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In conversation - Material Methods 6: Professor Sophie Woodward and Jolene Sheehan.
No full textIn this video, Professor Sophie Woodward is in conversation with Jolene Sheehan, of Joy Ethic and Stories of our Lives. Sophie and Jolene introduce what story telling methods are and what role objects can play in getting people to tell stories. They talk specifically about working with community groups and this is an ideal resource for those who lead or work with community groups (or are planning to) and are looking for new methods to try. These methods can help with doing research, as ice-breakers, or just getting people to develop connections with each other as a tool to enhance well being
Digital Methods of Working with Children: Ethics, Rights and Responsibilities
Full text linkThis guidance paper outlines some of the ethical considerations relating to the use of digital methods for researching with children. It is Guidance Paper 4 in the series The Ethics of Research Involving Children: Common Questions, Potential Strategies and Useful Guidance.
Given the fast-paced development of technology and digital media, in this paper we encourage researchers to consider ethical issues as they apply to their chosen digital method and study design.
The Internet is now an integral part of children’s everyday lives, and its importance, as both the subject of and tool for research, will only increase. In the UK alone, an Ofcom report reveals that more than half of children are online by the age of three, and from 12 years old onwards 99% of children have used the internet. Children use the Internet for a variety of purposes: education, communication, information-sharing, entertainment, gaming, creative outlets, shopping, and more. Hence, many children find it easier to ‘be themselves’ online, and have been shown to love the use of digital technology. They also tend to be quicker in adapting to and learning to use new technology than other age groups. It is absolutely essential, therefore, that researchers develop their capacities to deploy digital resources, to enable them to engage with children in the online spaces they so readily occupy.
The use of digital media has implications beyond providing practical, effective tools for researchers’ interactions with children though; it can shift the power dynamics of the researcher/child relationship by “positively exploiting children’s natural capabilities to engage with and respond to digital media in a way that may far exceed normal adult researchers’ capabilities”.
Despite this, protocols for the use of digital research methods are still developing, and researchers still struggle to develop ethically robust and creative approaches to digital-based research. Ethics committees have well-founded concerns that the use of online media presents additional risks to the safety of the child and the integrity of the research. This guidance paper seeks to respond to some of these concerns and identifies some potential strategies to overcome them
Obtaining Consent in Research involving Children – Understanding the Legal and Ethical Framework
Full text linkThis guidance paper describes the importance of obtaining consent from and on behalf of child participants involved in research. It is Guidance Paper 2 in the series The Ethics of Research Involving Children: Common Questions, Potential Strategies and Useful Guidance.
Ethical research considers the international and domestic law, as well as ethical and professional, obligations towards ensuring that participants provide valid consent. Issues around consent are paramount in research ethics applications. The law and ethics of consent are not just about ensuring that the child is fully aware of the implications of his or her involvement in the research and is kept safe (which might necessitate obtaining consent also from adults with parental responsibility); it is equally about ensuring that overly paternalistic approaches to consent are avoided, as such approaches may unintentionally undermine children’s autonomy and prevent children from making decisions and expressing themselves on their own terms. As the ESRC notes in its ethical guidance: “Researchers should consider the ethics implications of silencing and excluding children from research.”
Beazley et al. (2009: 370) refer to this as children’s right to be ‘properly researched’ which ‘translates into: children being participants in research, using methods that make it easy for them to express their opinions, views and experiences and being protected from harm.
In Conversation with Ann Oakley: Timescapes 10 Festival
Full text linkThis video features Professor Ann Oakley of University College London in conversation with Dr Kahryn Hughes of the University of Leeds and Professor Anna Tarrant of the University of Lincoln.
The conversation was recorded for the Timescapes 10 Festival, which took place on 5-16 September 2022 and was organised by the Timescapes Archive at the University of Leeds.
The themes of the conversation were gender, family and legacy. The conversation was filmed at University College London on 15 June 2022
Dan Woodman on mixed and qualitative longitudinal approaches
Full text linkIn this episode of the Methods podcast, host Catherine McDonald talks to Dan Woodman, Associate Professor of Sociology at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Dan is an internationally recognised authority on conceptualising generational change and the social conditions impacting our young adults.
