Research Skills for Studying Different Stages of Childhoood

Before research even begins, there are important issues to consider that are influenced by the age of the participants and may impact on the research and how or if it takes place.  One of these is the issue of consent.  In early childhood, it is important to get the parents’ consent.   It is also important to look for any indication that the child does not want to take part.  (Study Guide p.76).   At this stage of childhood, the likelihood is that the children cannot give their verbal consent and if they can, this consent is not likely to be well informed or fully understood.  In this instance, the researcher should observe the body language of children to ensure that they are happy to participate at all times.  This is a special research skill that must be adapted to the age of the children being studied.  They must also take into account that children may hide their dislike of taking part in a study (Langston et.al., 2004).  In the ‘Birth to Three Matters’ government framework, it is suggested that researchers should ‘look, listen and note the body language of babies’. (DfES, 2002a).

  By comparison, when working with young people, they are verbally able to give their consent.  However, there is some debate of whether this is informed consent.  Often below the ages of eighteen, parents are still required to give consent.  However, this is decided by the moral judgement and ethics of the researcher, as some believe that to deny the young person the opportunity to participate in research if they wish to do so is denying the rights of the child. (France, 2004) The first difference in researching different age groups to identify is the level of participation that a child is able to have in the research at the different stages of childhood.  For instance, children in the phases of middle childhood and young people, the participants of the research are able to understand verbal questioning and are able to respond verbally.  In early childhood, the participants may be unable to do either of these, or at the very least have a lesser ability to do so.  In the research by Takei, the children studied were under one year of age and the signs that they were using were unrecognisable.  In this instance, Takei had to devise a method of interpreting and analysing their gestures.   This required Takei to develop skills of interpretation and to gain knowledge of typical behaviour of children of this age.  (Takei,2001).   During middle childhood, competence could be considered to be more difficult to define as levels of maturity and ability vary so much across the age range and between individuals. There is some concern about the reliability of answers to questions with this age group, although some evidence suggests that if the children are questioned at an appropriate level using words they understand, their answers will be appropriate and relevant.  The skill that the researcher needs to adapt here is to adopt the most appropriate techniques and methods of questioning the children, taking into account their maturity and ability.  This may even vary within the same research group.  (Kellett and Ding, 2002).  By comparison, Young people are often considered to be competent to participate in research.  However, similarly to when working with children in middle childhood, young people’s levels of maturity and ability may vary.  France, 2002, highlights the issue of young people with Learning Difficulties.  They may fit into the age category, but their level of maturity and ability may differ from others in this category.  Conversely, this does not mean that the are irrelevant to the study.  Their responses may be equally as relevant and appropriate and may give a greater insight to the subject of the research.  However, in general, it can be expected that there is a natural progression between stages of the level of participation a child can make- babies being less active participants than an eighteen year old, for instance.  Again, the skill is for the researcher to make a judgement based on a number of factors on how best to approach their research and what methodology to use. The methods used for the research, and the skills required for this, may vary greatly depending on the ages of the children being researched.  Clark, 2000, used the Mosaic approach.  This was a mixture of six different methods of collecting data about children between the ages of four to six (an overlap of early and middle childhood)- child conferencing, children taking photographs, observation, tours, map-making and interviews.  The aim was to find methods which played to the children’s strengths rather than their weaknesses.  This almost appears to be research of how to research early childhood.  Clark learned that some methods that she felt uncomfortable with and  didn’t expect to be beneficial, were actually very insightful into children and were excellent methods to use.  This research supported the view that young children are both participatory and intelligent and it demonstrated that a skill in working with young children is adaptability and flexibility.   Langston et.al., 2002, also note that the onus is on the researcher to decide if the research method is fit for purpose.  When working with young children, there are methods that can be used to overcome the issue of the participants not being able to give verbal responses.  For example, Langston et. al., give the example of research undertaken by Wynn, 1992.  When studying whether children under one could do basic addition and subtraction, because the children couldn’t respond verbally, Wynn used objects and observed how long children looked at things for.  This shows how researchers need to think creatively about their research methods.  In middle childhood, Kellet and Ding, 2002, highlight the issue of finding appropriate techniques that don’t patronise the children.  They also suggest that the choice of technique may impact upon the power balance between the researcher and the children.  For instance, when using interview as a method with children in a school setting, confusion between the roles of the researcher and the teacher may influence their responses and in this instance the power balance is acute.  In Kellett and Ding’s opinion, traditionally used techniques should be adapted by the researcher when researching children.  For example, when using questionnaires, researchers need to ensure that the questions and responses are accessible to all the children and not make assumptions about the children’s reading abilities.  In the case of interviews, some alternative methods that are suggested as being appropriate by Kellett and Ding are role playing, use of pictures, drawing and providing sentence starters.  It is thought that if the wrong interviewing technique is used with children in this age group, that the data collected may incorrect  and provide a misrepresentation of the children.  Another point to consider in middle childhood is the level of control that children have over their own lives.  It is expected that teenagers will have a certain amount of control, but this right cannot be presumed in middle childhood.  This will have an impact on the methods of research used and how empowered the children are as active participants. (Study Guide, p.89). When researching young people, one difficulty that a researcher can face is that teenagers may be embarrassed or self-conscious about discussing themselves and their lives.  One skill a researcher may be required to acquire is the skill of building relationships with young people to develop trust and respect.  A researcher must also be aware of other factors in a young person’s life that may impact on the research.  I feel another skill is to maintain the young person’s interest in the study.   An excellent example of how this skill has been deployed successfully is the research of Evans and Norman, 2002, who researched pedestrian safety with young people.  They used theatre and drama to role play situations with young people.  This method was used due to the researchers’ skills.  It not only maintained the interest and enthusiasm of the young people in the research, it developed their thinking skills and helped them to learn about road safety. There may also be negative connotations attached to young people.  It is important that the researcher is skilled enough to recognise these negative stereotypes and discount them before beginning the study as this may impact on the way in which the study is conducted and the hypotheses or assumptions of the researcher.  A study that is designed to prove negative aspects of young people can be harmful to young people.  Therefore, it is important to take into consideration positive aspects of young people. Another important aspect of research with young people, of which there seems to be much emphasis, is protecting the young people from harm.  At some level, this is relevant to all three stages of childhood.  However, with young people, they are particularly at risk of being vulnerable and at risk of harm. France, 2002, advocates the importance of  protecting young people from harm and reminds us that if disclosures are made it is an necessity that these are reported in an appropriate manner.   France also stresses the importance that researchers working with young people must use the research to give young people a voice. It is important to note that although many differences have been highlighted, some skills required for research are common to all three stages of childhood.  For example, in the opinion of Roberts, 2000, listening skills are a vital skill when interviewing regardless of the age of the children.   It could be considered that all communications skills are vital to good research and this would apply to all three stages of childhood.  Another similarity to note is that with all the stages of childhood, deciding the appropriate research method to use is vital in ensuring that the data collected is relevant and accurate.