Young People as Empirical Experts of Participatory Research in the Age of Information Disorders

Forfattere

  • Guna Spurava Faculty of Information Tampere University, Technology and Communication Sciences
  • Sirkku Kotilainen Tampere University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7577/seminar.4740

Emneord (Nøkkelord):

Young people, Participatory research, Empirical experts, Information disorders

Sammendrag

The main question discussed in this article is: how can young people, as empirical experts, inform the methodologies in studying digital media literacy? Discussion is rooted in a study based on youth consultation organized in Finland in May 2021. The aim of the youth consultation was to help researchers for the European ySKILLS project from three countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland) plan a study on disinformation, conducted later in autumn of the same year. The youth consultation consisted of two parts: an online survey as a qualitative research tool, and an open semi-structured discussion. Based on the results of the youth consultation, it was possible to give recommendations for researchers of the ySKILLS research project. Most useful was information related to youth (not) understanding of algorithm-based communication of social media, which led to suggestions for an additional research question for the ySKILLS study. Overall, the analysis of the results of the youth consultation suggested that young people could act as empirical experts and advisors, especially in the planning stage of research on the uses of digital media and skills on digital media literacy. The next steps could be their consultation in a methodological sense, on how to study their age groups and what topics should be studied.    

Referanser

Barry, M. (1996). The empowering process: leading from behind? Youth & Policy, 54, 1–12.

Bradbury-Jones, C., & Taylor, J. (2015). Engaging with children as co-researchers: Challenges, counter challenges and solutions. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 18(2), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2013.864589

Braun, V., Clarke, V., Boulton, E., Davey, L., & McEvoy, C. (2021). The online survey as a qualitative research tool. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 24(6), 641–654. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2020.1805550

Bruinenberg, H., Sprenger, S., Omerović, E., & Leurs, K. (2021). Practicing critical media literacy education with/for young migrants: Lessons learned from a participatory action research project. International Communication Gazette, 83(1), 26–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048519883511

Buckingham, D. (2019). La enseñanza mediática en la era de la posverdad: Fake news, sesgo mediático y el reto para la educación en materia de alfabetización mediática y digital [Teaching media in a ‘post-truth’ age: Fake news, media bias and the challenge for media/digital literacy education]. Cultura y Educación, 31(2), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/11356405.2019.1603814

Carlsson, U. (2021). Foreword. In D. Frau Meigs, S. Kotilainen, M. Pathak-Shelat, M. Hoechsmann, & S.R. Poyntz (Eds.), The handbook on media education research (pp. i-xxxii). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119166900.fmatter

Carlsson, U. (2019). MIL in the cause of social justice and democratic rule. In U. Carlsson (Ed.), Understanding media and information literacy (MIL) in the digital age: A question of democracy (pp. 11-24). Nordicom, University of Gothenburg.

Coleman S., & Weston S. (2018). Dramatizing deliberation: A method for encouraging young people to think about their rights. Journal of Public Deliberation, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.292

Coyne, I., & Carter, B. (2018). Being participatory: Researching with children and young people: Co-constructing knowledge using creative techniques. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71228-4

Damstra, A., Boomgaarden, H. G., Broda, E., Lindgren, E., Strömbäck, J., Tsfati, Y., & Vliegenthart, R. (2021). What does fake look like? A review of the literature on intentional deception in the news and on social media. Journalism Studies, 22(14), 1947–1963. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2021.1979423

De Leyn, T., De Wolf, R., Vanden Abeele, M., & De Marez, L. (2019). Reframing current debates on young people’s online privacy by taking into account the cultural construction of youth. In SMSociety ’19, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Social Media and Society (pp. 174-183). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3328529.3328558

European Commission (2021). How to make Europe’s digital decade fit for children and young people? A report from the consultation with children and young people. https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu/documents/167024/6847388/How+to+make+Europe%25E209s+Digital+Decade+fit+for+children+and+young+people+-+A+report+from+the+consultation+with+children+and+young+people+-+October+2021.pdf/ae344db2-5b56-0f67-625e-a66244aa023c?t=1633359093370

Fargas-Malet, M., McSherry, D., Larkin, E., & Robinson, C. (2010). Research with children: Methodological issues and innovative techniques. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 8(2), 175–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X09345412

Frau-Meigs, D. (2019). Information disorders: Risks and opportunities for digital media and information literacy? Medijske Studije, 10(19), 10–28. https://doi.org/10.20901/ms.10.19.1

Gran, A., Booth, P., & Bucher, T. (2020). To be or not to be algorithm aware: A question of a new digital divide? Information, Communication & Society, 24(12), 1779–1796. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1736124

Haider, J., & Sundin, O. (2019). How do you trust? On infrastructural meaning-making and the need for self-reflection. In U. Carlsson (Ed.), Understanding media and information literacy (MIL) in the digital age: A question of democracy (pp. 107–112). Nordicom, University of Gothenburg.

