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

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.