Before the 17th century, children were perceived as mini-adults - not children as we know it today. Philippe Aries, a French historian, argued that “childhood” is a social construct – something that is created as a result of social norms and values and Jean Piaget, a central figure in developmental psychology, argued that children are not mini-adults and that their minds are not that of an adult on a small scale and along came the concept of 'children'. 

These two perspectives together paint a picture that children are in fact different to adults, and process information differently. Therefore, when carrying out a research project involving children, researchers must be mindful of this and should be able to adapt their approach. When considering a research project with children, researchers must at all times be mindful of the following in order to be able to extract as much insight as possible:

  • Ethical consideration
  • Language used
  • Methodology & engagement with children

First and foremost, researchers should always consider ethics within a research project. As part of this exercise, researchers should be able to identify any topics as part of a research project that could cause a breach to ethical guidelines that the researcher follows – whether they are those of an association/society they are affiliated with, or those of the organisations they are commissioned by to conduct the research project. Researchers must carefully design research tools (such as questionnaires and discussion guides) that ensure the safety and welfare of the participants is secured. 

When carrying out research with children, observation usually occurs, this can either be from a distance in the same room or from a different room with or without a 2-way mirror. Ethical consideration and protocols will vary depending on the nature of the project, but researchers should always be prepared if a participant, even a child, discloses information that could put them at harm.

Secondly, communication between researchers and children is vital. The use of long and complicated sentences aren’t comprehended in the same way as adults do. Segment your questions if they have multiple aspects, use short sentences to avoid confusion among children, this is also vital for retaining attention of children and keeps them focused.

Lastly, use a mixture of methods to enable you, as a researcher, to get children engaged – as a result, this will generate plenty of insight into the views and attitudes of children. Using a simple methodological format for an adult will not work well with children, so employ different methods such as post-it note exercises, Q-methodology, and even an exercise that will get them to move to different areas of the room as a form of responding to a question. At a training event I recently attended, the course instructors explained how asking children a question and allowing them to move to different areas of the room that had allocated responses (e.g. left side of the room = strongly agree, right side of the room = strongly disagree, middle of the room = neither agree nor disagree) helped the children engage more in the topic. Researchers are also able to ask children why they moved to one area and not the other.

Being creative is key to engaging with children and young people. For help designing and implementing research with children talk to our social research team today about your brief.