There is a drive to involve children and young people as researchers (Alderson, 2000) This is in recognition of unequal power relations between adults and children and the potential for unintentional exploitation or coercion which is recognised as a potential risk to participants as well as posing methodological risks (Coyne, 1998); Jones, 2004).
The notion of bias is an important aspect to consider. There is a risk of attention bias occurring because the children who are part of the study may give more favourable responses or perform better than people who are unaware of the study’s intent. Bias can lead to errors which can arise if values and expectations colour the way the research is conducted. Although, the belief is commonly held that children are unreliable witnesses; this is largely substantiated and accuracy and completeness of data is more down to the skill of the researcher. I have revised my quesitonnaire to include open questions (Milne and Bull, 1999; Kellett and Ding, 2004) to overcome this.
I must be self-critical and scrutinise all my own assumptions and ways of presenting findings. I am only linked to the schools, children and online learning tool through my research for the Open University Course. I do not have any former knowledge of the stakeholders involved. Keeping a research journal will be one way to guard against bias and make me aware of unwanted personal assumptions and opinions.
Alderson, P. (2000) ‘Children as Researchers: The Effects of Participation Rights on Research Methodology’, in P. Christensen and A. James (eds) and Practices, Research with Children: Perspectivespp. 241–75. London: Falmer Press.