After summarizing the results it is, however, also necessary to outline the limitations of the conducted study. One major factor was the relatively small size of the interview groups. Because of the few participants in each group and the observed flow of
discussion, it is safe to assume that a larger number of group members would have led to a more diverse debate and a higher variety of opinions. This was especially
noticeable when pauses occurred during the discussions, which could have been
avoided if the groups would have consisted of a larger number of participants. However, by the use of smaller group sizes, it enabled the flow of discussion to develop more towards a deeper level, which was beneficial in terms of being able to access the emotional content of the participants.
Another aspect relates to the concrete conduction of the interviews, for which I have used advertising images to spark the discussion before revealing the actual selfie content. However, these pictures might have acted as a source of distraction, which caused the groups to comment on them considerably and triggered the participants’
focus to shift back to these at several points in time. Even though they were initially used in order to ease the group members into the discussion by starting with the broader
topic before narrowing it down to the specifics, they did not have much in common with the actual research background. However, despite the possible amount of distraction deriving from the presented advertising images, they also enabled the participants to take these factors into consideration when addressing the selfies.
Another aspect was specifically the makeup of Group 2, ages 24 to 27, which consisted of women with a strong feministic background and a high degree of awareness in terms of media images. This caused the overall course of the discussion to be more analytical and allowed only little emotional content to surface. Even though this gave valuable information about connecting the points that selfies share with feminism, patriarchy and society, however, it did make analyzing the emotional components more difficult. This also ties into the general makeup of the interview groups, as almost all of the
participants, with only a few exceptions, had an academic background in social sciences. That being said, most of the women were familiar with media exposure and had a higher degree of awareness regarding media content. This could also act as a source of distortion, as the expressed opinions might not reflect the participants’
viewpoints, but outline more the specific knowledge that they have obtained within an educational environment, which makes it difficult to generalize the results.
Besides the educational background of the participants, another relevant factor is that all of the women were either Finnish or foreigners that have lived in Finland for a longer period of time (six months or more). This might display an additional source of distortion, as all of them were acquainted with the Finnish sauna culture and have experienced it themselves. This also addresses the point stated in the interviews, which describes that seeing naked female bodies in sauna does indeed affect one’s perception of body image. Because the sauna setting enables people to acknowledge the existence of different body types, it further contributes to a person’s understanding that there is not only one uniform standard, as there are various shapes and sizes. Therefore, this study might have had a different outcome if it was conducted with female participants, who have never visited a nude sauna or, generally speaking, a setting in which they would have been confronted with the naked bodies of other women. However, this might not necessarily resemble a negative aspect, as this allows to gain different insight
into the topic, since a point of high relevance was addressed, which can be understood as a contributing factor in regard of the perception of female bodies.
Further, another possible source of bias could derive from the celebrity selfie I have used for the interviews, since not every participant knew the person Kylie Jenner. This was stated within every session at least once, where it is safe to say that it must have influenced the perceptions and emotions regarding the selfie. Therefore, the lack of familiarity with the celebrity might have caused the participants who did not know her, to react differently towards her selfie and express fewer emotions towards it. In this regard it would have been advisable to use a bigger and more well-known celebrity, as for example Rihanna, in order to ensure that all of the participants share the same common ground when discussing the effects of the selfie image. However, despite the fact that not all of the participants were familiar with the celebrity, it might not have been a significant factor in the perceptions of the interview participants, as it was still noticeable that Kylie’s selfie appeared to be more professional and polished than the picture of the non-celebrity.
One major factor that needs to be considered as well is that I have only interviewed women who do not have children of their own. This does not necessarily have to be a crucial factor when addressing body image; however, it can be assumed that it plays a role in how a woman perceives her body. Especially during pregnancy a woman’s body undergoes major changes, where some of them are of permanent nature, such as
stretchmarks or a loss of the elasticity of the skin, which could in turn also affect one’s body image. Because none of the participants have given birth to a child, this could mean that they might have a better perception towards their bodies than women who are mothers. However, this also ties into the assumption that having children could also affect women in a positive way, by moving away from the importance of how their bodies look and more towards what their bodies are actually capable of.
When considering the capabilities of one’s body, sports should also be taken into
consideration. Hereby, none of the participants were excessively active in any sport, nor did they have a regular exercise routine. While some of the women have training habits,
none of them mentioned that they are following a strict routine or structured schedule of physical activity. This could indicate that if a group would have been made up of
women who train, for example yoga, every day, they might have a different perception towards their bodies as well, due to the fact that they are able to acknowledge what their bodies are capable of achieving in sports. However, besides all of the possible sources that could have contributed to the degree of bias, this study still brought back interesting results through the more depth-oriented interview sessions, which allowed me to gain insight into this topic of research.