Using a smartphone ‘app’ in qualitative research: the good, the bad and the ugly Borja Garcia-Garcia Joanna Welford Brett M. Smith 2134/18340 https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Using_a_smartphone_app_in_qualitative_research_the_good_the_bad_and_the_ugly/9630347 This paper reflects on the use of a smartphone application (‘app’) in qualitative research following the experience of the FREE (Football Research in an Enlarged Europe) project, which investigated the lives of football fans in the UK. To meet this aim, a participant-focused audio-visual methodology was designed, featuring the use of an app to collect data. Fans were asked to take photographs and keep diaries to show the role football plays in their lives. The smartphone app was developed to allow fans to use their own mobile phones, capturing qualitative data in ‘real time’. The paper reflects on our experience of using the smartphone app in this qualitative research, analysing the advantages, disadvantages and the main risks that researchers will need to take into account when using smartphone apps in their future qualitative research projects. We encourage others to build on and advance this under-researched but potentially valuable tool. 2015-07-28 13:35:34 Smartphone app Mobile phone iPhone Android Audiovisual methods Auto-ethnography Qualitative research; Digital divide Football Technology Education Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified