Researching transnational audiences in the streaming era: Designing, piloting and refining a mixed methods approach

TY - JOUR

T1 - Researching transnational audiences in the streaming era

T2 - Designing, piloting and refining a mixed methods approach

AU - Bengesser, Cathrin

AU - Esser, Andrea

AU - Steemers, Jeanette

PY - 2022/11

Y1 - 2022/11

N2 - Shifts towards on-demand viewing and the advance of global streaming services are dramatically changing screen content consumption, generating new research questions and reinforcing the need for methodological revisions within audience research. Based on a pilot study in Denmark conducted in 2020, this article offers critical reflections and solutions by outlining how a methodology was designed to collect data on the transnational consumption and reception of British screen content, and how it was subsequently tested and refined. The methodology was developed for the AHRC-funded research project ‘Screen Encounters with Britain: What do Young Europeans Make of Britain and its Digital Screen Culture’ (SEB), which seeks to identify young European viewers (16-34) of British screen content, how they find and access it, what they watch, why they choose to watch, what they think about British content, and how it impacts their attitudes towards Britain. The article first outlines the methodological challenges transnational audience researchers face today, before introducing five ‘integrated research steps’ (Bryman, 2006) that address these challenges and were tested in the pilot. It concludes with critical reflections on lessons learned and necessary revisions.

AB - Shifts towards on-demand viewing and the advance of global streaming services are dramatically changing screen content consumption, generating new research questions and reinforcing the need for methodological revisions within audience research. Based on a pilot study in Denmark conducted in 2020, this article offers critical reflections and solutions by outlining how a methodology was designed to collect data on the transnational consumption and reception of British screen content, and how it was subsequently tested and refined. The methodology was developed for the AHRC-funded research project ‘Screen Encounters with Britain: What do Young Europeans Make of Britain and its Digital Screen Culture’ (SEB), which seeks to identify young European viewers (16-34) of British screen content, how they find and access it, what they watch, why they choose to watch, what they think about British content, and how it impacts their attitudes towards Britain. The article first outlines the methodological challenges transnational audience researchers face today, before introducing five ‘integrated research steps’ (Bryman, 2006) that address these challenges and were tested in the pilot. It concludes with critical reflections on lessons learned and necessary revisions.

KW - Methodology

KW - Netflix

KW - Screen Content

KW - Screen Encounters

KW - Transnational Audiences

KW - Video-on-Demand

KW - YouTube

M3 - Article

SN - 1749-8716

VL - 19

JO - Participations: International Journal of Audience Research

JF - Participations: International Journal of Audience Research

IS - 1

ER -