This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Grover, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Why Won’t They Listen to Us?

On Giving Power and Voice to Children Participating in Social Research

Lakehead University

This article discusses the need for authentic social research with children given the fact that increasingly such research is being relied on to inform social policy which profoundly affects the lives of children. Authentic research is operationalized in this article as that research which gives power and voice to child research participants and which provides insights into their subjective world. Such research allows the children to a degree to be ‘subject’ or ‘collaborator’ in the research process rather than simply study ‘object’. Giving power and voice to children in the research context involves issues of research methodology and opportunities to contribute to research agendas and ethics guidelines such that the need and right to be heard is better met. Empathetic understanding in research with children as a byproduct of combining quantitative approaches with the phenomenological perspective is also discussed.

Key Words: children’s right to be heard • phenomenology • qualitative research • research methods • social research

Childhood, Vol. 11, No. 1, 81-93 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0907568204040186


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Dockett, J. Einarsdottir, and B. Perry researching with children: ethical tensions Journal of Early Childhood Research, October 1, 2009; 7(3): 283 - 298. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. A. Powell and A. B. Smith Children's Participation Rights in Research Childhood, February 1, 2009; 16(1): 124 - 142. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L.-A. Gallacher and M. Gallagher Methodological Immaturity in Childhood Research?: Thinking through `participatory methods' Childhood, November 1, 2008; 15(4): 499 - 516. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Miller Book Review: Neerosh Mudaly and Chris Goddard, The Truth is Longer than a Lie: Children's Experiences of Abuse and Professional Interventions. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006. 188 pp. ISBN 1843103176 Qualitative Social Work, June 1, 2008; 7(2): 254 - 260. [PDF]

				F. A. Carnevale, M. E. Macdonald, M. Bluebond-Langner, and P. McKeever Using participant observation in pediatric health care settings: ethical challenges and solutions J Child Health Care, March 1, 2008; 12(1): 18 - 32. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Pole Researching Children and Fashion: An embodied ethnography Childhood, February 1, 2007; 14(1): 67 - 84. [Abstract] [PDF]

				G. Mantle, J. Leslie, S. Parsons, J. Plenty, and R. Shaffer Establishing Children's Wishes and Feelings for Family Court Reports: The significance attached to the age of the child Childhood, November 1, 2006; 13(4): 499 - 518. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Dixon-Woods, B. Young, and E. Ross Researching chronic childhood illness: the example of childhood cancer Chronic Illness, September 1, 2006; 2(3): 165 - 177. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Vandenbroeck and M. B.-D. Bie Children's Agency and Educational Norms: A tensed negotiation Childhood, February 1, 2006; 13(1): 127 - 143. [Abstract] [PDF]