A focus group meeting was held at each site to decide what could be done about this problem.
I explained that I needed a detailed account of the searches the observations the teenagers were now accustomed to. Very productive discussions followed and the teenagers themselves identified ways in which they thought the search log could be a more effective tool. They suggested keeping a handwritten diary in their own words, storing data on a Microsoft Access database, and keeping a diary in a Microsoft Word file. One participant requested an audio tape so he could describe his actions verbally. Unfortunately the economic restrictions of the research would not permit this last suggestion although it would have been a very interesting data collection teenagers carried out when the researcher could not be present. It was to be a surrogate for the method. I agreed to logs being kept in one of four ways: on databases, on notebooks, as word-processed documents, and using the original log design. The search logs provided a rich source of data and were well maintained throughout the research. The level of involvement in the design of the log by the teenagers played an important role in the quality and quantity of information provided from this source. They had become stakeholders in the research and this appeared to encourage vigilance in maintaining
the logs. After all, if their design was so much better than mine it had to work to prove them right! It certainly increased their diligence.