How Far have we come in respecting young Children in our research?: A Meta-Analysis of Reported early Childhood Research Practice from 2009 to 2012

Abstract

THIS PAPER SUMMARISES THE reporting of early childhood (EC) research practices through a meta-analysis of 10 scholarly international EC education journals. The analysis included 506 peer-reviewed primary research articles published between 2009 and 2012 (inclusive) involving young children between the ages of birth and eight years. These were reviewed for child status within research, researcher perspective of children involved in research and respectful research culture within EC research. This review provides a broad picture of how young children are currently being involved in research and whether an ideological shift towards more participatory approaches is filtering through to EC research practice. The results indicated that for child status, 96.6 per cent of articles positioned young children in traditional roles as non-participant objects of research (64.6 per cent) and semi-participant subjects (32.0 per cent). Only 3.4 per cent of studies positioned children in inclusive, participatory roles as social actors (3.0 per cent) and co-researchers (0.4 per cent). Similarly, for researcher perspective, 70.2 per cent of articles were identified as research conducted on children, with the remaining 29.8 per cent as research with or by children. In terms of research culture, 89.7 per cent of articles were non-respectful by focusing on what children could do for the research, rather than valuing the children themselves. These results highlight a gap between rights-based EC research literature and the way in which research is being reported with young children. A new Rights-based Research Accountability Framework is presented to assist researchers in understanding how well their research upholds children's rights principles and what areas need to be addressed to transition towards more inclusive approaches.

The views of children and young people on the use of silk garments for the treatment of eczema: a nested qualitative study within the CLOTH ing for the relief of Eczema Symptoms ( CLOTHES ) randomized controlled trial

“…In terms of relevance to other studies, while many researchers aspire to include children in meaningful ways – for example Hussain – a recent review of 506 peer‐reviewed studies conducted between 2009 and 2012 involving children aged 0–8 years analysed child positioning, researcher perspective and level of respectful culture in each study, concluding that only 3·4% positioned children in inclusive, participatory roles . Our study demonstrates that children can be included in research even from a relatively young age.…”

“…Historically, children have been viewed as dependent and vulnerable objects of study, with primary informants typically being parents or clinicians . There are increasing calls for children to be actively involved in research studies, but evidence suggests children are frequently not engaged in meaningful ways . Health research is often undertaken on rather than with children, or their experiences are extrapolated or subsumed within adults’ views.…”

Factors influencing quality of life in children with low‐flow vascular malformations: a qualitative study using focus groups

“…The qualitative design of our study satisfies the growing recent interest in qualitative research in children, 36 specifically in dermatology 37‐42 . FGs are particularly suited to children; indeed in their study of atopic dermatitis, Wake et al reported that children were eager to express their feelings and converse with doctors/psychologists and were able to talk about their experiences concisely, when given access to age‐appropriate means of communication 22‐26,37 .…”

Bidirectional Collaborations in an Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial Performed in the Swedish Early Childhood Education Context

“…The widespread idea that an RCT methodology is performed on rather than with children was now challenged. The experiences of simultaneously doing different kinds of data collections in the same project, made us agree on the risk of being objectified as educator or child applies to all forms of research practices (c. f. Mayne & Howitt, 2015). These bidirectional and creative discussions thus generated ethical protocols with specific guidelines on how to interact with the children at times of data collection, some of which will be discussed further below.…”

“…In terms of ethics, more recently trained educational researchers, skilled in qualitative, action-and praxis-oriented research methodologies, generally view testing in RCT as something done to or on children (c.f. Mayne & Howitt, 2015). Testing is understood as subjectifying the child to a production of knowledge, by which the child becomes objectified.…”