Professional YouTubers’ health videos as research material: Formulating a multi-method design in health psychology

Abstract

Professional YouTubers are developing a new culture through which they stage health content in pervasive ways. The present article aims to provide a methodological approach to analyse this type of content by adopting a critical perspective in health psychology. To achieve this, we first define our theoretical framework. Second, we formulate a multi-method design combining narrative and visual analyses, as well as automatised linguistic procedures. We then illustrate the potential of our methodology through concrete examples. Implications of this methodology in health psychology are discussed with regard to healthism, a dominant contemporary trend that strongly values the individualised pursuit of health.

Keywords

• YouTubers
• Visual methods
• Narrative methods
• Automatised methods