Abstract
This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of using instant messaging (IM) technologies for diary studies. The discussion shows that IM as well as diary methods are both highly adaptable and flexible tools for qualitative data collection. In combination, they allow for innovative designs that might overcome limitations of more widely used data collection methods. The paper presents in detail and reflects upon a mixed online and offline design of an audio diary method with ‘hard-to-reach’ research participants in Burkina Faso. It ends with discussing further methodological and ethical aspects such as reach, temporalities, media formats, conversation styles, confidentiality/anonymity, technical aspects, as well as interaction and power sharing between the researcher and participants in order to spark methodological reflections when designing an IM diary study.
Publisher
Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH
Reference60 articles.
1. Alaszewski, A. (2006): Using Diaries for Social Research. London/Thousand Oaks/New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857020215
2. Ba, A. (2003): Les radios de proximité en Afrique de l'Ouest. In: Cheval, J.-J. (Ed.): Audiences, publics et pratiques radiophoniques: Actes du colloque organisé par le GRER le 30 novembre 2001 à la maison des sciences de l'homme d'Aquitaine. Pessac, P. 115-127 [§1-51]. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.msha.4993
3. Barbosa, S./Milan, S. (2019): Do Not Harm in Private Chat Apps: Ethical Issues for Research on and with WhatsApp. In: Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, Vol. 14, No. 1, P. 49-65. https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.313
4. Bartlett, R./Milligan, C. (2015): What is Diary Method? Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472572578
5. Bijoux, D./Myers, J. (2006): Interviews, Solicited Diaries and Photography: 'New' Ways of Accessing Everyday Experiences of Place. In: Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, P. 44-64.