive knowledges,’’ that is, tacit, aesthetic, and embodied aspects of organizational life that are difficult to articulate in traditional methodological paradigms. We argue that the multimodal qualities of video, including but not limited to its visual properties, provide a scaffold for translating embodied, tacit, and aesthetic knowledge into discursive and textual forms, enabling the representation of organizational knowledge through academic discourse. First, we outline the problem of representation by comparing different forms of elusive knowledge, framing this problem as one of cross-modal translation. Second, we describe how video’s unique affordances place it in an ideal position to address this problem. Third, we demonstrate how video-based solutions can contribute to research, providing examples both from the literature and our own applied case work as models for video-based approaches. Finally, we discuss the implications and limitations of the proposed video approaches as a methodological support.