Participatory research with children aged 3 to 8: Verbal and visual techniques, challenges and opportunities for the youngest voice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7346/-fei-XXI-02-23_15Keywords:
Participatory Action Research, Qualitative research, Visuo-verbal tools, ChildrenAbstract
The objective of this paper is to investigate some techniques that are used in participatory research activities with children ranging from about 3 to 8 years old and to identify strengths and weaknesses based on children's cognitive, emotional and social skills. The aim is to identify what strategies are capable of enabling and promoting but also hindering children's levels of participation, checking which ones and how they enable them to express their experiences and opinions. The challenges associated with participatory techniques will be analysed in order to make informed decisions about the choice of methods and variables that may affect the successful outcome of the research so that it can be defined as "participatory".
References
Alderson, P. (1993). Children’s consent to surgery. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Baptiste, A., Belisle, C., Pechenart, J. M., & Vacheret, C. (1991). Photolangage®: une méthode pour communiquer en groupe par la photo. Les Éditions d’organisation.
Bishop, K. (2014). Challenging research: completing participatory social research with children and adolescents in a hospital setting. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 7(2), 76–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/193758671400700205
Blackburn, H., Hanley, B., & Staley, K. (2010). Turning the pyramid upside down: examples of public involvement in social care research. Eastleigh: INVOLVE. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://www.invo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/INVOLVETurningthe-pyramidOct2010.pdf
Bruner, J. (1991). The narrative construction of reality. Critical inquiry, 18(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1086/448619
Carter, B., & Ford, K. (2013). Researching children’s health experiences: The place for participatory, child‐centered, arts‐based approaches. Research in Nursing & Health, 36(1), 95–107. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.21517
Clark-Ibáñez, M. (2004). Framing the social world with photo-elicitation interviews. American behavioral scientist, 47(12), 1507–1527. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764204266236
Coyne, I., & Carter, B. (Eds.). (2018). Being participatory: Researching with children and young people: Co-constructing knowledge using creative techniques. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71228-4
Driessnack, M. (2005). Children’s drawings as facilitators of communication: a meta-analysis. Journal of pediatric nursing, 20(6), 415–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2005.03.011
Driessnack, M., & Furukawa, R. (2012). Arts‐based data collection techniques used in child research. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 17(1), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6155.2011.00304.x
Eckhoff, A. (Ed.). (2019). Participatory research with young children (Vol. 17). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19365-2
Epstein, I., Stevens, B., McKeever, P. , Baruchel, S., & Jones, H. (2008). Using puppetry to elicit children’s talk for research. Nursing inquiry, 15(1), 49–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1800.2008.00395.x
Fox, R. (2013). Resisting participation: Critiquing participatory research methodologies with young people. Journal of Youth Studies, 16(8), 986–999. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2013.815698
Garbarino, J., & Stott, F. M. (1989). What children can tell us: Eliciting, interpreting, and evaluating information from children. Jossey-Bass.
Goodman, G. S., Quas, J. A., Batterman-Faunce, J. M., Riddlesberger, M. M., & Kuhn, J. (1997). Children’s reactions to and memory for a stressful event: Influences of age, anatomical dolls, knowledge, and parental attachment. Applied Developmental Science, 1(2), 54–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads0102_1
Grion, V., & Cook-Sather, A. (2013). Student Voice. Prospettive internazionali e pratiche emergenti in Italia. Milano: Guerini.
Hanney, L., & Kozlowska, K. (2002). Healing traumatized children: Creating illustrated storybooks in family therapy. Family process, 41(1), 37–65. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2002.40102000037.x
Harper, D. (2002). Talking about pictures: A case for photo elicitation. Visual studies, 17(1), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725860220137345
Kellett, M. (2005). Children as active researchers: a new research paradigm for the 21st century?. ESRC UK. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from: http://oro.open.ac.uk/7539/1/
Kellett, M., Forrest, R., Dent, N., & Ward, S. (2004). ‘Just teach us the skills please, we’ll do the rest’: empowering ten‐year‐olds as active researchers. Children & Society, 18(5), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1002/chi.807
Kelly, W., & Vincent, P. (1995, June). How do we know there is a risk? Issues in the assessment of young child sexual abuse victims. Paper presented at Family Violence Conference, Wellington, New Zealand.
