The social uses of online technologies by adolescents and young adults (ages 12 to 25) grows and changes at a speed that makes it difficult for researchers to adapt established conceptual and methodological frameworks of analysis at a similar pace (Leander and McKim, 2003). Yet, the development of new methodological tools and approaches for studying the social lives of young people is central to advancing theoretical and practical knowledge that can deal with the complex, interrelated implications these fast-evolving online practices may have on young people鈥檚 lives, and as well as on social policy and democracy (Coleman, 2007; Pascoe, 2012). In this context, there is a need for what Leavy and Hessse-Biber (2010) refer to as "emergent methods." This "cyclical process of methods innovation which cuts across disciplines" to challenge existing research methods and to advance new knowledge on complex contemporary topics, seems to offer a well-suited and potentially insightful approach to methodology.
Informed by this inductive perspective, the main objective of the proposed pilot study is to develop innovative research methods for investigating research questions that are emerging from young people鈥檚 engagement with technology and digital communication. More precisely, it seeks to develop and test out methods for studying the following overarching research question: how can researchers investigate, conceptualize, and eventually theorize the 鈥榩ublic voices鈥� young people learn to develop when they engage with online participatory cultures and social media networking practices? This research question will be addressed through an in-depth examination of the media productions created by adolescents and young adults, and circulated through YouTube, the currently most popular, yet understudied, social media networking website where adolescents and young adults are producing and circulating amateur videos as part of a DIY culture [Do It Yourself Culture] (Burgess and Green, 2009; Strangelove, 2010).
According to Teijlingen and Hundley (2001), pilot studies are "small-case versions of a full-scale study" that are "crucial elements of a good study design" (p.1). As an initial stage of a research design this proposal sets out to achieve four specific goals associated with pilot (or feasibility) studies: (1) "identifying potential practical and logistical problems while developing and testing out our proposed methods,鈥� (2) "collecting preliminary data," (3) "assessing the proposed data analysis techniques" and (4) determining what human and financial resources are needed for a large-scale-study (Teijlingen and Hundley, 2001: 2).
This project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant program.
Research Team: Caroline Caron, Principal Investigator (Universit茅 du Queb茅c en Outaouais); Claudia Mitchell (平特五不中); Rebecca Raby (Brock University)
Contact:
Claudia Mitchell, PhD
(514) 398-4527 Ext. 09990
Department of Integrated Studies in Education
3715 Peel, Room 214
平特五不中
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1X1
claudia.mitchell [at] mcgill.ca
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