Preliminary programme

10 Jun 2024 - 11 Jun 2024

The House of Science and Letters, Helsinki 

Monday June 10th 

Tuesday June 11th 


Downloadable programme (pdf):


Monday June 10th 

11:30-12:00 Registration

12:00-12.15 Welcome & Opening words by Kaisa Vehkalahti (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) (Room 104)

12:15-13.15 Keynote: Professor Rachel Thomson University of Sussex, UK: "A case of you? Working through individuals biographies in qualitative longitudinal research" (Room 104) (Chair: Jeanette Østergaard, The Rockwool Foundation)

13:15-13:45 Coffee break


13:45-15:15 Parallel sessions 1

1a. Longitudinal Nordic youth research (Room 505) (Chair: Helena Ristaniemi, University of Jyväskylä)

  • "Self-determination theory? A qualitative longitudinal study of young people's needs frustrations within the Danish educational system" Julie Schneekloth Friis Nielsen (The Rockwool Foundation), Jeanette Østergaard (The Rockwool Foundation)
  • "How to deal with extensive qualitative longitudinal data? Experiences with collaborative analyses of QLR data from four countries" Ingunn Marie Eriksen (Norwegian Social Research – NOVA Oslo Metropolitan University) Kaisa Vehkalahti (University of Jyväskylä), Helena Ristaniemi (University of Jyväskylä), Maria Rönnlund (Umeå University), Aina Tollefsen (Umeå University), Jeanette Østergaard (The Rockwool Foundation)
  • "Career-making among youth in the rural North: A multifaceted spatial practice" Maria Rönnlund (Umeå University), Aina Tollefsen (Umeå University)
  • "End for us all? Meaningful but ending research relationships in Youth in Time –project" Ville Pöysä (University of Jyväskylä), Päivi Armila (University of Eastern Finland), Mari Käyhkö (University of Eastern Finland)

1b. Time and Temporality (Room 504) (Chair: Niina Rutanen, University of Jyväskylä)

  • "Wishful thinking? Expectation and hope in the context of recomposing persons in a birth cohort survey" Penny Tinkler (University of Manchester)
  • "Grasping the temporal nature of loneliness? – opportunities and challenges of qualitative longitudinal methods in loneliness research" Elisa Tiilikainen (University of Eastern Finland)
  • "Narratives of children's journeys in early childhood education and care – from lived experiences to reflections from a distance" Mari Vuorisalo (University of Jyväskylä), Niina Rutanen (University of Jyväskylä), Jasemin Can (University of Jyväskylä), Kaisa Harju (University of Jyväskylä)
  • "Making sense of data interrelations in qualitative longitudinal and multi-perspective analysis of transitions" Agnieszka Trąbka (Jagiellonian University), Paula Pustułka (SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities), Justyna Bell (Norwegian Social Research – NOVA Oslo Metropolitan University)

1c. Methodological approaches 1. Family, gender and transgenerational changes (Room 207) (Chair: Matilda Wrede-Jäntti, University of Helsinki)

  • "Studying family support in contexts of dynamic complexity: a qualitative longitudinal approach to evaluation research" Alison Lacey (University of Sussex), Gillian Hampden-Thompson (University of Sussex), Janet Boddy (University of Sussex)
  • "Men, Families and Poverty: Using qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) of qualitative longitudinal data to interrogate men's intergenerational and longitudinal trajectories through low-income family life" Kahryn Hughes (University of Leeds)
  • "More time is never enough: reflections on longitudinal participatory research with parents and carers living on low incomes" Jim Kaufman (University of Salford), Uisce Jordan (University of York), Ruth Patrick (University of York), Maddy Power (University of York), David Young (University of Salford), Katie Pybus (University of York)
  • "Facebook as method" in Qualitative Longitudinal Research with recipients of online sperm donation Francesca Taylor-Phillips (Leeds Beckett University), Rhys Turner-Moore (Leeds Beckett University), Georgina Jones (Leeds Beckett University)


15:15-16:00 Coffee break + Book launch event: Longitudinal methods in youth research: understanding young lives across space and time (Editors: Julia Cook, Quentin Maire, Johanna Wyn)

16:00 – 17:30 Parallel sessions 2

2a. Workshop: Slow, fast, fast, slow: the possibilities and challenges with taking a qualitative longitudinal approach in policy research by Aniela Wenham (University of York), Ruth Patrick (University of York), Jim Kaufman (University of Salford), Janet Boddy (University of Sussex) (Room 505) (Technical: Kaisa Vehkalahti, University of Jyväskylä)

2b. Ethical challenges and solutions (Room 504) (Chair: Mari Vuorisalo, University of Jyväskylä)

  • "Parental participation as part of the support process in early childhood education and care" Jenna Niemi (University of Eastern Finland), Noora Heiskanen (University of Eastern Finland)
  • "Developing participatory methods and ethical praxis for conducting research with children: a case example" Karoliina Inha (University of Jyväskylä)
  • "Advantages and ethical challenges of a long-term ethnography in a school with poor building conditions" Eerika Finell (University of Eastern Finland)
  • "Longitudinal methods in youth research: Understanding young lives across time and space" Julia Cook (The University of Newcastle), Quentin Maire (University of Melbourne), Johanna Wyn (University of Melbourne)

2c. Empirical examples across disciplines (Room 207) (Chair: Elisa Tiilikainen, University of Eastern Finland)

