Headlice eradication as everyday engagement with science: An analysis of online parenting discussions

Abstract

This paper focuses on the way in which people deploy scientific knowledge alongside other resources in everyday interactions. In the UK headlice are common amongst schoolchildren, and treatment is viewed as a parental responsibility. Choice between treatment options lies with individual parents, with official guidance giving no clear steer. In the face of this combination of responsibility and uncertainty, users of an online parenting forum justify their actions using a variety of resources, including claims to scientific knowledge of both headlice and the action of various treatments, but also drawing on the authority of having direct experience, trust in brand-named products and generalised suspicion of “chemical” treatments. These discussions occasion expression of knowledge as part of portraying oneself as a responsible parent, and thus while they do not necessarily represent public knowledge about science more generally, they do offer a useful site to explore what people do with science.

Strategies parents use to give children oral medicine: a qualitative study of online discussion forums

“…The same techniques and the same type of experiences that parents found uncomfortable were reported in the Norwegian and English forums. This supports previous findings of online forums being suitable for exploring sensitive issues [18]. …”

“…Online discussion forums are valuable sources of information about parents’ behaviour in relation to children’s health [17], including sensitive and taboo issues not easily discussed with family and friends [18]. Furthermore, as parents commonly search the Internet for advice on what to do when their child is ill [19], posts on Internet forums can influence parents’ behaviour.…”

‘What are you feeling right now?’ communities of maternal feeling on Mumsnet

“…We used this facility to produce a dataset focusing on the term 'I feel', following the methodologies of other researchers analysing the content of Mumsnet thread posts (Gambles, 2010;Hine, 2014;Jensen, 2013) and also Pedersen's previous work on Mumsnet (Pedersen, 2014(Pedersen, , 2015Pedersen and Smithson, 2013). Our study involved a qualitative content analysis of these posts, with no attempt made to contact posters or solicit any further personal details.…”

Is it Friday yet? Mothers talking about sex online

“…However, it does give a snapshot of the types of sexual subjects about which Mumsnetters start threads. A similar use of Mumsnet was undertaken by Hine (2012) in her analysis of online parenting discussions on the subject of headlice, while Holt (2011) also searched the archives of public online discussion boards for keywords relating to violence in her study of parental experiences of teenage violence. Following their example, and also the work of Skea, Entwistle, Watt, and Russell (2008), who analysed Mumsnet discussions relating to the MMR vaccination, this was a purely observational study with no attempt to contact posters or solicit additional personal detail for the purposes of the research.…”