The Danish focus group study "Teens' private and public lives on social media": Methodology
The data on Danish youth, privacy and social media were collected via a qualitative study, conducted by the think tank 'Digital Youth' (Digitale Unge), consisting of the Danish Media Council for Children and Young People, Danish Consumer Council, Danish Broadcasting Corporation, Digital Identity, and Danish Institute for Human Rights. The study was conducted in October 2013 and consisted of 11 focus-group interviews carried out in six high schools (gymnasier) located in the Copenhagen and Aarhus area, respectively. The interviews had between four and eight participants of mixed gender, with a total of 68 respondents. The participating students knew each other beforehand either from being classmates or from having taken courses together. The interviews were audio recorded and lasted approximately one hour. They all followed a semi-structured interview guide focusing on strategies deployed to protect or control privacy, the role that social media platforms play in the everyday life of the respondents, and the level of knowledge with regard to potential privacy risks. Privacy in the study was coupled with questions about individual strategies for maintaining control over the exchange of information, images etc. rather than contrasted with the notion of "public".