Methodology

Methodology

Introduction

This chapter will discuss the methodological approach I have taken in my research on the impact of social media on young people and the potential of social media for youth work practice. It will initially discuss the various methods I used in my research process and then move on to state my position within the research, both as a regular user of social media and as a youth work practitioner. It will explore my approach as a valid method of research and discuss why I chose my method over others.

Rationale for research

Being a regular user of social media, I have always acknowledged the potential it has, as well as being aware of the potential risks it holds. I have always been interested in the ways young people interact with social media because although according to Presnky’s (2001) “digitial native” notion I am part of the generation of people who have grown up with technology, however I believe I was merely part of the transitional period between part engagement to full engagement. The young people today are the ones who are fully engaged with social media. Not only are they consumers of this media, but they are also creators of it.  This is interesting because young people are growing up with technology being second nature to them and they aren’t always aware of the opportunities and risks it holds.

Because of this, I believe it’s imperative that educators investigate ways to engage with young people through digital media, teaching digital literacy and educating young people how to navigate the risks.

Research Process

My research began as a literature search of different sources such as online journals and books. I found books were useful for researching the foundation ideas around the topic. They were the first type of literature I looked at and I found a lot of references towards other works which I could look up (Matthews & Ross, 2010). I found books provided the initial ideas which I then was able to take and investigate further with online journals, which were often based on specific topics or areas around the debate. This made it easy for me to read around the different elements of the topic and focus on the specific areas I wanted to research further. One thing I did find with books was a lot of the time they seemed out of date (Matthews & Ross, 2010). This was not surprising as it is a constantly changing field with many different interpretations. Because I am interpreting existing literature and tools my methodological approach shall be interpretivist. Matthew and Ross (2010) explain the interpretivist approach as, “the researcher is interpreting other people’s interpretations in terms of the theories and concepts of the social researcher’s discipline – studying the social phenomenon as if through the eyes of the people being researched. This definition applies to my research because I am taking research which isn’t always within a youth work research framework and applying it to my field. Because of this, my point of view is somewhat unique and open to interpretation.

I studied various different social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, which are used a lot by young people to the point where they have become a part of current youth culture. Using textual analysis, I examined their operational features and security details, as well how access the website was. I also looked at how clear the privacy features were and examined literature on how young people view and interact with them. I thought it was important to study this because it would allow me to interpret my findings through a youth work perspective.

I relied quite heavily on search engine sites within research. Google was especially good and I was also aware of the various “tricks” Google has to aid with research. To demonstrate I shall use an example of these tricks in action. For the demonstration I shall use Google to perform a search query on "Research Methods"

Google Search: Research Methods – This search will return everything on “research methods”

Google Search: Research Methods "interviews" – This search will return all exact occurrences of the word interview within the initial search query. 

Google Search: Research Methods -quantitative – This search query will remove all occurrences of the word quantitative.

Google Search: Youth* Work – Using an asterisk will include all of the synonyms of the word it is beside in the search query. This is quite useful for the search query “Youth Work” as there are many different wordings of the phrase.

Within my research I shall be analysing existing literature with the field and interpret this literature within a youth work context. I shall examine the ways in which young people are currently engaging with social media, so as to highlight the many features of this social phenomena and the impact it is having. I shall then use this interpretation and apply my own understanding of youth work, thus investigating the possibility for youth work engagement within an online medium. Lincoln (1995) talks about interpretivist research having certain criteria, one of which is what she labels communitarian, referring to “research that takes place in, and is addressed to a community” She goes on to say it is the “desire of those who discuss such research to have it simply serving the purposes of community of knowledge producers and policy makers” (1995: 280)

Within my research, the completed project is published on a blog, a public space on the internet where people can come and read my study, as well as interpret the information for themselves. Therefore, it exists to inform and contribute to the existing community of youth work thinkers interested in the topic. This open-ended approach recognises the interpretive stance that I have taken, and allows others to add their own interpretation and understandings.