Friday May Julia Waldman, Senior Research Fellow Participative approaches to research involving young people

The session route Conceptualising how to do it – a principled framework Why participative approaches Ethics and practicalities - drawing on project examples A design challenge

A framework for conducting youth related research on, for, with, by Veto – a choice to say yes or no Consultation – opportunities to express views Involvement – views are expressed and taken into account Partnership – participants work with researchers to construct the research Control – participants lead the research, researcher as consultant or adviser or doer

Roles in the framework are not static – may be phases of involvement by users in research Design Delivery Dissemination

Why participation? It’s a ‘good thing’ so says UNCRC and policy (Children and Young Persons’ Unit Who can speak for whom? Challenges historical objectification of youth and adolescence in research (Griffin, 1997) Give and take

Ethics and practicalities Lifestage issues Status of young person Access Consent Safety Power, control Credibility – politics of research

Examples of research involving young people Sexual Health needs Community needs Behaviour Resource Service evaluation West Sussex audit of CP Post

Examples of useful articles/sites via the web Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Patient Involvement in enhancing service provision research in practice – Quality Protects Research Briefings – Young People’s Participation (2000) Trust for the Study of Adolescence ESRC’s- Youth, Citizenship and Social Change - an innovative, multi-disciplinary research programme focussing on processes of social inclusion and social exclusion (98-01) Youth Influence.com (Canadian site) Research on Youth Participation Youth. Gov. (Australian portal) Save the Children - Worrall, S. (2000) Young People as Researchers- Learning Resource Pack Kirby, P. (1999) Involving Young Researchers - How to Enable Young People to Design and Conduct Research Interviewing Strategies with Young People: the ‘Secret Box’, Stimulus Material and Task-based Activities, Samantha Punch, Children & Society, 2002, Vol. 16, This is a research article with obvious potential for child care practitioners. Punch reports on a Scottish project involving 86 young people aged years, of whom 55 were from two mainstream schools and 31 were in residential care. The interest of this work stems from the techniques that the author used in group and individual interviews to obtain their views on a range of problem areas and on possible sources of help. What emerges is not a best method but some practical ideas about how young people can be helped to make their voices heard