Supporting the use of digital media in research with children and young people
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Research on Families and Relationships
Abstract
This project will create an online resource about using digital media in research with children and young people. The resource will give guidance and support to researchers who wish to use digital media in their work. It will build on the research team's experience running a training course on Using Digital Media in Research with Children and Young People, which to our knowledge is the first of its kind.
Digital media offer exciting possibilities for research with children and young people. Increasingly, children use digital and online media as part of their everyday lives, through social networking sites, instant messaging, gaming and mobile phones for example. Recent statistics show that in the UK, 79% of 5-7 year olds, 95% of 8-11 year olds and 98% of 12-15 year olds now use the internet. It therefore makes sense to incorporate digital media into research with children. Digital media have the potential to make research more engaging for children, more inclusive, and more in tune with their lives.
Researchers increasingly recognise the potential of digital media, but at the same time they face many challenges and uncertainties. In our experience:
- They are seeking inspiration (what are the options, what is available?), guidance (what issues need to be considered?), technical skills (how do you actually do it?) and starting points (making the first step).
- They wish to explore the ethics of digital media (issues such as consent, confidentiality, anonymity, internet safety and child protection) and also the legalities (age limits, data ownership, cross-national jurisdictions, privacy law, commercial aspects of online environments).
- The blurring of boundaries between public and private is a concern for many. For example, researchers may be familiar with Facebook through setting up a personal site, but feel wary about using Facebook for their professional work.
To address these needs, we will produce an online resource with digital media examples (e.g. audio, video, photos, blogs, maps), interactive tools (e.g. discussion boards, games, polls, wikis) and links to existing resources. This will:
- Enable the sharing of good practice across sectors. Examples will be presented for reflection and discussion.
- Provide information, advice and guidance on the myriad issues involved in using digital media in research with children. This will link comprehensively to existing resources to provide an accessible 'one stop shop'.
- Stimulate discussion and debate. Many of the issues listed above are ongoing dilemmas, and cannot be resolved with simple solutions. Instead, the online environment will provide opportunities for dialogue and reflection.
The design of the resource will be informed by a contact group of around 10 experts drawn from our networks who will be consulted on key decisions. To produce the resource, the research team will search for existing resources, produce new resources, and commission media examples from leading organisations working with digital media and young people. The researchers will work closely with a web design team to ensure the resource is engaging, accessible and will meet the needs of researchers. When the site has been designed, feedback will be gathered from the contact group and participants on our training courses, and revisions made accordingly.
The resource will be publicised through our networks across different sectors (higher education, public, private, third sector). It will also be embedded into our training courses. This will ensure that it is updated regularly after the project has finished.
Digital media offer exciting possibilities for research with children and young people. Increasingly, children use digital and online media as part of their everyday lives, through social networking sites, instant messaging, gaming and mobile phones for example. Recent statistics show that in the UK, 79% of 5-7 year olds, 95% of 8-11 year olds and 98% of 12-15 year olds now use the internet. It therefore makes sense to incorporate digital media into research with children. Digital media have the potential to make research more engaging for children, more inclusive, and more in tune with their lives.
Researchers increasingly recognise the potential of digital media, but at the same time they face many challenges and uncertainties. In our experience:
- They are seeking inspiration (what are the options, what is available?), guidance (what issues need to be considered?), technical skills (how do you actually do it?) and starting points (making the first step).
- They wish to explore the ethics of digital media (issues such as consent, confidentiality, anonymity, internet safety and child protection) and also the legalities (age limits, data ownership, cross-national jurisdictions, privacy law, commercial aspects of online environments).
- The blurring of boundaries between public and private is a concern for many. For example, researchers may be familiar with Facebook through setting up a personal site, but feel wary about using Facebook for their professional work.
To address these needs, we will produce an online resource with digital media examples (e.g. audio, video, photos, blogs, maps), interactive tools (e.g. discussion boards, games, polls, wikis) and links to existing resources. This will:
- Enable the sharing of good practice across sectors. Examples will be presented for reflection and discussion.
