Researching Social Media: qualitative and mixed-methods research approaches

To understand the relationship between social media and mental health we need research that examines what people are doing and how this relates to other, measurable, variables such as their personal characteristics and the outcome of their social media use. We also need research that explores how and why people use social media and their experiences of doing so. In this chapter we will look at research that explores how and why people use social media and their experiences of doing so. We will present an overview of qualitative approaches that focuses on methods of data collection and analysis. We will discuss the main approaches to data collection and offer some important pointers to bear in mind when evaluating the results of studies that use these methods