Youth Beyond Borders: Methodological Challenges in Youth Information Interaction

摘要

The pace of technological change is rapid and the impact ofrnthis acceleration on the information behavior of youth fromrndiverse backgrounds is multifaceted. Most young peoplernhave online access in some form, but the uses and quality ofrnaccess vary tremendously (Madden, Lenhart, Duggan,rnCortesi & Gasser, 2013). With the growth and variation ofrninformation behaviors among youth in social media and thernmobile Web, keeping pace with research methods used torncapture these behaviors and phenomena continues to be arndiscussion among scholars. Adding to the complications ofrnresearch in this area, youth are increasingly usingrninformation and communications technologies (ICT) acrossrnplatforms for a variety of information behaviors, includingrnacademic and social reasons (Agosto & Abbas, 2010). It isrnoften not enough to solely examine a young person’srnTwitter feed - we need to see how that conversation carriesrnfrom Twitter, to direct messages, to texting, to a Facebookrnpost and so on. This variation suggests a need for greaterrnnuance in research (Madden, Lenhart, Duggan, Cortesi &rnGasser, 2013; Gasser, Cortesi, Malik & Lee, 2012). Thisrnpanel will bring together several researchers experienced inrnstudying youth information practices to discuss theirrnmethodologies and strategies in dealing with these intricaternissues. This panel will be conducted in a roundtable style –rnencouraging deep conversation between the researchers andrnthe audience. This will be followed by a small grouprndiscussions with the audience and conclude by sharing backrnbest practices uncovered through the group discussions.rnThrough attending this panel, attendees will engage withrncurrent developments in diverse youth, ICT and researchrnmethodologies, and identify priorities and approaches forrnfuture work in these areas.