The social media scroll back method is a qualitative research method that works within interviews whereby a researcher and participant “scroll back” through the social media history of the participant. As outlined in this entry, this method has a range of advantages and can add value to existing qualitative methods but also generates new challenges and ethical questions.
This method can be employed in studying a wide range of social phenomena. It can be a prompt in eliciting discussions around, for example, romantic relationships, family life, alcohol consumption, body image, political participation, and any aspect of life that might be visible and documented through social media, or in any study in which getting a sense of a research participant’s broader life world might be useful in ...
Research Methods