Methodological Challenges and Opportunities in Studying Young People’s Activism

Abstract

Research on young people and social movement engagement often challenges popular myths about young people’s political inactivity and sometimes even challenges implicit assumptions that researchers hold about young people. This challenge often requires finding ways to observe or extract information on young people’s engagement and the social, political, and media context that engagement (and any disengagement) exists within. In this talk, Jennifer will discuss how a range of existing methods can be used to accomplish those goals as well as some of the challenges she has experienced or observed in conducting this kind of research. Jennifer will also discuss the essential role that young people themselves play in interactive methods, such as interviewing, since collaborating with younger researchers may result in better quality data.