Visual methodology consists of recording, analysing, and communicating social life through photographs, films, and videos. This qualitative sociology branch considers the use of images as important techniques and methods in social research and identifies the primary role of visual experience in cognitive processes, through the visual data itself. In particular, the videos proposed in this contribution relocates the image of migrants’ experiences in their most general context and allows documenting those social activities that require movement and continuity. Moreover, it allows analysing migrants’ relationships and interactions over time, involving the visual image and sound. This contribution will discuss the importance and usefulness of visual methodology in two cases in which the visual documentary was used as a specific technique to investigate migration aspects.

On the one hand, the documentary Who I am investigates the relational aspects of social inclusion, between migrant families and Italian people, in the specific context of afterschool services in Firenze. On the other hand, the documentary Italians in Belgium explores the migration phenomenon from a unique perspective, the ones of Italians living abroad. The analysis of the two types of research suggests how and why to use visual methodologies to improve and implement some practices during research in multicultural environments related to migration processes.

视觉方法包括通过照片、电影和视频记录、分析和交流社会生活。这个定性社会学分支将图像的使用视为社会研究中的重要技术和方法，并通过视觉数据本身确定视觉体验在认知过程中的主要作用。特别是，本文稿中提出的视频将移民经历的形象重新定位在他们最普遍的背景下，并允许记录那些需要运动和连续性的社会活动。此外，它还允许分析移民随时间推移的关系和互动，包括视觉图像和声音。

一方面，纪录片《我是谁》在佛罗伦萨课后服务的特定背景下，调查了移民家庭和意大利人民之间社会包容的关系方面。另一方面，纪录片《在比利时的意大利人》从一个独特的视角，即居住在国外的意大利人，探讨了移民现象。对这两类研究的分析表明，在与迁移过程相关的多元文化环境的研究中，如何以及为什么使用视觉方法来改进和实施一些实践。