If you were a teacher, it would be harder to talk to you: reflections on qualitative research with children in school

Abstract

This paper provides a researcher's account of the qualitative methods used in a research project which aimed to establish how children define and make sense of the concept 'family', from a sociological perspective. Research was carried out with 183 children aged between 8 and 14 in schools in two parts of eastern England; a rural area and a large town with a significant population of British Muslims originating from Mirpur and Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. This paper aims to contribute to growing debates about methods and methodologies for working with children. The paper gives the background to the study and then describes the methods used. It then discusses the issues of working with children from minority ethnic backgrounds. It explores some ethical considerations, focusing on issues of informed consent. The paper concludes with a brief reflection on the researcher's role in research with children and discusses children's views on being involved in a research project.