Collecting Data Online in Research with Children

by Janet Salmons

Dr. Salmons is the Research Community Manager for Methodspace, and served as Mentor in Residence for the June 2022 focus on emerging methods. Her most recent book from SAGE Publishing is Doing Qualitative Research Online. If ordering from SAGE, use the code MSPACEQ322 for a 20% discount from 1 July – 30 September.

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If you are collecting data online, you might have this question: Can I use online data collection methods if children or youth are the key participants?

Kids and teens, as digital natives, are sometimes more comfortable and forthcoming when interacting through apps or devices, versus direct communication. I have met researchers who used online methods when the young people were in the same room, because that was preferable to answering questions verbally!

However, research with underage participants requires careful design and attention to ethical protocols. This collection of open-access articles offers some interesting examples. Don’t be distracted by the early publication dates on some articles - these studies were ahead of their time!

For more resources, see the Ethical Research Involving Children project.

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Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Quin, N., Bennetts, S. K., Win, H. Y., Nicholson, J. M., Zion, L., Lucke, J., Keyzer, P., & Crawford, S. B. (2018). Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review. PloS one, 13(9), e0204572. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204572
Abstract. The internet is an increasingly popular tool in family and child research that is argued to pose new ethical challenges, yet few studies have systematically assessed the ethical issues of engaging parents and children in research online. This scoping review aims to identify and integrate evidence on the ethical issues reported when recruiting, retaining and tracing families and children in research online, and to identify ethical guidelines for internet research.

Liebenberg, L. (2017). Editor’s Introduction to the Special Issue: Understanding Meaningful Engagement of Youth in Research and Dissemination of Findings. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917721531
This special edition of the International Journal of Qualitative Research contributes to the youth engagement movement, informing how we approach especially qualitative, participatory action research (PAR) and mixed methods research with youth, contributing to the theory and practice of adolescent development-focused research. 

Link to special issue: https://bit.ly/2yRuY8E

These two articles describe an innovative online study about sensitive topics with Muslim youth.

Orla McGarry (2016) Repositioning the research encounter: exploring power dynamics and positionality in youth research, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 19:3, 339-354, DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2015.1011821
Abstract. Childhood and youth studies have seen the development of a range of innovative research methods over the past two decades. However, many studies have focused on the ideals of empowerment and ‘giving voice’ rather than developing understandings of the nuanced and complex experiences of children and youth. This paper argues that the development of an insightful sociology of childhood and youth necessitates an understanding of complex, fluid, and often political, processes of youth experience. It argues that the use of research methods characterized by a variety of power dynamics can generate situated knowledges of youth experience. Ongoing reflexive analysis of researcher and participant positionality in research encounters is posited as affording insightful and in-depth research perspectives. This is illustrated through discussion of qualitative research carried out with Muslim teens in the west of Ireland which involved the use of focus groups, visual narratives and an online blog site.

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McGarry, O., & McGrath, B. (2012). "A Virtual Canvas"—Designing a Blog Site to Research Young Muslims' Friendships & Identities. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 14(1). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/fqs-14.1.1805
Abstract. This article is based on research among a group of Muslim youth living in the west of Ireland as part of a study on "social belonging" and identity. One part of the research involved designing a youth centered, participatory research method, in the form of a blog site, to investigate what young people say and do when they are asked to talk about themselves and their relationships, with minimal researcher involvement. Participants were presented with a "blank virtual canvas" where they determined what became discussed. Twenty-two teenaged Muslims—comprising close friends as well as fellow students of the same school and living in the same West of Ireland town—contributed to a time limited, closed blog site over a four month period. The blog site offers interesting snippets of Muslim identification, and how they choose to present themselves to others. In the process of contributing to this exercise, we can also observe subtle means through which inclusion and exclusion co-exist online, refracting young people's offline worlds. The blog affords an opportunity to consciously "do" friendship by presenting to each other images, symbols and statements of friendship that invoke both cohesion and closure. The research unravels certain gendered patterns in online performances. In demonstrating this evidence, we argue that the study of online interactions of youth can provide an alternative window in exploring relationships, identification and social positioning.

Pangrazio, L., & Selwyn, N. (2018). “It’s Not Like It’s Life or Death or Whatever”: Young People’s Understandings of Social Media Data. Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118787808
Abstract. Young people’s engagements with social media now generate large quantities of personal data, with “big social data” becoming an increasingly important “currency” in the digital economy. While using social media platforms is ostensibly “free,” users nevertheless “pay” for these services through their personal data—enabling advertisers, content developers, and other third parties to profile, predict, and position individuals. Such developments have prompted calls for social media users to adopt more informed and critical stances toward how and why their data are being used—that is, to build “critical data literacies.” This article reports on research that explores young social media users’ understandings of their personal data and its attendant issues. Drawing on research with groups of young people (aged 13–17 years), the article investigates the consequences of making third party (re)uses of personal data openly available for social media users to interpret and make critical sense of. The findings provide valuable insights into young people’s understandings of the technical, social, and cultural issues that underpin their ability to engage with, and make sense of, social media data. The article concludes by considering how research into critical data literacies might connect in more meaningful and effective ways with everyday lived experiences of social media use.

Plaisime, M., Robertson-James, C., Mejia, L., Núñez, A., Wolf, J., & Reels, S. (2020). Social Media and Teens: A Needs Assessment Exploring the Potential Role of Social Media in Promoting Health. Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119886025
Abstract. Social media use is widespread in teens. But, few studies have developed recommendations on how social media can be used to promote teen health. The Philadelphia Ujima™ Coalition funded by the Office on Women’s Health conducted a needs assessment to explore social media as a health communication tool. This study aimed to identify (1) social media utilization practices, (2) strategies to effectively engage teens on social media, and (3) recommendations for teen health promotion on social media. A cross-sectional mixed methods study design was used, in which a survey was administered to 152 youth (ages: 13–18 years). In addition, four focus groups were conducted with 26 teens to elaborate on the quantitative findings.

Singh, S., & Sagar, R. (2022). Safety and Ethical Concerns Associated with Conducting Online Survey Studies among Children and Adolescents. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 44(2), 199–200. https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176211070430
Abstract. There is a surge in online survey studies during the COVID-19 pandemic. This holds for research conducted among children and adolescents too.1 We want to highlight safety and ethical concerns associated with online survey studies, keeping in mind the vulnerabilities of this age group.

Willis, P. (2012). Talking sexuality online – technical, methodological and ethical considerations of online research with sexual minority youth. Qualitative Social Work, 11(2), 141–155. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325011400488
Abstract. While Internet-based tools are gaining currency in social work teaching and practice, social work researchers are tapping into the development of computer-mediated methods for research with dispersed and hard-to-reach populations. This article is a reflective commentary about the opportunities and challenges of using computer-mediated methods in a qualitative inquiry about young people’s (18–26 years) experiences of negotiating lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) identities in Australian workplaces. The research used two Internet-based methods of online interviews and web-based surveys to capture young people’s experiences of disclosing and discussing LGBQ identities in past and current work environments. In this commentary, I outline these methods and explore the technical, methodological and ethical challenges and tensions presented by using online tools in qualitative research. To conclude, I discuss wider applications of computer-mediated communication for social work.

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More Methodspace posts about researching children and adolescents