TY - JOUR
T1 - A smartphone case method
T2 - reimagining social relationships with smartphone data in the U.S. context of Harlem
AU - Lane, Jeffrey
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Young people are living their lives online and offline, but research rarely incorporates both in a synchronous way. This paper explores a way to address this issue through the use of smartphone data in ethnographic research. It puts forward an updated, case study approach that serves youth and media researchers by focusing robustly on social relationships and connectivity. To illustrate the method, I walk through my collaborative fieldwork with JayVon, an eighteen-year-old from Harlem (New York, N.Y.). I demonstrate what the inclusion of each layer of smartphone data allowed me to understand about JayVon that contributes to key lines of children and media research on presence, screen time, and media curation. After showing how the ecology of a case opens up naturally by analyzing smartphone data ethnographically, I discuss the significant, ethical challenges concerning access to such intimate data and how case researchers can establish suitable study boundaries with youth.
AB - Young people are living their lives online and offline, but research rarely incorporates both in a synchronous way. This paper explores a way to address this issue through the use of smartphone data in ethnographic research. It puts forward an updated, case study approach that serves youth and media researchers by focusing robustly on social relationships and connectivity. To illustrate the method, I walk through my collaborative fieldwork with JayVon, an eighteen-year-old from Harlem (New York, N.Y.). I demonstrate what the inclusion of each layer of smartphone data allowed me to understand about JayVon that contributes to key lines of children and media research on presence, screen time, and media curation. After showing how the ecology of a case opens up naturally by analyzing smartphone data ethnographically, I discuss the significant, ethical challenges concerning access to such intimate data and how case researchers can establish suitable study boundaries with youth.
KW - Smartphone
KW - case study
KW - connectivity
KW - ethnography
KW - network
KW - presence
KW - screen time
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U2 - 10.1080/17482798.2019.1710718
DO - 10.1080/17482798.2019.1710718
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85078611840
JO - Journal of Children and Media
JF - Journal of Children and Media
SN - 1748-2798
ER -