Update on the Teens Talk Vaping Project

• Post by: Rebecca Clarke
• 9:18AM Mar 30, 2021
• No Comment

Teens Talk Vaping is a “by-youth-for-youth” research project that seeks to understand teen perspectives on vaping. From a non-judgemental perspective, our goal is to better understand teens’ experiences and ideas about vaping, as well as how vaping features into their everyday lives, regardless of whether or not they vape.

Our seven teen co-researchers completed their qualitative data collection training between August and November 2020. Each teen co-researcher co-facilitated one focus group with an adult researcher between November 2020 and January 2021. Thus, seven online focus groups were conducted. The focus groups went incredibly well, and our methodology proved successful. The anonymity piece of each focus group (i.e., videos off, non-identifying screen name) was well received by participants.

As a group, the teen co-researchers worked together to design a Teens Talk Vaping project logo. We have also launched a Teens Talk Vaping blog to document their experiences as well as an Instagram account to forecast project updates more broadly.

Currently, the teen co-researchers are engaged in qualitative data analysis training and are working both individually and as a group to analyze and code data from the seven focus groups.

We are gearing up to move forward with Part 2 of Teens Talk Vaping: Friendship Group Interviews. Recruitment has begun through local secondary school boards. After consulting with our school board partner about the current constraints around face-to-face meetings, friendship group interviews will occur online.

Four interviews will be conducted with our teen co-researchers to provide the research team with perspective on becoming teen co-researchers and how their involvement in various training has prepared them to implement research: 1) reflections on qualitative research and data collection training (COMPLETE); 2) reflections on data collection; 3) data analysis process; and 4) knowledge translation and overall reflections. Results from the process evaluation interviews will be transformed into a manuscript led by Dr. Kendra Nelson Ferguson, Dr. Stephanie Coen, and Dr. Jason Gilliland.