Integrating autoethnography and interviewing for researching child and parent audiences in Turkey

Abstract

This chapter explores autoethnography and interviewing as complementary approaches in studies of child and parent audiences that can lead to the development of media literacy interventions for the public. Taking reflexivity as a starting point, I (Esra) consider the ways that my own research has been received, and what has been expected of me, from parents who recognize me both as a parent myself and also as a researcher on parenting and children's media practices. Recognizing the unique legitimacy that is afforded to me as I occupy these dual positions in my home country of Turkey, I draw on two strands of thought in audience research to consider how interviewing and autoethnographic methods can inform interventionist educational approaches to parenting in digital and mobile contexts. First, I consider reflexivity that encourages audience researchers to look at their own positionality in addition to their audience practices as media consumers. Second, I consider the audiences of academic research, particularly as they increasingly include members of the public. Presenting stories of my pathways into translation, I explore the role of the dually positioned researcher as a producer-academic: a term that refers to both the traditional academic role of researcher and the demand that we also produce meaning about our research for public audiences. I argue that as audience researchers, we may be uniquely equipped to consider how the findings from our scholarship can be translated into interventionist language that is both useful and critical. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Annette Hill and Peter Lunt. All rights reserved.