Challenges for Data Collection

In terms of the research design, a number of challenges were envisaged. In particular, the challenges associated with undertaking research with children and young people; undertaking research in the school environment and researching potentially sensitive issues. These issues are considered, together with strategies to address the challenges they represent.

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5.3.1. Research with Children and Young People

In general, research with children and young people raises the same methodological and ethical questions that is faced by all research; issues of appropriate and honest ways of collecting, analysing and interpreting data and disseminating findings (Morrow 2008). However, research with children and young people often means that methodological issues are refracted in unique ways, in part because of the particular social context of adult/child relations but most significantly because of the unequal power dynamics that constitute these relationships (Barker and Weller 2003).

In the context of adult/child relations, the issues are largely a result of the way that childhood is constructed and understood, not least by a researcher since the way that they perceive childhood will have implications for the whole research process (Punch 2002; Morrow 2008). In particular, epistemological assumptions about childhood will determine the role that researchers take in research with children. Ideally, researchers should conceptualise children as active social agents, and researchers should invite children to help them to understand childhood while acknowledging the power differentials between adults and children (Harden et al. 2000; Cree et al. 2002).

Research involving children and young people within the school environment adds a further layer of complexity since while schools are highly significant in the geography of children’s lives as places in which they spend a great deal of time, they are spaces over which children have little or no control (Barker and Weller 2003). In the school environment, adults control children’s use of time, occupation of space, choice of clothing, times of eating and even their mode of social interaction. As such, the organisation of the school goes against the concept of children as social actors with the right to a voice (Robinson and Kellet 2004).

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The fact that in school, adult authority is more salient and less challengeable that at home will have implications for the research process (Mayall 1994; Curtis et al. 2004). Some writers have questioned the ethics of research where children are captive subjects in school and the balance of power is heavily skewed towards the adults (Robinson and Kellet 2004). However, it is acknowledged that, rather than passively reproducing social structures, children contribute to and influence their own lives and the spaces they inhabit and this acknowledgement results in recognition of the need for a more child centred research process (Barker and Weller 2003).

Addressing these potential issues required an approach which took into account the potential for power differentials between researcher and participant. The decision was made to use a focus group methodology for exploring pupils’ perceptions of the school food environment and within the focus groups, to use participatory methods to generate discussion.

5.3.1.1.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are recognised as a way of potentially equalising the power dynamic in research with children and young people, since group discussion can help shift the balance of power from researcher to participant; this is particularly attractive in circumstances where the power dynamics of a one to one interview are of concern (Green and Hart 1999). A particular strength of the focus group method is the ability to include an established cohort (Bloor et al. 2001) and the group interaction inherent within a focus group makes them an attractive method for research with children and young people. This will not only allow the development of discussion which enables participants to follow their own agenda and develop themes most important to them, but also reduces the researcher’s control over the interaction, thus making focus groups a relatively egalitarian method (Wilkinson 2006).

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In terms of data collection within the school environment, focus groups have a number of advantages over one to one interviews; most obviously they provide a way of collecting data relatively quickly from a large number of research participants but also focus groups are more naturalistic than interviews and it is argued that a group context may make it easier for younger people to talk (Wilkinson 2006).

However, additional consideration needs to be taken when conducting focus groups with children and young people, there is a danger of leading participants, also that strong personalities will dominate discussion. To address these concerns, the questions and topics to be discussed should be carefully designed to minimise bias, avoiding the use of leading yes/no questions and encouraging a balance of contributions from all participants (Litosseliti 2003).

Another concern is that for some children, the peer group setting may be potentially threatening and this could lead to teasing if young people are at risk of being singled out or perceived differently by their peers. As a result, considerable thought must be paid to the issue of the possibility of pupils revealing sensitive information (Green and Hart 1999).

In view of these considerations, in this research focus group discussion was limited to general perceptions of the school food environment and no reference was made to free school meals. The decision was taken that it would be more appropriate to undertake one to one interviews with free school meal pupils, in order to protect their identity and ensure confidentiality. While the literature acknowledges that children can find an individual interview a daunting prospect it is also acknowledged that they may make children feel special because they are not used to adults outside the family being interested and so this can facilitate the generation of rich data (Cree et al. 2002).

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5.3.1.2. Participatory Methods

In addition to the use of focus groups, in response to the challenge of how best to enable children to express their views to an adult researcher, there has been an increase in the use of participatory methods which are seen as a way of shifting the balance of power from researcher to participant (Punch 2002). This is a result of concern that inequalities in power may be replicated in the research process and a growing interest in childhood which has generated a series of methodological innovations (Harden et al. 2000; Barker and Weller 2003).

