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15 - Methodological and ethical issues arising in carrying out research with children and young people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2014

By
Sinéad Hanafin ,
Anne Marie Brooks ,
Gillian Roche  and
Bairbre Meaney
Edited by
Roger Tourangeau ,
Brad Edwards ,
Timothy P. Johnson ,
Kirk M. Wolter  and
Nancy Bates
Sinéad Hanafin
Affiliation:
Trinity College Dublin
Anne Marie Brooks
Affiliation:
Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Republic of Ireland
Gillian Roche
Affiliation:
Central Statistics Office, Republic of Ireland
Bairbre Meaney
Affiliation:
Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Republic of Ireland
Roger Tourangeau
Affiliation:
Westat Research Organisation, Maryland
Brad Edwards
Affiliation:
Westat Research Organisation, Maryland
Timothy P. Johnson
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Chicago
Kirk M. Wolter
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Nancy Bates
Affiliation:
US Census Bureau
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Summary

Introduction and background

This chapter draws on key issues emerging from a National Children’s Research Programme (NCRP) to identify methodological, practical, and ethical challenges when designing and implementing research studies with, and about, children and young people. The chapter commences with a brief overview of the NCRP with a summary of the key studies referred to in this chapter presented in the Appendix. More than sixty studies were carried out under the NCRP across areas of children’s lives as diverse as their outcomes (including, for example, health, education, and safety), their relationships (for example, with their peers, families, and others), and services (for example, universal, targeted, and more intensive supports). Consequently, it is possible to draw out learning across multiple methodologies, methods, and analyses, and highlight challenges arising across several aspects of study design and implementation. The chapter is illustrative rather than comprehensive and focuses on those studies that best exemplify issues arising.

The overview is followed by issues in study design, including challenges in ensuring meaningful participation by children and young people, tensions arising between protection of children and their participation, issues arising in consent, assent and re-consent, and a consideration of confidentiality, anonymity, and privacy in the context of children’s research. Challenges in study implementation are focused around areas such as sampling and recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination. The chapter concludes that while research with, and about, children raises challenges over and above that with adults, these can be overcome with appropriate consideration. The examples presented in this chapter can provide practical guidance in these areas.

Type
Chapter
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Hard-to-Survey Populations , pp. 316 - 346
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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