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How Can Children Tell Us about Their Wellbeing? Exploring the Potential of Participatory Research Approaches within 'Young Lives'

Authors :
Crivello, Gina
Camfield, Laura
Woodhead, Martin
Source :
Social Indicators Research. Jan 2009 90(1):51-72.
Publication Year :
2009

Abstract

"Wellbeing" is a key concept in the study of children's lives over time, given its potential to link the objective, subjective, and inter-subjective dimensions of their experiences in ways that are holistic, contextualized and longitudinal. For this reason wellbeing is one of the core concepts used by Young Lives, a 15-year project (2000-2015) that follows the lives of 12,000 children growing up in the context of poverty in Ethiopia, Peru, Vietnam and Andhra Pradesh (India) (see http://www.younglives.org.uk). This paper examines a selection of methods being used by Young Lives to capture aspects of child wellbeing in the context of a range of children's life experiences related to poverty, specific risks and protective processes. It draws on a review of the literature on child-focused methods and on recent experiences piloting three core qualitative methods in the four study countries. The paper reports the development of a methodology that is child-centred, but also acknowledges that every child is embedded within a network of social and economic relationships.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0303-8300
Volume :
90
Issue :
1
Database :
ERIC
Journal :
Social Indicators Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
EJ813582
Document Type :
Journal Articles<br />Reports - Evaluative
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9312-x