  • "Intertwined threads – a qualitative study of marginalized young people's engagement in art and culture and their transitions into adulthood from 2020-2025 Anne Mette Winneche Nielsen (Centre of Youth Research, Aalborg University)
  • "Icehearts Longitudinal Study (ILS) among socially vulnerable children and adolescents: a mixed method approach" Kaija Appelqvist-Schmidlechner (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Mervi Haavanlammi (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Marjatta Kekkonen (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)
  • "A qualitative longitudinal study on the experiences of UK students with long-term physical health conditions throughout transition to an elite collegiate university"Melody Bishop (Durham University)
  • "Transition to Retirement - a Longitudinal Case Study on the Experiences of Persons with Intellectual Disability" Sirpa Granö (Tampere University), Sonja Miettinen (Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities), Elisa Tiilikainen (University of Eastern Finland), Elina Kontu (Tampere University)


18.00 Transition to Conference Dinner

19:00 - 22:00 Dinner at Bastion Bistro (Suomenlinna Sea Fortress)



Tuesday June 11th 

9:00-10.30 Parallel sessions 3

3a. Panel: "The Longitudinal Research Cycle – with a special emphasis on the final phases of the project" Coordinator: Sinikka Aapola-Kari (University of Helsinki / Finnish Youth Research Network) Panelists: Ville Pöysä (University of Jyväskylä), Rachel Thomson (University of Sussex), Matilda Wrede-Jäntti (University of Helsinki) and Johanna Wyn (University of Melbourne) (Room 505) 

3b. Visual and Arts-based methods (Room 504) (Chair: Helena Ristaniemi, University of Jyväskylä)

  • "Combining QLR and Art-Based Research: The case of immigrant/expatriate game developers in Finland" Solip Park (Aalto University)
  • "Drawing Together: A longitudinal study on relational wellbeing in the lives of young refugees in Finland, Norway and Scotland" Fath E Mubeen (Tampere University), Nicholas Haswell (Tampere University)
  • "Scrapbooking as a method to maintain participant engagement in qualitative longitudinal research" Stephanie Daw (Durham University)
  • "Use of visual methods in qualitative longitudinal research exploring couple relationship dynamics across the transition to second-time parenthood" Deborah Bailey-Rodriguez (Middlesex University)

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-12:30 Parallel sessions 4

4a. Metodological approaches 2. Focus on life-course (Room505) (Chair: Sinikka Aapola-Kari, University of Helsinki / Finnish Youth Research Network )

  • "Designing a qualitative longitudinal birth cohort study of seldom heard groups in the UK: ethical, methodological and epistemological challenges" May Nasrawy (University of Sussex), Alison Lacey (University of Sussex), Rachel Thomson (University of Sussex), Janet Boddy (University of Sussex)
  • "Life-lines as a method in longitudinal research with young people - the case of Youth in Time" Sinikka Aapola-Kari (Finnish Youth Research Network), Matilda Wrede-Jäntti (University of Helsinki)
  • "Encountering and exploiting 'organic' developmental thematic foci and theory in the 'Midlife Creativity' longitudinal ethnographic project" Philip Miles (University of Bedfordshire)
  • "What makes men go to the doctor? A longitudinal study of health behavior among vulnerable men in Denmark: before, during, and after a health check-intervention" Mette Bisgaard (The Rockwool Foundation), Johanne Elholm Bergmann, (The Rockwool Foundation), Julie Jønsson (The Rockwool Foundation), Jeanette Østergaard (The Rockwool Foundation)

4b. Dynamics or research relationship and participation (Room 504) (Chair: Kaisa Vehkalahti, University of Jyväskylä)

  • "Sustaining adolescent participants' engagement in longitudinal research – insights from a well-being study with gaming adolescents" Tiina Auranen (University of Jyväskylä)
  • "Researching intergenerational transmission through qualitative longitudinal and multi-perspective research" Justyna Sarnowska (SWPS University), Justyna Kajta (SWPS University), Paula Pustulka (SWPS University)

  • "'Ethnographic returning': Methodological and ethical concerns when contemplating qualitative longitudinal research" Hilary Pilkington (University of Manchester)
  • "Re-visiting the Treatment of Place in Youth Transitions Research" Laura Fenton (University of Manchester)

4c. Metodological approaches 3. Digital and mixed methods (Room 207) (Chair: Ville Pöysä, University of Jyväskylä)

  • "Narratives of ageing throughout the pandemic. Lessons learned from ILQA-19" Giulia Melis (University of Milan-Bicocca), Francesco Diodati (Catholic University of Milan)
  • "Living policy: reflections of a researcher on two related qualitative longitudinal studies of the experience of UK social security over time" David Young (University of Salford)
  • "Researching the lived-experience of underemployment: exploring working lives through a mixed-methods study" Levana Magnus (University of Bristol), Vanessa Beck (University of Bristol), Vanesa Fuertes (University of West Scotland), Daiga Kamerade (University of Salford), Miguel Munoz (University of Nottingham), Luis Torres (University of Nottingham), Tracey Warren (University of Nottingham
  • "Longitudinal Mixed Methods Examination of Stress During The COVID-19 Pandemic in a Canadian Sample" Lily Pankratz (University of Manitoba), Kristin Reynolds (University of Manitoba), Renée El-Gabalawy (University of Manitoba), Natalie Mota (University of Manitoba), Samantha Brown (University of Manitoba)

12:30-13:30 Lunch (several options nearby, self-paid)

13:30-14:30 Keynote Professor Julie McLeod University of Melbourne, Australia "Historicising methods and questions in qualitative longitudinal research" (room: 104) (Chair: Ingunn Marie Eriksen, Norwegian Social Research – NOVA Oslo Metropolitan University)

14:30-14:45 Closing words

*We reserve the right to make changes