What do you meme? – Meme-Making as a research method

ABSTRACT

Memes have emerged as a prevalent and influential aspect of contemporary culture and their use is a significant feature of social and relational communications. Yet scant research exists within Higher Education on the use of memes to assist in the research of reactions, emotions, and perceptions. The use of meme-making as a qualitative research tool is grounded in visual research methods. This paper explores a framework for using meme-making as a research tool within Higher Education and considers two case studies that demonstrate how meme-making can been used to capture and communicate the experiences of students. Through these case studies, meme-making was revealed to introduce an element of levity and humour whilst being versatile, flexible, and easily dovetailed to other qualitative approaches. Familiarity with the medium and construction process drew upon an instilled sense of ownership revealing the method to be accessible across a diverse participant base.

KEYWORDS:

• Memes
• visual research methods
• inclusivity
• methodology
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical statement

This case studies in this document were approved by the Teesside University Ethics Board reference: 2023 Feb 14353 Tidy. All participates provided their consent to support the anonymous evaluation of this initiative.