2. The EU Kids Online Project Leslie Haddon Leshaddon@aol.com 10th Forum for Social Trends: Youth and Social Exclusion, Madrid, 12th-14th March, 2008

3. The Project 21 countries 3 years Funded by the EC’s Safer Internet Plus Programme Evaluating European research on children’s experiences of the Internet

4. The Project Number of sub-projects/work packages Overall aim of improving ability systematically to manage cross-national comparisons Work in-progress Emphasis on children/youth, risks and opportunities

5. Sub-projects 1.Charting empirical studies - what exists, what are the patterns of research across countries? 2.Comparative evaluation of the actual data on children’s experience of the Internet 3.Social shaping of research - why these patterns of research?

6. Charting a field of study Step 1: a repository, a searchable database, containing the details of projects Decisions about what studies to collect e.g. date, publicly available, latest if repeat studies, Masters theses, etc. 235 projects in January 2007 (18 countries) The repository is still being updated

7. Charting a field of study Disciplines involved Quantitative, qualitative, combined Research on younger children vs. youth National vs. International research Who funds research? Topics researched

8. Topics Topics change over time e.g. the decline of research on chatrooms Least researched: civic and political participation, interpreting online content, creating online content, online learning, seeking advice online and search strategies

9. Topics Little on media literacy Little on why children lack access There is a lot of variation by country – in some only basic questions about use and access are on the research agenda

10. Risk topics Least researched area: commercialism Little on why children take risks Little on social consequences of risk-taking

11. Comparative analysis Where, and to what extent, are there European commonalities or differences regarding children’s online experiences? (Kohn framework) a) Countries as units of analysis: How do we explain country differences and similarities? b) Counties as case studies: What hypotheses hold true across countries?

12. Process We set up a template with questions e.g. does this data exist, provide this information about media coverage, education system, Government initiatives, etc. National teams write reports Different project members look across reports at specific themes

13. Typology of risks

14. Example first stage analysis: risk data Order to which ‘risks’ are common: 1.giving out private information, 2.porn, 3.violent/hate-sites, 4.being bullied/harassed/stalked, 5.Receiving unwanted sexual comments, 6.Meeting an online contact offline

15. Risk data No systematic cross-national patterns (e.g. north-south, east west) More national variation, the more common the risk There are outliers (exceptional countries) e.g. Poland, high risk in many areas

16. Next challenges These are only building blocks Why should this be interesting theoretically and for policy? Why do these and other patterns exist? How do we answer that question?

17. Social shaping of research Why do different amounts of research exist in different countries and why are some research questions followed up in some countries more than others?

18. Factors to consider The histories of (social science and related) research in general, The methodologies favoured in different institutions or even countries, The nature and wider interests of the disciplines involved in research, Sources of research funding, etc.

19. Factors to consider The national histories of interest in and concern about the Internet in general as well as about children, youth and the Internet in particular. Whether specific events where important for publicly raising issues in this field, National lobbying by certain groups, etc

20. Process Same as for comparative research Template of questions National reports Division of labour – different people look across countries Iterative further reflections

21. Examples: ‘Tasters’ Little research in Bulgaria, Czech republic – relatively slower diffusion of the Internet, little media coverage of the Internet in general In some countries, there is research, but ‘risk’ has only just come onto the research agenda

22. Examples: ‘Tasters’ UK: most research Tradition of empirical research in social issues History of commercial research Very active NGOs

23. Reports Charting report and a methodological review are already available www.eukidsonline.net Comparative analysis due in the autumn 2008 Social shaping research due in autumn 2009