ABSTRACT

In this paper, I intend to explore the role played by reflexivity in grounding a more critical perspective when designing, implementing and analysing participatory digital media research. To carry out this methodological reflection, I will present and discuss a recently concluded research project on young people’s game-making in an after-school programme targeting Latin American migrants in London/UK. I will pay special attention to how my subjectivities influenced planning, data generation and analysis of this programme, and to how context, lived experiences, curricular decisions and interpersonal relationships shaped the kinds of knowledge produced through this research. Findings emerging from this experience included relevant dissonances between curricular design/decisions and the use of participatory approaches in game-making, and the limitations of traditional analytical categories within the Social Sciences field (e.g., gender and intersectionality) to understanding subjectivities expressed through game-making. This study offers relevant insights into the place of reflexivity in research on digital media production by young people by highlighting its complexity and by calling for more critical and less homogenising approaches to this type of research.

摘要

在本文中，我打算探讨在设计、实施和分析参与式数字媒体研究时反思性在奠定更批判性观点方面所起的作用。为了进行这种方法论反思，我将介绍并讨论最近结束的一项关于在伦敦/英国针对拉丁美洲移民的课后计划中年轻人游戏制作的研究项目。我将特别关注我的主观性如何影响该项目的规划、数据生成和分析，以及背景、生活经历、课程决定和人际关系如何塑造通过这项研究产生的知识种类。从这次经历中得出的发现包括课程设计/决定与在游戏制作中使用参与式方法之间的相关不一致，以及社会科学领域内的传统分析类别（例如，性别和交叉性）在理解通过游戏制作表达的主观性方面的局限性。本研究通过强调其复杂性并呼吁对此类研究采取更具批判性和更少同质化的方法，就反思性在青年数字媒体制作研究中的地位提供了相关见解。