ABSTRACT
Technology is ubiquitous in young lives and is constantly changing. Today’s app of choice may be passé tomorrow, replaced by the newest sensation. The struggle to keep up is real for young people, and perhaps more so for researchers and Research Ethics Boards (REBs). These conditions call for a nuanced, reflective methodology that is open and flexible and focussed on the context of the specific project rather than adherence to a set of discipline-specific rules.
Digital Media and Young Lives was a five-year research project focussed on the influences of technology, particularly digital/social media, on the daily lives of youth in Canada, Scotland, and Australia. We employed a youth-attuned, qualitative research design which included video-recorded face-to-face interviews with 145 youth participants, a brief demographic survey, and the capture and analysis of images and text from participants’ digital media activity on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr.
The chapter provides an outline of the methodological approach to inquiry and the decisions made in choice of methods and ethical processes. It briefly addresses the challenges of collecting, transferring, storing, and analyzing digital data, and reflects our ongoing analysis and attention to the context of the digital age for the study of young lives.
