Teleconference focus groups with fathers: ‘You’re on the line with …’

This chapter analyses methodological issues experienced in the employment of audio teleconference focus groups in fatherhood research. It cites a research project entitled ‘Work Life Balance: Working for Fathers?’, which explores how men with dependent children combine work and family commitments. As part of this research, when recruiting fathers for face-to-face interviews and focus groups proved difficult, scholars utilised the medium of recordable teleconferencing technology. In the context of research on fatherhood, the chapter evaluates the emergent complexities integral to the entire process of running ‘teleconference’ (telecon) focus groups. The first part of the chapter describes the technological and procedural challenges in the commissioning of telecon focus groups, while the second reflects on fathers' confession-like admissions.

Qualitative longitudinal research: researching fatherhood and fathers’ experiences

This chapter focuses on a qualitative longitudinal (QL) research project, Transition to Fatherhood, and later episodes of fathering and fatherhood experiences. It begins by exploring the research design of this study and considers the inherent gendered and other assumptions made in it, which mirrors an earlier research project on Transition to Motherhood. Following an examination of some of the methodological issues that arose during this qualitative longitudinal study, the chapter turns to reflect on the important question of what adding time into a qualitative study can do. It considers what happens when narratives collected in later interviews are incorporated into earlier analysis and findings as lives and fatherhood experiences change, as well as the benefits of researching individuals over time.

Introduction

This introductory chapter explains how different research questions and methods can contribute to better understanding of contemporary fathers, fatherhood, and fathering. Given the enhanced methodological diversity and increased sophistication of methods across the social sciences, embracing qualitative and quantitative approaches, traditional (such as interviewing) and contemporary approaches (such as netnography and visual methods), and general ‘handbooks’ offering basic introductions to social research have limited use for advanced researchers and students. The book aims to link detailed concerns about conducting individual projects to wider methodological debates concerning the value of different forms and sources of data, the negotiation of research relationships, and the impact of research findings on participants, policy makers, employers, and a wider public.

Framing fatherhood: the ethics and philosophy of researching fatherhoods

This chapter offers a reflection on some of the interconnected philosophical, ethical and methodological challenges that have arisen in the research on fatherhood and in response to scholarly engagements with fatherhood research. The case for research funding may be easier to make if the proposed research addresses a clear area of need and/or addresses issues in vulnerable populations. If there is resistance to fatherhood research, then, it is potentially influenced by the idea that fathers, as men, are already relatively advantaged, both socially and economically — and research that benefits an already advantaged group may be less important than research that benefits a more disadvantaged group. This depends, however, on who the putative beneficiaries of fatherhood research are.

Using visual technologies: young children’s perspectives on fathers

This chapter illustrates father–child interactions in early childhood development, which has been the subject of intense policy interest over the past two decades, but where the challenges for researchers are heightened by the difficulties of eliciting views from very small children. Father involvement in children's social and educational development during the early years is found to have a significant impact on developmental outcomes. Fathers are thought to encourage early years development through play and other action-based interactions that challenge children and expose them to the wider world. The chapter shows that fathers' observed behaviours stand in contrast with those of mothers, whose interactions with children are more often associated with care and routine ‘housekeeping’ tasks such as interactions with institutional settings.

Researching fatherhood and place: adopting an ethnographic approach

This chapter presents an ethnographic approach as a potential way of gaining knowledge about disadvantaged fathers, including poor fathers, fathers with insecure employment, and fathers from minority ethnic groups. In research about poverty and inequality, there is increasing interest in the neighbourhood as an influential factor for individual life circumstances. Neighbourhood effects can be studied using quantitative data, for example, to investigate and compare unemployment rates, income, health, educational level, and so on. The chapter aims to gain knowledge of what it is like to be a father in a neighbourhood that is known for its high concentration of social problems. The research design is characterised by an inductive approach and research questions formulated along the way.

Researching fathers through surveys: methodological challenges

This chapter discusses how research on fatherhood has increased in recent years, especially in the form of qualitative studies that allow a deeper understanding of specific aspects of fatherhood, such as fathers' representations and expectations, paternal care practices, and relationship with the mother. While confirming the benefits of qualitative research, the chapter illustrates how a quantitative approach to researching fatherhood can highlight interesting aspects, giving a brief overview of the topic in large and important surveys. Moreover, researchers agree that the transition to parenthood, long treated mainly as a female issue, is relevant today for both mothers and fathers; in fact, broad trends point to men's increasing desire to participate in their children's lives and their involvement in childcare practices.

Interviewing young fathers: managing ethical risks

This chapter uses the Following Young Fathers (FYF) project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as a reflective case study to explore the use of qualitative longitudinal (QL) interviews and the potential research impact it had on the interviewer–interviewee relationship, and what efforts were made to overcome and minimise any potential transgressions. An introduction to the FYF study is followed by a discussion of the conduct of the interviews and the implications this has on relations between the participants and the researchers. The chapter goes on to give examples of the various mechanisms employed to reduce the blurring of boundaries between both parties and how effective these strategies were in hindsight.

Fatherhood research on the internet: methodological reflections from a literature review

This chapter looks at how an increasing number of parents are today turning to the internet for information on children and parenting. Many are also living part of their family lives, and forming their identities as parents, in various chat forums and online communities, and on social media. Against this background, the number of sites specifically directed at parents has grown substantially over the past decade. These sites provide opportunities to access large quantities of information on parenting from public sector agencies and experts, but first and foremost, they provide the opportunity for parents to share and obtain experience-based information among themselves. The chapter shows that many of these sites attract mothers to a greater extent than fathers, while more fathers instead appear to be active on social media such as Facebook and various blog sites.

Capturing the bigger picture with big data: opportunities for fatherhood researchers

This chapter talks about the challenges and value of engaging with ‘big data’ for fatherhood researchers. It argues that the arrival of new forms of data presents genuinely exciting possibilities for tackling important questions that have been either inadequately addressed, or sidelined, in previous work. The discussion contributes to setting the agenda for near future empirical studies of fatherhood through assessing the potential of newly available methods and, by implication, the limitations of those currently used. The challenge of big data is more profound than proposing a shift to include different methods of data collection; it requires social scientists to rethink the questions about fathers and fatherhood, and work with other disciplines to do so.