“Is There Anything Else You Would Like to Share?”: Methods to Support Teen Agency

Abstract

In this work, we argue that there are multiple opportunities to support and extend research examining teens’ practices and experiences. Much work that examines youth focuses on supporting adult priorities and protecting young people. While some research engages with youth perspectives, there are areas where we can advance our approaches. This can involve adapting existing methods, including diary studies, to connect data collection processes to teens’ everyday experiences, such as through mobile technology. This can also include allowing teens to engage in creative expression to purposefully contribute to the data collection process. These approaches can support youth agency by allowing them to determine what, when, and how data is contributed, giving researchers the opportunity for new insights into teens’ practices and experiences.