Children’s Perspectives through the Camera Lens

Abstract

In relation to any claims about “child-centred” research, the present article stresses the need to reflect on what is actually at stake in terms of participation and the meaning-making processes that evolve in a certain research setting. Our experiences with photo-taking methods are based on two separate studies involving children (age 5-8 years) and young adolescents (age 12-16 year). Taking a constructivist approach, the article draws special attention to issues related to the age of the children, the type of camera used, the researcher’s status in the fieldwork and the type of data acquired through these children’s photos. The article stresses the need to perceive the story behind the photo as an outcome of how the child chose to position him/herself within a certain research context, which in turn affects how the child sees, thinks and acts, but also what he/she sees.

Valoración de aspectos éticos y metodológicos en un estudio cualitativo con personas usuarias de Oncología Pediátrica

“…Las personas menores de edad entrevistadas en el presente estudio mostraron opiniones claras sobre la calidad asistencial recibida y el trato deseado por los y las profesionales de la salud, una característica observada también en trabajos anteriores (Carter y Ford 2013;Einarsdottir 2005;Kondo y Sjöberg 2012;March et al 2003;Trell y Van Hoven 2010;Ullán et al 2012;Wilkinson 2000).…”

“…En este sentido, se indica la necesidad de tener en cuenta la edad de las personas menores de edad, observándose una mayor adecuación de las técnicas creativas en caso de los y las niños menores de 12 años, frente a la preferencia de niños/as más mayores a la expresión verbal o por escrito. Estos resultados coinciden con estudios previos con personas menores de edad que observan el riesgo de una percepción de las técnicas creativas como 'infantiles' (Wilkinson 2000), proponiendo una aplicación diferenciada de las metodologías por grupo de edad (Kondo y Sjöberg 2012;Wilkinson 2000). En estudios previos (González-Gil 2007), se describe la utilidad de un uso de marionetas en el grupo de niños y niñas más jóvenes, observada también en el presente estudio.…”

Walking and talking with girls in their urban environments: A methodological meandering

“…This method is underpinned by the idea that photographs contain meanings, which people have the ability to see, read, interpret or share (Cardellini, 2017). The role of mediated communication, in this case photos, was to create a situation that would trigger/encourage children to talk about things that are important to them (Kondo and Sjoberg, 2012; Mykkänen and Böök 2013) and to jointly explore the subjective meaning of the images (Jorgenson and Sullivan, 2010).…”

“…However, the girls had some difficulties in using them and the quality of some photos was poor as commented on by the girls, ‘some of the pictures are a bit blurry’ and ‘should we put out the blurry ones?’ (PPM Photo Elicitation, June 2019). Disposable cameras have been used in research (Einarsdottir 2005; Mykkänen and Böök 2013) and while some identify problems associated with them, such as being prone to mechanical malfunction and limited in the number of photos which can be taken (Kondo and Sjoberg, 2012), overall there is little discussion of the practicalities of using them. The poor technical quality of the cameras and photos surprised us then (see also Honkanen et al, 2018).…”

Barn med og uten funksjonsnedsettelser og deltagelse i forskergrupper – når og hvordan kan ulike kvalitative forskningsmetoder få alle barn til å delta i forskning?

“…Barna fikk velge rekkefølge og hva / hvor vi skulle gå og fotografere. Vi valgte i tråd med anbefalinger (Kondo & Sjöberg, 2013) å snakke med barna om bildene der og da for å ivareta de perspektivene de ønsket å formidle. Samtalene ble holdt med det enkelte barn, og kun i situasjoner der barnet ville vise sitt bilde frem til forskergruppen ble bilder gjenstand for gruppesamtale i etterkant samme dag.…”