Revealing Children's Experiences and Emotions through Q Methodology

Abstract

Over the last two decades, there has been a greater readiness to view children as competent contributors to our understanding of children's lives and experiences. As a consequence of this, we have witnessed an increased focus on including children in research. When research aims at revealing children's perspectives, experiences, and emotions, we need to employ methods that are easy-touse means for obtaining their stories. In this paper, we argue that Q methodology is particularly suitable for facilitating children's participation in research. We will give a brief presentation of the methodology and demonstrate its relevance for research with children. We do so by presenting two research examples aiming at revealing children's experiences and emotions in challenging life circumstances. In the first example, Q methodology was used with five-year-old children where the research topic was divorce. The second example is a study on family perceptions among adolescents in foster home care.

Views of Young People With Chronic Conditions on Transition From Pediatric to Adult Health Services

“…This is a well-known advantage of Q methodology [36,37] where respondents may have strong views about a subject but find it difficult or embarrassing to articulate them.…”

Young children’s perspectives on resolving social exclusion within inclusive classrooms

“…The qualitative materials obtained through the interviews are used to verify the interpretation of the quantitative findings and to deepen and enrich the interpretations of the views. Previous studies have established that Q studies are appropriate in research contexts that involve young children (Ellingsen, Thorsen, & Størksen, 2014;Kelly, 2007). The playful sorting procedure, which is part of a Q study, makes it easier for children to express their views and experiences (Ellingsen, Størksen, & Stephens, 2010;Ellingsen et al, 2014).…”

“…Previous studies have established that Q studies are appropriate in research contexts that involve young children (Ellingsen, Thorsen, & Størksen, 2014;Kelly, 2007). The playful sorting procedure, which is part of a Q study, makes it easier for children to express their views and experiences (Ellingsen, Størksen, & Stephens, 2010;Ellingsen et al, 2014). In addition, the materials used in a Q study can be adapted for use among the study population, for example, by using images, short phrases or single words, thus enabling a more inclusive approach for participants who may require support in communicating their preferences (Ellingsen et al, 2014;Taylor, Delprato, & Knapp, 1994), such as the children in this study.…”

Child understandings of the causation of childhood burn injuries: Child activity, parental domestic demands, and impoverished settings

“…However, studies that have described childhood burn injury occurrence essential for targeted prevention strategies have largely relied on parent, caregiver, and burn expert accounts of children's vulnerabilities and related exposure to injury risks (Munro, Van Niekerk, & Seedat, 2006;Van Niekerk, 2007). This is despite an emerging accumulation of social science research that has increasingly recognized children as individuals who have the capacity to consider the health and social threats that face them and the appropriate responses to these (Driesnack, 2005;Epstein, Stevens, McKeever, & Baruchel, 2006).…”

“…Although there are descriptions of child burn occurrence and prevention information from low-and middle-income contexts (WHO, 2011), child accounts to complement adult and expert perspectives are virtually absent, especially in paediatric burns research (see McDowell, Hyland, Harvey, et al, 2015), with little if any representation of the voices of children from marginalized contexts (see Coyne, Mathúna, Gibson, Shields, & Sheaf, 2013;Ellingsen, Thorsen, & Størksen, 2014;Feenstra et al, 2014). Researchers and practitioners may, therefore, through greater use of children's meaning-making capacities and experiences, be better placed to understand the risk exposures experienced by children and thereby develop more effective, child-centred burn prevention and psychosocial support for vulnerable children and families (McIntosh, Stephens, & Lyons, 2012;Reisenberg, 2008).…”