Introduction

Mapping and map making are creative methodologies that are widely used in both quantitative and qualitative research practice. Whether cartographical or metaphorical in form, maps are powerful multimodal artefacts that are rich resources for communication (Clark, 2011; Powell, 2016). Their ability to visually communicate complex information in an accessible manner has made maps and map making an invaluable part of many an academic's methodological toolbox. While they are often used for research dissemination, whether to demonstrate the process of research in flow charts or to provide visuals to communicate findings, far less attention has been paid to the use of mapping as an analytic technique, with the notable exception of McKinnon and McCallum Breen (2020). This is rather perplexing, not least because creative and multimodal methods have gained much traction among qualitative researchers since the mid- 1990s, but also because by their very nature – that is, being inherently multimodal – maps of various kinds are seemingly well positioned to aid researchers in their efforts to organise and make sense of multimodal materials.

As such, this chapter sets out to explore how mapping in its various forms can be used to make sense of data generated from the use of creative methods in interpretive research. Drawing on our own research practice, we will discuss how we used multiple mapping techniques to collect, analyse, and (re)present rich, multimodal data collected as part of an interdisciplinary study of well- being at two estuarine case sites in Wales. We will then take you along our analytic journey – broken down into three steps – detailing the decisions we made and why we made them, in the hope that this might help others as they develop their own analytic practice. But first we will introduce our project.

The CoastWEB project: ‘Valuing Nature for Wellbeing’

Our story begins with the research team's involvement in the interdisciplinary CoastWEB project from 2017 to 2020. The project aimed to better understand the well- being benefits of saltmarsh habitats, and our team were tasked with exploring the ‘intangible’ cultural values associated with these vulnerable environments.