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Young People in Research: How to involve us Guidance for researchers from the PEAR young people’s public health group
Who we ar e
PEAR – wh ich stands for Public Education health, , Awarene s s, Researc NCB Rese h – was an arch Centr e project s young peo upporting ple’s involv ement in p research. ublic healt The projec h t ran from supported 2008–2010 by the We , ll come Trus group was t. The PEA made up o R f us – 20 y aged 13–18 o ung people , from Lon , don and L have: eeds. We • worked with lots o f public he researche alth rs and poli cy-makers • learnt re search skil ls and com our own re missioned search pro ject (on cy and menta berbullyin l health) g • organis ed a confe rence • develop ed a webs ite to tell re and other searchers young peo ple about health issu public es and ou r involvem research (w ent in ww.ncb.o rg.uk/PEA R).
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‘We ’ve been able to work with resear and give our opinions. T here’s a mutuchers benefit, we’ve helped them and also ga al ined knowledge ourselves ’ PEAR group member
Challenges Involvement in research – what’s in it for young people?
Ways in which young people can be involved in research
As young people, we can benefit in many ways. We can use involvement in research as a way to:
Researchers can choose either, or both, of these options:
• enforce our right to be involved in matters that affect us (Article 12, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) – our views are important!
• tap into existing groups or networks (NCB Research Centre may be able to help with this) • consult young people online.
• get our views across and challenge adult researchers’ ideas about young people
Researchers can involve young people on an ongoing basis in a number of ways:
• become involved in things that are in the news or important in our lives
• as young advisors – working alongside, or as part of, an adult advisory group
• get the chance to make a difference
• as young researchers or evaluators – working alongside adult researchers to design tools, collect data, analyse and/or report on findings
• be asked about what research is done and how, rather than just being participants and answering someone else’s questions • gain an understanding of the research process and see how research projects develop • get the chance to develop skills and useful experience • gain something to show for our involvement (for example, a report) and become involved in dissemination (for example, at conferences, presenting findings) • be reassured that what we’ve been involved in has made a difference.
• as co-researchers – being supported to do our own research alongside adult researchers • as researcher commissioners – coming up with an idea for a research project and choosing an adult researcher to carry out the work (something PEAR did for our research project).
How not to involve young people • Being tokenistic – only doing it because it looks good and not being really committed to involving us properly. • Not making information easy to understand and accessible.
What’s in it for researchers? Researchers gain from involving young people in the various stages of research by: • having more balanced and better quality research • having their research reflect what young people really think • learning the difference between theoretical knowledge (that is, thinking you know what young people think from articles and the media) and knowledge gained by talking to real young people • using young people’s advice to develop research questions and research tools, to ensure clear and helpful responses • providing a chance for researchers, as well as young people, to learn new skills.
• Exploiting young people by getting us to do your work for you and then not giving us the credit.
• In order to get information about involvement in research to young people, you often need to contact us via gatekeepers (parents or carers, schools, youth clubs, etc). • Young people are not available during the day in term time, so you’ll need to involve us in school holidays, evenings and at weekends. Some times of year may be more difficult too (for example, during exam time). • If you want young people’s involvement in your project over a year or two, you need to be aware that some people may drop out because their circumstances change or because they are no longer interested in being involved.
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• Too wide an age range can be difficult to manage as, while you give explanations, you will find some don’t need it, or get confused, and therefore become bored. Special educational needs or disability and young people’s differing backgrounds should also be given due consideration. • Keeping in touch can be difficult – you will find face-to-face meetings are often the best way to get our input. Try different things, as some young people prefer social networking sites or instant messaging to email; and text messages or sending things in the post can also be good.
‘T he involvement of young people in the research ensured that the project was truly young people focused and asked the questions young people themselves wanted answering ’ Researcher
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Our checklist for involvement • Benefits to both research and young people There need to be clear benefits for young people from our involvement, but we also think it’s really important to be clear how young people’s involvement will make your research better. • Plan involvement from the start If possible, try and plan how you will involve young people before you start a project or, ideally, involve them in developing your plans or proposal. • Recruitment Think carefully about who you want to involve (that is, in terms of ages or different groups of young people) and how you will recruit them so that as wide a range of young people as possible have an opportunity to be involved. • Informed choice Try and make sure that young people are fully involved in deciding if, when and how they want to be involved – and are given all the information they need to do so in a form that is accessible and interesting to them (that is, not too long or too boring but enough detail so they know what will be involved and what to expect). • Parental consent You’ll need to get consent from parents or carers if you’re recruiting young people aged under 16, but you need our consent too! • On-going training and support Provide the training that young people will need for the things they’re going to be involved in, in a way that’s interesting and accessible. It’s best if the training happens not long before it’s going to be used, so that it is relevant and useful. • Involvement in as many stages of research as possible This means that we can develop our knowledge and skills and also see how things change as the project develops. • Agree clearly defined roles Agree at the start what you will do and what is expected from us. If there are things we can’t get involved in or have a say on, then let us know that too.
• Offer genuine opportunities for meaningful decision-making • Reward and recognition Generally we think that young people working with researchers should be rewarded for their time (for example, in the form of high street vouchers) or get recognition in the form of certificates or other records showing what they have done and skills gained (or both). • Safe working procedures and ethics Make sure that any appropriate safeguarding procedures are in place and that the research, and young people’s involvement, are ethical. • Staff resources Make sure you have allowed enough time and money. • Evaluation and feedback Let young people (and other adults) know what difference their involvement has made and, ideally, let them take part in evaluating their involvement. • Exit strategy Plan for what happens after the project ends. What other opportunities are there?
Further information re NCB Research Cent rch ea es k/r g.u .or www.ncb The PEAR project R www.ncb.org.uk/PEA INVOLVE www.invo.org.uk ren and yment; involving child Includes guides on pa a ing er information includ young people; and oth t. en impacts of involvem recent report on the
© NCB 2010
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