Redefining empirical research with/for children in health education

Abstract

Nowadays children are the focus of intense research. Some researchers perceive research with and about children as being just the same as the research with and about adults, other researchers see it as being entirely different, and other researchers are in between these two extremes. The way researchers perceive children and childhood has implications for the research process and affect the ways of listing them. In this conference, differences between research with adults and children will be discussed, giving particular emphasis to issues of ethics and imposing researcher’s perceptions (critical reflection of the use of ‘child centered’ methods), validity/reliability (children may exaggerate or lie to please the researcher), language clarity (language appropriate to children’s age), research context (setting where children are at easy), building rapport (empathy making to create a trusting zone of rapport), data analysis (care to interpret children’s perspectives), appropriate research methods (using children’s preferred methods and familiar sources). Research task-based methods make research fun for children and tap into their interests. Some task-based methods will be presented and discussed: drawings, photographs, spider diagrams, diaries, interviews and questionnaires. In short, even considering that children are socially competent actors, researchers must be critically aware of the reasons why research with children may be, in some aspects, different from that with adults.