Louca-Mai Brady - Social research with children and young people: A practical guide

First published in Great Britain in 2019 by

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Policy Press 2019

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ISBN 978-1-4473-5114-6 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4473-5115-3 (ePub)
ISBN 978-1-4473-5116-0 (Mobi)

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Dr Louca-Mai Brady is a Research Associate at Kingston University and St Georges Joint Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education and an independent research consultant. She has had a long career in research with children and young people and her research interests include health and social care, disability and participative research methods. Louca-Mais research career to date has focused on social research which has practical applications for policy and practice. She is interested in research as a tool for social change, both through undertaking research which has direct relevance to children and young peoples lived experience and using participatory approaches to support childrens and young peoples involvement in the research process. Her work has included research and evaluation projects both about and with diverse groups of children and young people, including young disabled people, young people with experience of substance misuse treatment and those affected by adverse childhood experiences.

In 2017 she was awarded a PhD for a participative research study on embedding children and young peoples participation in health services and research, in which young people were involved as young advisers and in co-production workshops alongside health professionals. As a researcher, consultant and trainer Louca-Mai seeks to put children and young peoples experiences, and childrens rights, at the heart of research.

Berni Graham is an independent senior researcher, with 18 years experience of research and evaluation, specialising in issues affecting children and young people and their families. This follows a lengthy career in social policy and health. Berni is particularly interested in capturing the voices of those least often heard, and helping these to be reflected in policy, practice and service delivery. She has worked with diverse groups from all backgrounds. Berni designs and conducts research and evaluations for a range of UK agencies, including the Department of Education, Contact, Mencap, National Childrens Bureau (NCB), Mind, Princes Trust, Sure Start and Ipsos-Mori, and covers a variety of subjects, including physical and mental health, learning and physical disability, poverty, young carers, looked after children, education, early years and special needs. She often adopts a mixed methodology, including qualitative, quantitative and creative methods and evidence reviews to help ensure all perspectives are explored. She regularly gets asked to advise and support other agencies on method and tool design.

Along with Louca-Mai, Berni co-designs and delivers several courses a year for the Social Research Association (SRA), training researchers on doing research with children and young people and public involvement. She previously designed and delivered training for the NCB, Princes Trust and other agencies. She has also trained several groups of young people as peer researchers, including a group of care leavers.

She is a co-writer of the SRA revised ethical guidelines (due in 2019).

There is increasing interest in childrens and young peoples participation in research, both as direct sources of data and through their active involvement in, and input into, research design and processes. The book is designed to be of practical assistance to researchers undertaking social research and evaluation with children and young people. It also provides research users (for example policy makers and practitioners), commissioners and others with an understanding of the key issues to consider when using or commissioning social research and evaluation with children and young people. It provides an overview of the theoretical and UK legal and policy context, and provides a practical overview of key ethical, methodological and other considerations, including the use of creative, inclusive and participative research approaches

In developing and writing this book we have drawn on our own extensive practical experience of social research and evaluation with a wide variety of children and young people, using a range of methods and methodologies. We also draw on the questions and issues raised by participants on the training courses we have been running for the Social Research Association for several years, particularly calls for clear, practical guidance. The book therefore includes examples and checklists to aid readers in understanding how to apply the points in this book to their own research and evaluation studies. While it is intended to be an introductory overview, this book provides extensive links to further reading and other sources of information.

As well as ensuring that children and young people generally get a voice, we both have a particular interest in capturing the realities and perceptions of more vulnerable and marginalised children and young people. This includes disabled children and young people, those growing up in poverty, those affected by adverse childhood experiences and others who are disadvantaged, socially excluded and/or have additional needs. Therefore, this book has a focus on making research and evaluation with children and young people as inclusive, accessible and wide-reaching as possible in its coverage of recruitment, ethical issues, designing appropriate methods and tools, reporting and dissemination.

We also have a keen interest in, and extensive experience of, promoting and supporting the involvement of children and young people in all stages of the research process. The book therefore explores both children and young people as research subjects (as a source of data) and their involvement in the research process.