Table Of ContentUnderstanding
Research with
Children and
Young People
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Understanding
This Reader forms part of The Open University module Research with children
and young people (EK313). This is a 60 credit module and is part of the BA
(Hons) in Childhood and Youth. Details of this and other Open University
modules can be obtained from the Student Registration and Enquiry Service, Research with
The Open University, PO Box 197, Milton Keynes MK7 6BJ, United Kingdom
(tel. +44 (0)845 300 60 90, email [email protected]).
www.open.ac.uk
Children and
Young People
Alison Clark, Rosie Flewitt,
Edited by
Martyn Hammersley and Martin Robb
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Understanding
Research with
Children and
Young People
Alison Clark, Rosie Flewitt,
Edited by
Martyn Hammersley and Martin Robb
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SAGE Publications Ltd © Compilation, original and editorial material, The Open
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Contents
Notes on the Editors and Contributors viii
Acknowledgements xiii
Publisher’s Acknowledgements xiv
Understanding Research with Children and Young People: Introduction 1
Section 1 Critical Issues in Research with Children and
Young People
Introduction 11
1 Images of Childhood and their Influence on Research 15
Mary Kellett
2 What is Research with Children and Young People? 34
Sandy Fraser, Rosie Flewitt and Martyn Hammersley
3 Designing Research for Different Purposes 51
Victoria Cooper
4 Doing Qualitative Research with Children and Young People 69
Sue Bucknall
5 Ethics 85
Priscilla Alderson
Section 2 Methodological Approaches to Research with
Children and Young People
Introduction 103
6 Research Design 107
Martyn Hammersley
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Understanding Research with Children and Young People
7 Participant Observation 122
Heather Montgomery
8 Interviews 136
Rosie Flewitt
9 Working with Texts, Images and Artefacts 154
Helen Hearn and Pat Thomson
10 Methodological Ideas 169
Martyn Hammersley
Section 3 The Reality of Research with Children and
Young People
Introduction 187
11 Perspectives on Parental Involvement: A Discussion of
Practitioner Research 191
Nicola Smith
12 Developing and Adapting the Mosaic Approach 200
Alison Clark
13 Inventing Adulthoods: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study of
Growing Up 210
Sheila Henderson and Rachel Thomson
14 Young Lives: Reflections on Quantitative Research in
Education within a Longitudinal International Study 222
Caine Rolleston
Section 4 Engaging Audiences and Disseminating Findings:
The Impact of Research
Introduction 233
15 Disseminating Research: Shaping the Conversation 237
Martin Robb
16 Achieving Policy Impact: Researching Children’s Issues at EU Level 250
Sandy Ruxton
vi
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Contents
17 Transformative Dialogues: The Impact of Participatory Research
on Practice 269
Chris Pascal and Tony Bertram
18 Engaging Children and Young People in Research 285
Alex Mann, Joseph Liley and Mary Kellett
Index 305
vii
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Notes on the Editors and
Contributors
Priscilla Alderson (Institute of Education, University of London)
Priscilla Alderson is a research sociologist at the Institute of Education, Univer-
sity of London. She has been involved in health care research ethics since 1981
and more recently in the ethics of social and educational research. Her publica-
tions include Young Children’s Rights (2008 Jessica Kingsley), The Ethics of
Research with Children and Young People: A Practical Handbook (with V. Mor-
row, 2011 Sage) and Childhoods Real and Imagined: An Introduction to Critical
Realism and Childhood Studies (2013 Routledge).
Tony Bertram (CREC Centre for Research in Early Childhood, Birmingham)
Professor Dr Tony Bertram is Co-Director of CREC and Co-ordinating Editor of
the SSCI-rated EECERA journal. He has worked extensively at national level
with organisations including the UK government, QCA and Ofsted and he has a
particular interest in cross national, European early childhood projects. He is
currently working with Professor Chris Pascal to develop policy and assessment
modules as part of the upcoming Early Childhood Education Study (ECES)
which will offer comparative data of early childhood systems across the world.
Sue Bucknall (Independent Consultant)
Formerly a Research Associate attached to the Children’s Research Centre at
The Open University, UK, Sue Bucknall is now working as an independent
researcher. She maintains a strong interest in the involvement of children and
young people in the research process and acts as a consultant academic tutor
supporting young researchers who undertake empirical research in their own
schools and communities.
Alison Clark (The Open University)
Alison Clark is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies at The Open University.
Her research interests include children’s experience of place, school design and
the development of participatory research methods across the life course. She
developed the Mosaic approach with Peter Moss, first published in 2001. Recent
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Notes on the Editors and Contributors
studies have included involving young children and adults in the design and
review of schools.
Victoria Cooper (The Open University)
Victoria Cooper is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies at The Open
University. She has a background in early years teaching and professional devel-
opment. Her research interests broadly fall into two areas: professional practice
in education and identity development. Victoria has published on professional
development in higher and early years education and children’s developing
identity.
Rosie Flewitt (Institute of Education, University of London)
Rosie Flewitt is a Senior Lecturer in Early Years and Primary Education at the
Institute of Education, University of London, and a member of the London
Knowledge Lab. Her research interests include young children’s language,
communication and literacy development in contemporary society, with a
focus on ethnographic approaches, multimodal methodologies and research
ethics.
Sandy Fraser (The Open University)
Sandy Fraser is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The
Open University. He has previously worked as a children and families social
worker in Wales and England, and in academic social work research in Scotland.
His current research interests relate to children, and personalisation and self-
directed support in health and social care.
Martyn Hammersley (The Open University)
Martyn Hammersley is Professor of Educational and Social Research at The
Open University. His early research was in the sociology of education. Later work
has been concerned with the methodological issues surrounding social and edu-
cational enquiry. These include objectivity, partisanship and bias, and the role of
research in relation to policymaking and practice. More recently he has investi-
gated ethical issues in social research and how the news media represent social
science research findings.
Helen Hearn (University of Nottingham)
Helen Hearn is a final year PhD student in the School of Education at the
University of Nottingham. She has studied early years education, psychology and
research methods in education, and is a student editor for the Nottingham
Jubilee Press. Her research focuses on primary and secondary-school-aged girls’
views of bullying and coping strategies, and on pupil voice.
ix
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