Participatory techniques are a diverse set of techniques which entail a collaborative and non-hierarchical approach. The concern is to actively involve research subjects in the construction of data so the ownership of the research is shared with the participant, in this way children are treated as experts in their own lives (Gallagher 2008). Research using these methods has found that visual or written methods have the potential to reduce the pressure a child may feel to respond quickly and in the correct manner, since in such methods the interaction is between the child and the paper (Punch 2002).

It is argued that participatory methods offer epistemological advantages over traditional methods, they are seen as producing more authentic knowledge and, due to shifting the balance of power from researcher to participant, are considered more ethically acceptable (Gallagher 2008). Using such methods will allow many children to complete tasks simultaneously as well providing interesting alternatives for children. Additionally, drawings have been used as an appropriate warm up to more difficult activities, enabling children to become more familiar with the adult researcher (Punch 2002).

However, the belief that participatory techniques necessarily produces better research, equalises power relations or enhances ethical integrity is treated with caution (Holland et al. 2010). Even using participatory techniques, there is still the possibility that the researcher may reproduce the regulation of

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children by insisting on certain forms of participation in the belief that it constitutes empowerment (Gallagher 2008).

Additionally, it is important for a researcher to acknowledge that, as with adults, children’s competencies, perceptions and frameworks of reference may vary according to a range of social differences, including culture, age, gender, ethnic background and personal characteristics (Morrow 2008). Also, while adults may associate drawing with fun, we cannot assume the same for children (Harden et al. 2000) and the success of these methods will depend on children’s actual or perceived ability to draw, with some children inhibited by a perceived lack of artistic competence. In addition, care needs to be taken at the analysis stage, not to misinterpret drawings and impose adult interpretation upon them (Punch 2002).

5.3.2. Research in the School Setting

Ethical considerations relating to research in the school setting tend to focus on issues of informed consent and confidentiality, both of which can be more complex in research with children (Punch 2002). These concerns stem, in part, from perceptions of childhood in which children are perceived as vulnerable on the one hand and incompetent on the other. As such, gaining consent is often problematic, not primarily because of children’s lack of understanding but because their participation in any research project within the school setting is dependent on adult gatekeepers (Harden et al. 2000). The status of children within an organisation such as a school means that access to such an environment is often tightly controlled and this may result in difficulties in terms of access and consent (Punch 2002; Morrow 2008). Originally, the research design included a week long observation of the dining hall setting in each school, however ethical approval required consent from all of the pupils within the school who may potentially use the hall during the observation. Data collection was staggered and information and opt out consent forms were sent by post to all families with pupils in the first two

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schools recruited (Ashgrove and Briarwood). However, the high level of opt out forms returned made the proposed observation unworkable.

Another issue associated with research undertaken within the school setting is the fact that the school is an environment where a hierarchy of gate keepers may influence the sampling process and this may have unpredictable effects on the group composition if teachers select participants on the basis of good behaviour or perceived eloquence (Veale 2005). Additionally, the reliance of researchers on school staff as gatekeepers as well as for the process of invitation often means that the responsibility for young people’s fully informed consent is often out of the researchers hands (Curtis et al. 2004).

5.3.3. Researching Sensitive Issues

The evidence indicates that receipt of free school meal entitlement can be stigmatising for families (Moffitt 1983; Currie 2004) and undertaking research with a stigmatised population can have implications for recruitment. Such populations are often defined as ‘hard to reach’ however this is a contested and ambiguous term, often synonymised with other terms such as vulnerable, marginalised, hidden and disadvantaged (Flanagan and Hancock 2010). Additionally, it is recognised that ‘hard to reach’ or socially excluded groups are not homogenous and individuals come from diverse communities, cultures and language groups (Milbourne 2002).

Research which has focused on groups classified as ‘hard to reach’ has included those marginalised from education and other mainstream institutions (Milbourne 2002) and those with health issues such as HIV infection (Yates et al. 1997) or dementia (Bond and Corner 2001). A method of recruitment which addresses potential issues of recruiting participants defined as ‘hard to reach’ is snowball sampling which can be used as an informal method of reaching the target population (Atkinson and Flint 2001). Using snowballing as a method of recruitment, existing respondents recruit

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future participants from among their social networks, recommending friends and acquaintances suitable for research.

This sampling technique is particularly useful when there is no population list or to research those who are not easily accessible. This strategy can be used to overcome the problems associated with sampling concealed populations since it takes advantage of social networks to identify respondents and offers benefits for studies which seek to access difficult to reach or hidden populations who are often obscured from researchers (Atkinson and Flint 2001).