Dan discusses explains what drew him to his area of study, why iterative models are so important in longitudinal research and how reciprocity can help reduce attrition. He also talks about his approach to writing and being wary of allowing the data to simply say what you want it to say.
This series of the Methods podcast is produced by the National Centre for Research Methods as part of the EU Horizon2020 funded YouthLife project, and is looking at how researchers can do better longitudinal research on youth transitions.
For further information on the YouthLife project, visit www.EUqualimix.ncrm.ac.u
Recruiting Children for Research: How, Where and Why?
Full text linkThis paper addresses the ethical issues in the context of recruiting children for research. It is Guidance Paper 5 in the series The Ethics of Research Involving Children: Common Questions, Potential Strategies and Useful Guidance
JD Carpentieri on qualitative research and theory
Full text linkIn this episode of the Methods podcast, host Catherine McDonald talks to JD Carpentieri, Associate Professor of Social Science and Policy in the Department of Education, Practice and Society at University College London, and an Honorary Research Associate at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
JD talks about how qualitative research can add nuance to theory, which questions he feels are best suited to mixed methods longitudinal research and he shares his top tip on keeping participants on board. He also explains how he likes to try different analytic techniques for different studies.
This series of the Methods podcast is produced by the National Centre for Research Methods as part of the EU Horizon2020 funded YouthLife project, and is looking at how researchers can do better longitudinal research on youth transitions.
For further information on the YouthLife project, visit www.EUqualimix.ncrm.ac.u
Mobile Apps and Sensors in Surveys workshop keynote: The Promise of Activity Space Approaches
Full text linkIn this video, Professor Kathleen Cagney of the University of Michigan delivers a presentation titled The Promise of Activity Space Approaches: Urban/Rural Comparisons and Implications for Research on Context.
The talk was among the keynote presentations at the Mobile Apps and Sensors in Surveys (MASS) workshop, which took place at The University of Manchester on 22-23 June 2023
NCRM Bitesize Lessons for Teaching Social Science Research Methods 4: Teaching Digital Methods to Students without Technology Backgrounds
Full text linkThis document is the fourth guide in the series NCRM Bitesize Lessons for Teaching Social Science Research Methods. It focuses on digital methods.
While there is no consensus on a single definition, the term ‘digital methods’ is frequently attributed to Richard Rogers at the University of Amsterdam. He advocates for the use of digitally native data, such as social media posts, geolocation data, and web search results, to explore broader social and cultural issues.
Those who subscribe to this definition usually differentiate between digital methods and virtual methods. The latter refers to digitised extensions of traditional methods, such as online surveys and interviews. Consequently, digital methods are often associated with large datasets and computational techniques.
However, this guide adopts a more inclusive perspective, encompassing digital ethnography and other qualitative approaches
NCRM Bitesize Lessons for Teaching Social Science Research Methods 2: Experiential Learning
Full text linkThis document is the second guide in the series NCRM Bitesize Lessons for Teaching Social Science Research Methods. It focuses on experiential learning.
Experiential learning is rooted in the idea that experience plays a critical role in learning. The core idea is that you learn by doing and by reflecting on that doing. The experience in experiential learning tends to be in an authentic context or, if it has to be simulated, readily translatable to an authentic context. Experiences thus support holistic learning and this kind of learning is often contrasted with more fragmented, classroom-based or textbook style learning.
The underpinning ideas include:
• Learners benefit from exposure to (or immersion in) novel experiences and real-world problems that make the learning meaningful to them. Dialogue with others helps them to make sense of what they are learning.
• To learn something we need to experience it. In experiential learning (rather than just active learning), the learning is grounded in experience in an ongoing way.
• The theory of Kolb, that is, that there is a learning cycle involving experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. In this way the student is able to act on their learning in an applied way.
• The theory of Schön about the need for reflection to inform professional practice