- Provide information, advice and guidance on the myriad issues involved in using digital media in research with children. This will link comprehensively to existing resources to provide an accessible 'one stop shop'.
- Stimulate discussion and debate. Many of the issues listed above are ongoing dilemmas, and cannot be resolved with simple solutions. Instead, the online environment will provide opportunities for dialogue and reflection.
The design of the resource will be informed by a contact group of around 10 experts drawn from our networks who will be consulted on key decisions. To produce the resource, the research team will search for existing resources, produce new resources, and commission media examples from leading organisations working with digital media and young people. The researchers will work closely with a web design team to ensure the resource is engaging, accessible and will meet the needs of researchers. When the site has been designed, feedback will be gathered from the contact group and participants on our training courses, and revisions made accordingly.
The resource will be publicised through our networks across different sectors (higher education, public, private, third sector). It will also be embedded into our training courses. This will ensure that it is updated regularly after the project has finished.
Planned Impact
Beneficiaries will include those carrying out research or consultation with children and young people. This includes a wide range of users from across different sectors:
- Higher education: researchers, teaching staff, postgraduates, undergraduates
- Public sector: children's commissioners' offices, local authority staff, children and families workers across health, education and social care, inspection agencies
- Private sector: research consultants, child and youth care agencies
- Third sector: research organisations (e.g. National Centre for Social Research), participation workers, youth workers, youth advocacy and participation organisations
Our immediate users are those in the UK. We anticipate reaching further, and benefiting from activities elsewhere: already, for the continuing professional development courses that we offer, we have regular participants from Ireland, Scandinavia and others countries in Europe and the occasional participant from North America. With the on-line resource, the reach will be further due to globalised reach of the web.
The resource will fill a significant gap in provision of advice, guidance and support for using digital media in research. Users will benefit by:
- Seeing examples of good practice from across sectors. The online resource will present examples of previous practice for reflection and discussion. This will provide researchers with inspiration and a sense of what is possible.
- Having access to information, advice and guidance on the myriad issues involved in using digital media in research with children. This will link comprehensively to existing resources. It will cover ethical, legal and technical issues, and address the issue of public vs private uses of online media. This will help researchers to feel better prepared for using digital media in their research.
- Having opportunities for discussion and debate. Many of the challenges of using digital media in research with children are ongoing dilemmas, and cannot simply be resolved with prescriptive solutions. Instead, researchers need fora for informed dialogue and reflection. The online resource will provide such opportunities by using interactive tools (e.g. discussion board, wiki, blog etc.)
- Higher education: researchers, teaching staff, postgraduates, undergraduates
- Public sector: children's commissioners' offices, local authority staff, children and families workers across health, education and social care, inspection agencies
- Private sector: research consultants, child and youth care agencies
- Third sector: research organisations (e.g. National Centre for Social Research), participation workers, youth workers, youth advocacy and participation organisations
Our immediate users are those in the UK. We anticipate reaching further, and benefiting from activities elsewhere: already, for the continuing professional development courses that we offer, we have regular participants from Ireland, Scandinavia and others countries in Europe and the occasional participant from North America. With the on-line resource, the reach will be further due to globalised reach of the web.
The resource will fill a significant gap in provision of advice, guidance and support for using digital media in research. Users will benefit by:
- Seeing examples of good practice from across sectors. The online resource will present examples of previous practice for reflection and discussion. This will provide researchers with inspiration and a sense of what is possible.
- Having access to information, advice and guidance on the myriad issues involved in using digital media in research with children. This will link comprehensively to existing resources. It will cover ethical, legal and technical issues, and address the issue of public vs private uses of online media. This will help researchers to feel better prepared for using digital media in their research.
- Having opportunities for discussion and debate. Many of the challenges of using digital media in research with children are ongoing dilemmas, and cannot simply be resolved with prescriptive solutions. Instead, researchers need fora for informed dialogue and reflection. The online resource will provide such opportunities by using interactive tools (e.g. discussion board, wiki, blog etc.)