Abstract
Access Research Knowledge (ARK) is a joint initiative between Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster with the aim to make social and political information on Northern Ireland available to the widest possible audience. In 2008, ARK established the Kids’ Life and Times (KLT) survey. KLT is an annual interactive school-based online survey of all children in Northern Ireland in their final year at primary school before they move into post-primary education. The aim of the KLT survey is to give children a voice and say on what they think about school and other issues important to children today and, by doing so, give them an opportunity to help influence policies that affect them. Every year we invite children to suggest topics for the next year's survey, however, in 2013 we received some funding to pilot a much more direct influence of children in the design of the KLT questionnaire. With different approaches, we worked with children directly on two question modules – a set of questions on financial wellbeing and a set on children’s rights: 1. Capturing accurately the financial background of children in survey research has been a challenge for many years. Self-reporting questions have been seen as the most appropriate way of capturing socio-economic status, but the questions were mostly set by adult researchers. In 2013 we piloted a new set of questions on financial wellbeing with children; and 2. Following an implementation of the UNCRC, incorporating children’s rights appropriately in policy making have been of growing concern for many governments. But how do children perceive children’s rights? We worked with a group of children who designed questions on their rights in the 2013 KLT questionnaire. We will draw conclusions on our experiences of working with children on this survey.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Childhood through the looking glass |
Publisher | Brill |
Pages | 155-167 |
Number of pages | 12 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781848885295 |
ISBN (Print) | 9789004370326 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Jun 2016 |
Keywords
- participatory research
- children
- survey research
- Northern Ireland
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences