Preparing the raw transcribed interview for analysis, I coded the two interviews which I found the most remarkable content-wise. In the coding procedure I followed Coffey’s (1996) recommendation on starting the coding from the prefigured research question. I inductively generated my codes, which derived from the content of the interviews. To further organise my data, I grouped the commonly used codes into categories, also in a ‘bottom-up’ way, where I created the categories from the content of data. My aim was to identify the underlying forces of contacting habits, and open coding and categorization are regarded to be beneficial in helping the researcher find the points of interest (Strauss, 1987).

Preliminary findings

As a result of coding the two interviews, multiple points of interest have emerged. Firstly, it seems like the situational impact might generate similarities in the contacting habits of LSE students. Because of the unfamiliar and temporary nature of life situation, they gave an account of continually sharing information with their families. This raises the questions of what information they share with each other. Is there anything they, both students and families hide? If so, why? Generational effects in communication appeared to be an interesting point because as a result of continuous online availability communication with siblings looked to be different than with parents. This issue raises the question of whether there is a generation gap in communication. If yes, how does it affect parent-child communication? Furthermore, based on my coding process, the emotional support and encouragement provided by parents can regularly appear as a theme of communication, thus it might play a significant role in family maintenance. Thought-provoking questions regarding this issue can be: What counts as emotional support in a transnational setting? How is emotional closeness embodied via mediating technologies? Additionally, the emotional effects of video function in family communication occurred to be a noteworthy topic. Emotional overwhelm may result in the avoidance of some uses of new technologies, but then do emotional technologies always facilitate our life and communication? Finally, a particularly interesting issue – the pressure to conform within the family was portrayed. Fear of disappointing the parents might result in favouring them, for instance contacting them via video calls, even if students do not like it. It raises the question of whether families want to sustain the appearance of a perfect family within the family? If yes, why is this so important?

In further research, I would concentrate more on the transfer of emotional support and intimacy through tech-mediated communication because preliminary thematic analysis demonstrated its importance in maintaining families across borders.

Conclusion