Kim, C. Y. (2016). Why research ‘by’children? Rethinking the assumptions underlying the facilitation of children as researchers. Children & Society, 30(3), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12133
Lundy, L., McEvoy, L., & Byrne, B. (2011). Working with young children as co-researchers: An approach informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Early education & development, 22(5), 714–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2011.596463
McCarry, M. (2012). Who benefits? A critical reflection of children and young people’s participation in sensitive research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 15(1), 55–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2011.568196
McLaughlin, H. (2006). Involving young service users as co-researchers: possibilities, benefits and costs. British Journal of Social Work, 36(8), 1395–1410. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2011.568196
Miller, K. (2015). Dear critics: Addressing concerns and justifying the benefits of photography as a research method. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 16(3), p. 27.
Nelson, K. (1998). Language in cognitive development: The emergence of the mediated mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nigro, G. N., & Wolpow, S. I. (2004). Interviewing young children with props: Prior experience matters. Applied Cognitive Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 18(5), 549–565. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acp.1004
O’Kane, C. (2013). Children’s Participation in the Analysis, Planning, and Design of Programmes: A Guide for Save the Children Staff. Save the Children.
Patterson, T. (1995). Preschoolers’ reports about a past event: The effect of photograph cues and misleading questions [Unpublished honours thesis]. Dunedin (NZ): University of Otago.
Patterson, T., & Hayne, H. (2011). Does drawing facilitate older children’s reports of emotionally laden events?. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(1), 119–126. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1650
Prosser, J. D. (2012). Visual methodology. Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. London: Sage.
Rollins, J. A. (2005). Tell me about it: drawing as a communication tool for children with cancer. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 22(4), 203–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043454205277103
Salmon, K. (2001). Remembering and reporting by children: The influence of cues and props. Clinical Psychology Review, 21(2), 267–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(99)00048-3
Salmon, K., Bidrose, S., & Pipe, M. E. (1995). Providing props to facilitate children′ s event reports: A comparison of toys and real items. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60(1), 174–194. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1995.1037
Schneider, W., & Bjorklund, D. F. (1998). Memory. In W. Damon (Ed.)., Handbook of child psychology, cognition, perception, and language (Vol. 2) (pp. 467–521). New York: Wiley.
Strack, R. W., Magill, C., & McDonagh, K. (2004). Engaging youth through photovoice. Health promotion practice, 5(1), 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839903258015
Taylor, J., & Green, L. (2008). Children, health and gender: recognition in nursing research?. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17(23), 3226–3237.
Thomas-Hughes, H. (2018). Ethical ‘mess’ in co-produced research: reflections from a UK-based case study. International journal of social research methodology, 21(2), 231–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839903258015
Uprichard, E. (2010). Questioning research with children: Discrepancy between theory and practice?. Children & Society, 24(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00187.x
Walker, K., Caine-Bish, N., & Wait, S. (2009). “I like to jump on my trampoline”: an analysis of drawings from 8-to 12-year-old children beginning a weight-management program. Qualitative Health Research, 19(7), 907–917. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732309338404
Wells, F., Ritchie, D., & McPherson, A. C. (2013). ‘It is life threatening but I don’t mind’. A qualitative study using photo elicitation interviews to explore adolescents’ experiences of renal replacement therapies. Child: care, health and development, 39(4), 602–612. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2012.01399.x
Wilson, M. E., Megel, M. E., Barton, P. H., Bell, J., Marget, A., Ranck, S., & Wolf, L. (2007). Revision and psychometric testing of the Barton Hospital Picture Test. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 22(3), 206–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2006.08.006
Wilson, N., Minkler, M., Dasho, S., Wallerstein, N., & Martin, A. C. (2008). Getting to social action: The youth empowerment strategies (YES!) project. Health Promotion Practice, 9(4), 395–403. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839906289072
Yorke, L., & Swords, L. (2012). Advances and challenges in participatory research with vulnerable children in Ireland. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 33(2–3), 94–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/03033910.2012.706796
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Monica Banzato
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Formazione & insegnamento is distributed under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
For further details, please refer to our Repository & Archiving Policy, as well as our Copyright & Licensing Terms.