Researching Teens’ Gamer Identity Construction in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Methodological Challenges

Abstract

This reflective article explores the methodological and ethical challenges encountered while researching how teens construct gamer identities through the lenses of social class and gender during the COVID-19 pandemic. To guide this exploration, we pose two research questions: How can researchers ethically and effectively study teens’ gaming experiences in a hybrid online-offline context? What are the implications of gender, class, and age in shaping both access to games and participation in research? We employed a multimethod approach involving qualitative questionnaires, focus groups, virtual semi-structured interviews, and online gaming interviews with 48 teens aged 14 and 15 in two Spanish cities. Rather than presenting findings in detail, the paper focuses on six core research challenges, discussed through Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. These include issues of sampling, researching gender among teens, legal and ethical constraints, and power dynamics. The discussion offers insights into building flexible, robust research designs capable of adapting to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.This article looks at the challenges we faced while doing research with teens about what it means to be a gamer, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were particularly interested in how gender, social class, and age affect teens’ access to video games and how they see themselves as gamers. To guide our study, we asked two main questions: How can researchers study teens’ gaming experiences in both online and in-person settings in a respectful and effective way? And how do gender, class, and age influence who gets to participate and how? We worked with 48 teenagers aged 14 and 15 in two Spanish cities, using a mix of tools like surveys, group discussions, online interviews, and game-based interviews. Instead of focusing on the results, this article shares the main difficulties we encountered and how we dealt with them, offering useful lessons for future research—especially in uncertain times like a pandemic.