Hobbs, R. (2018, January 30). Media and meaning-making in the fake news age [Interview]. Alison Head and Margy MacMillan, Project Information Literacy, Smart Talk Interview, no. 29. https://projectinfolit.org/smart-talk-interviews/media-and-meaning-making-in-the-fake-news-age/

Hobbs, R. (2020). Propaganda in an age of algorithmic personalization: Expanding literacy research and practice. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(3), 521–533. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.301

Huguet, A., Baker G., Hamilton, L., & Pane, J. (2021). Media literacy standards to counter truth decay. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA112-12.html.

Kellett, M., Forrest, R., Dent, N., & Ward, S. (2004). ‘Just teach us the skills please, we'll do the rest’: empowering ten‐year‐olds as active researchers. Children & Society, 18(5), 329-343. https://doi.org/10.1002/chi.807

Kim, B., Xiong, A., Lee, D., & Han, K. (2021). A systematic review on fake news research through the lens of news creation and consumption: Research efforts, challenges, and future directions. PloS one, 16(12), e0260080. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260080

Kotilainen, S., Okkonen, J., Vuorio, J., & Leisti, K. (2021). Youth media education in the age of algorithm-driven social media. In D. Frau Meigs, S. Kotilainen, M. Pathak-Shelat, M. Hoechsmann, & S.R. Poyntz (Eds.), The handbook on media education research (pp. 131-140). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119166900.ch10

Literat, I., Chang, Y. K., & Hsu, S.-Y. (2020). Gamifying fake news: Engaging youth in the participatory design of news literacy games. Convergence, 26(3), 503–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520925732

Livingstone, S. (2021). Almost overnight, children’s lives became digital by default. What have we discovered? LSE COVID-19 Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/03/23/almost-overnight-childrens-lives-became-digital-by-default-what-have-we-discovered/

LSE Truth, Trust and Technology Commission. (2018). Tackling the information crisis: A policy framework for media system resilience. http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/truth-trust-and-technology-commission/The-report

Lundy, L., McEvoy, L., & Byrne, B. (2011). Working with young children as co-researchers: An approach informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Early Education & Development, 22, 714–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2011.596463

Mallan, K. M., Singh, P., & Giardina, N. (2010). The challenges of participatory research with ‘tech-savvy’ youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 13(2), 255–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260903295059

Mizukoshi, S., Jacques, J., Verbesselt, M., Ahn, K., Oh, Ch., & Jeong, H. (2021). Social networks for the next media literacy. Journal of Information Studies, 101, 1–37. https://doi.org/10.15083/0002002825

Morris, M. (2016). Inuit involvement in developing a participatory action research project on youth, violence prevention, and health promotion. Études/Inuit/Studies, 40(1), 105–125. https://doi.org/10.7202/1040147ar

Morrow, V., & Richards, M. (1996). The ethics of social research with children: An overview1. Children & Society, 10, 90–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.1996.tb00461.x

Percy-Smith, B., & Thomas, N. (2010). Conclusion: Emerging themes and new directions. In B. Percy-Smith & N. Thomas (Eds.), A handbook of children and young people’s participation: perspectives from theory and practice (pp. 356–366). Routledge.

Pienimäki, M. (2019). Improving the wellbeing of at-risk youth through media participation. Media Practice and Education, 20(4), 364–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741136.2018.1541371

Pienimäki, M., & Kotilainen, S. (2018). Youth participation in research on multiliteracies: Ethical perspectives, MERJ 8(1), 115–134.

Pienimäki, M., & Kotilainen, S. (2021). Media education for the inclusion of at-risk youth: Shades of democracy 2.0 from Finland. In M. Hoechsmann, G.Thesee & P.R. Carr (Eds.), Education for democracy 2.0: changing frames of media literacy (pp. 64-82). Brill. https://doi.org/doi:10.1163/9789004448490_005

Ptaszek, G. (2021). Media education 3.0? How big data, algorithms, and AI redefine media education. In D. Frau Meigs, S. Kotilainen, M. Pathak-Shelat, M. Hoechsmann, & S.R. Poyntz (Eds.), The handbook on media education research (pp. 229-238). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119166900.ch21

Smahel, D., Machackova, H., Mascheroni, G., Dedkova, L., Staksrud, E., Ólafsson, K., Livingstone, S., & Hasebrink, U. (2020). EU kids online 2020: Survey results from 19 countries. EU Kids Online. https://doi.org/10.21953/lse.47fdeqj01ofo

Stoilova, M., Livingstone, S., & Nandagiri, R. (2020). Digital by default: Children’s capacity to understand and manage online data and privacy. Media and Communication, 8(4), 197–207. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i4.3407

Sukk, M., & Siibak, A. (2021). Caring dataveillance and the construction of ‘good parenting’: Estonian parents’ and pre-teens’ reflections on the use of tracking technologies. Communications, 46(3), 446–467. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2021-0045

Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking. Council of Europe. https://edoc.coe.int/en/media/7495-information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-research-and-policy-making.html

Williamson, B., Potter, J., & Eynon, R. (2019). New research problems and agendas in learning, media and technology: The editors’ wishlist. Learning, Media and Technology. 44(2), 87–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2019.1614953

Nedlastinger

Publisert

2022-07-01

Hvordan referere

Spurava, G., & Kotilainen, S. (2022). Young People as Empirical Experts of Participatory Research in the Age of Information Disorders . Seminar.net, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.7577/seminar.4740