TeenTech Research Project

Other Research Projects

We are currently recruiting families for a longitudinal study looking at how teenagers use the Internet. Teens are currently the largest users of the Internet; however, very little is known about the kinds of things teenagers are doing online. This study will examine exactly what teenagers are doing on the Internet, including the amount of time they spend online and the kinds of websites they visit. This research will also investigate how online participation influences teenagers’ social relationships, cognitive abilities, and overall sense of self. For example, one of the questions this research will answer is how Instant Messaging and Internet chatting influences the quality and types of friendships that teenagers have in real life. This research is funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Canadian Institute for Health Research and will be useful for policy makers, educators, and parents alike.

Click Here to Visit the TeenTech Project Website

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Instant Messenger as a Tool for Interview Research: Help or Hindrance

Researchers have begun to use e-mail, chat rooms and Instant Messenger to conduct qualitative research with a variety of participants (Mann & Stewart, 2000). However, given the absence of previous research on the nature of online interview methods, these studies must simply assume that their methods yield results that are equivalent to those obtained in research employing traditional face-to-face interviews.  The principal objective of this research is to explore the utility of a synchronous medium of online communication (Microsoft Instant Messenger) for conducting semi-structured research interviews about career and educational aspirations, with adolescent participants.  This research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanity Council of Canada.

NLSCY research 

This research uses the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to investigate developmental trajectories of Canadian adolescents. The main focus has been to examine the behavioural, emotional, and academic outcomes for adolescents of teenage mothers. In addition, we have used this population data set to examine pubertal timing for Canadian girls and boys. Finally, we have examined the prevalence, as well as the risk and protective factors associated with early sexual debut for girls and boys. In future, we intend to explore correlates of adolescent self concept and how these change over time.

This research is in collaboration with Dr. Susan Dahinten of the School of Nursing, at UBC and has been facilitated by the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research New Investigator’s Network.  It is funded, in part, by a Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada Initiatives for the New Economy Grant, awarded to Dr. Doug Willms, of the University of New Brunswick.

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