Creative and Participatory Methods for Studying Youth

by Janet Salmons, Research Community Manager for Methodspace

The Methodspace focus for July 2022 is on Studying generations: Research with children, youth, or elderly participants. This collection of open-access articles from SAGE journals offers diverse examples for studying young adults using stories, photography, and participatory methods.

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Canlas, I. P., & Karpudewan, M. (2020). Blending the Principles of Participatory Action Research Approach and Elements of Grounded Theory in a Disaster Risk Reduction Education Case Study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920958964
Abstract. This paper presents an exemplar of blending the principles of participatory action research and elements of grounded theory in a disaster risk reduction education case study. It illustrates and describes a modified methodological approach that was used during the needs’ assessment and analysis phase of a multiphase study on teaching of disaster risk reduction in science among public schools in Biliran Province, the Philippines. The approach was conceived upon considering the overarching aim of the study which is the effective, efficient, inclusive, and proactive teaching of disaster risk reduction in science, the complex nature of the disaster risk reduction education, and the multiple stakeholders involved in disaster risk reduction among public schools. Results revealed that the modified methodological approach provided a co-learning environment for both participants and researchers, created an opportunity to maximize participation toward generating knowledge, prioritizing problems, and conceptualizing solutions, strengthened the data collection and analysis process, hence ensuring quality in the entire research process, and addressed the participation issues pointed out in grounded theory studies. The modified methodological approach may be relevant and applicable to similar studies that are complex and emerging like the teaching of disaster risk reduction in science.

Conrad, D. (2004). Exploring Risky Youth Experiences: Popular Theatre as a Participatory, Performative Research Method. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 12–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690400300102
Abstract. This article discusses a Popular Theatre project with a group of high school drama students in a rural Alberta community. As a research method, Popular Theatre draws on traditions in participatory research and performance ethnography. In our project, entitled “Life in the Sticks,” based on students' initial claims that their issues were determined by their rural environment, Popular Theatre was a way to collectively draw out, represent and question their experiences through theatrical means. Our process helped students re-examine their beliefs and helped me reframe the notion “at-risk” to include the perceptions of youth. Popular Theatre is shown to be an effective pedagogical tool and research method in the new insights and critical understandings it yielded.

de Groot, R., Kaal, H. L., & Stol, W. P. (2019). Studying Problematic Online Behavior of Adolescents With Mild Intellectual Disabilities and Borderline Intellectual Functioning: Methodological and Ethical Considerations for Data Collection. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919857978
Abstract. The aim of this study is to find a research method that results in capturing lived experiences of problematic online behavior of adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities and borderline intellectual functioning within four risk domains: commercial interests, aggression, sexuality, and values/ideology. Three research methods were examined and field-tested in small sample pilot studies: an online questionnaire (N = 16), two focus group interviews (N = 6 and N = 14), and a combination of participatory observations and visual elicitation (N = 2). Both the questionnaire and the focus group studies were not able to generate sufficient knowledge to capture lived experiences. Key issues that arose were the respondents’ comprehension of the research questions, their tendency to give socially desirable answers, the influence of group dynamics, and a lack of rapport between researcher and respondent. Results generated from the third pilot study were more promising. Participatory observations in the form of deep hanging out combined with conversational interviewing and elements of visual elicitation mended these issues and helped to create an authentic research environment, build real relationships, and level the playing field between researcher and respondents. Additionally, it invited the respondents to voice their opinions and feelings about their online experiences. Finally, the study inspires to use different communicational means with the adolescents to increase the understanding of their virtual world. Some important ethical and methodological limitations to these findings are discussed.

Exner-Cortens, D., Sitter, K. C., Van Bavel, M., & Wright, A. (2021). Photo-Based Evaluation: A Method for Participatory Evaluation With Adolescents. American Journal of Evaluation. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214020927785
Abstract. Actively engaging adolescents in meaningful program evaluation is a topic of growing interest. One possibility for such engagement is the use of photographs as part of visual evaluation, so that youth can directly engage with the research process. In this Method Note, we describe the development and implementation of a participatory, photo-based evaluation method for youth health promotion/prevention programs. Youth in this study were participants in a gender-transformative healthy relationships program for boys. We present literature supporting the use of photographs as a visual research method and for involving youth as active participants in evaluation, and explore the feasibility, utility, and acceptability of this innovative application of existing methods based on researcher experience and youth feedback. We conclude with implications for photo-based evaluation of health promotion/prevention programs, highlighting the promise of this method for promoting critical youth engagement in evaluation and the creation of meaningful knowledge translation tools.

Fenge, L. A., Hodges, C., & Cutts, W. (2011). Seen But Seldom Heard: Creative Participatory Methods in a Study of Youth and Risk. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 418–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691101000408
Abstract. This paper presents a discussion of the methodologies used in a small scale ‘popular education’ project involving young people in creative activities. The goal of the project is to explore their experiences and feelings about risk and safety and their ‘connectedness’ to their local community. A number of different methods are discussed as ways of empowering marginalised young people, including the use of visual methods, and new media in the form of blogs and Twitter Scripts, within an overarching participatory methodology. Arts-based and multimedia activities are powerful tools to enable young people to collectively question the nature of their historical and social situation and have the potential to raise sensitive issues, therefore, encouraging wider debate, producing new understandings, and facilitating social change. Building on insights gained in earlier research, which suggested that young people felt that they were not listened to or had enough influence in their neighbourhoods, this paper discusses the use of multimedia and creative means to develop a more accessible and effective arena in which young people can learn new skills to enable them to tell their story. In keeping with Bourdieu's General Theoretical Framework, consideration is given to the ways in which such participatory and arts-based approaches can demonstrate value for the social and cultural capital of young people.

