“I can’t talk about this with you!”. A reflexive and interdisciplinary mixed methods’ approach to adolescents’ sexuality

Year 2017, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 28 - 41, 20.05.2017

Alessandro Porrovecchio

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce some features of
the methodology used in the doctoral research I conducted from 2008 to 2011.
Its goal was to describe gender/sexual identity construction among adolescents.
As some other sensitive sociological research fields such as sexuality or
education in disadvantaged contexts, my research field brought up some
communication and methodological challenges that could be overcome only through
an interdisciplinary mixed strategy, based primarily on flexible qualitative
research techniques. The research path was based on: a quantitative and
qualitative methodological approach; an online and offline research field; a
syntagmatic and paradigmatic axis model. In particular, I gathered 20 in-depth
interviews, conducted some focus groups and built a web ethnography. In this
context, for example, virtual communities’ anonymity allowed adolescents to
express themselves freely. Thanks to this research approach, I achieved two
results. First of all, I deconstructed and reconstructed both the dynamic
process that brings to a gender/sexual identity construction and various
aspects of adolescents’ sexuality. Then, I have been able to compare the
different techniques used for the research conducting an epistemological
reflection on the techniques, on the different kind of collectable data and on
the different socio-cultural contexts in which those techniques could be
applied.  

Keywords

Sexuality, Adolescence, Mixed Methods, Gender, Interdisciplinarity

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