Lofton, S., Norr, K. F., Jere, D., Patil, C., & Banda, C. (2020). Developing Action Plans in Youth Photovoice to Address Community-Level HIV Risk in Rural Malawi https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920920139
Abstract. Youth-driven approaches to HIV prevention can engage youth and improve health outcomes. Photovoice has been used to engage youth in identifying the assets and challenges in their communities. In sub-Saharan Africa, youth remain vulnerable to HIV infection. This article describes a photovoice project, named Youth Photovoice, conducted in rural Malawi, which focused on community places and situations relating to risky sexual behaviors that place youth at risk of HIV infection. Twenty-four youth, ages 13–17 (12 males and 12 females), participated in Youth Photovoice. During the photovoice process, youth identified five community situations and places that put them at risk of unsafe sex and thus HIV infection: initiation ceremonies, isolated places, community celebrations, local businesses such as bars and rest houses, and church-sponsored activities. Youth used a systematic action planning process to develop action plans. They presented their action plans to local leaders and parents. Parents and leaders responded positively and agreed to help the youth carry out their plans. If their plans to address community situations that put them at risk of unsafe sex succeed, there will be a direct impact on reducing the risk of HIV infection among youth. Youth Photovoice provided the opportunity for youth to obtain new skills, build new partnerships, and present their ideas to community leaders. Integrating this action planning process into photovoice helped to guide the youth toward actualizing their HIV prevention plans in their community. This process can increase the effectiveness of photovoice initiatives to address other community issues in a wide variety of settings.

Martin, S. L., McLean, J., Brooks, C., & Wood, K. (2019). “I’ve Been Silenced for so Long”: Relational Engagement and Empowerment in a Digital Storytelling Project With Young Women Exposed to Dating Violence. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919825932
Abstract. The article recapitulates field research experiences of a native researcher in Eastern DRC. In many cases, a native is considered an insider. However, the field research took place in an ethnically polarized context where an insider researcher can be mischaracterized and amalgamated to her own ethnic community. Besides polarization, the fieldwork took place in a volatile setting to the extent that it increases security concerns for a researcher who belongs to a “contested community”; meaning, researcher’s position is likely associated with his ethnic community. Based on the field experience, the article shares insights of dealing with this complexity, volatility, and uncertainties. While the article does not claim that insights can be generalized across different contexts, it specifically proposes some attitudes to take when a researcher faces a dilemma of touching the ground realities while he might individually be amalgamated within socio-cultural differences. The article recalls the necessity of understanding the effects of socio-cultural polarization within the academic field.

Sherwood, G., & Parsons, S. (2021). Negotiating the practicalities of informed consent in the field with children and young people: learning from social science researchers. Research Ethics, 17(4), 448–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470161211014941
Abstract. The real-world navigation of ethics-in-practice versus the bureaucracy of institutional ethics remains challenging. This is especially true for research with children and young people who may be considered vulnerable by the policies and procedures of ethics committees but agentic by researchers. Greater transparency is needed about how this tension is navigated in practice to provide confidence and effective strategies for social researchers, including those new to the field, for negotiating informed consent. Twenty-three social science researchers with a range of experience were interviewed about their practices for gaining informed consent from children and young people in social research and the development of their ‘ethics in practice’ over time. Main themes focused on navigating ethics protocols within institutions, practices to prepare for data collection, and a critical evaluation of the resources that can be applied to gaining consent and managing relationships. A range of methods and concrete steps that address ethical challenges are outlined to illustrate what can be done in practice to achieve authentic consent and appropriate participation.

Sormunen, E., Erdmann, N., Otieno, S. C., Mikkilä-Erdmann, M., Laakkonen, E., Mikkonen, T., Hossain, M. A., González-Ibáñez, R., Quintanilla-Gatica, M., Leppänen, P. H., & Vauras, M. (2021). How do gender, Internet activity and learning beliefs predict sixth-grade students’ self-efficacy beliefs in and attitudes towards online inquiry? Journal of Information Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/01655515211043708
Abstract. Today’s students search, evaluate and actively use Web information in their school assignments, that is, they conduct an online inquiry. This current survey study addresses sixth-grade students’ self-efficacy beliefs in and attitudes towards online inquiry, and to what extent free-time and school-related Internet activity, gender and learning beliefs explain these. The questionnaire was administered in 10 schools to 340 sixth-graders in Finland. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed three elements of self-efficacy beliefs: self-efficacy in Web searching, the evaluation of sources and synthesising information. Furthermore, attitudes towards online inquiry loaded into two factors: a positive and a negative attitude towards online inquiry. A structural equation model was used to analyse the effects of the explanatory variables on the factors. The results of this work suggest that gender and free-time Internet use predict most sixth-graders’ self-efficacy beliefs in and attitudes towards online inquiry.

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