Book Review: Doing Research with Children and Young People and The Reality of Research with Children and Young People
| Author | Gary Clapton |
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/096466390601500111 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ bodies, and thus whether the socially constructed desexual-
ization of disabled bodies is a reflection of power relations.
These are two excellent books that achieve their objectives in different ways. Sexu-
ality Repositioned is a densely packed collection of articles on narrowly defined
topics, and is aimed at an audience of academics with specific research interests. Sexu-
alities is a more student-friendly, introductory text that assumes less prior knowledge
of the area, but which is equally informative and thought-provoking. The books will
appeal to a wide range of people working in the social sciences who are interested in
the complex relations between sexuality, society and the law.
SUSIE SCOTT
University of Sussex, UK
S. FRASER, V. LEWIS, S. DING, M. KELLETT AND C. ROBINSON (eds), Doing Research
with Children and Young People.London: SAGE Publications in association with the
Open University, 2004, 294 pp., £19.99 (pbk).
M. KELLETT, V. LEWIS, C. ROBINSON, S. FRASER AND S. DING (eds) The Reality of
Research with Children and Young People. London: SAGE Publications in associ-
ation with the Open University, 2004, 304 pp., £19.99 (pbk).
How often does a child turn up for school and find an adult lurking in the back
of the classroom scribbling notes? It could be an OFSTED inspector, it could
be someone doing an assessment or appraisal on the class teacher, it could be a
student teacher – or it could be a researcher. (p. 92)
The first book in this two-part series is Doing Research with Children and Young
People and it sets out the themes for both books. The first two themes as such are
widely accepted: ‘The theoretical and methodological approach that is taken influ-
ences the research outcome’ and ‘power relations which exist between researcher and
researched affect the process of research’. The exploration of the third theme provides
the books with the unique value: there has been, it is argued, a ‘positive shift towards
children and young people participating actively in research, even to the point of
carrying out research themselves’ (pp. 1–2). This positive shift is contrasted with
researchers in ‘sociology, social policy and law [who] have tended to ignore children
on the basis that their (in)competence, (un)reliability and need for protection make
them inappropriate or too problematic as subjects for research’ (p. 44). Instead the
authors start from the belief that children are ‘experts in their own lives’ (p. 16) and
proceed to make the case that research should be ‘with children and young people
rather than on or about children and young people’ (p. 3).
Doing Research with Children examines the issues from the standpoint of a number
of disciplines and perspectives and from the point of view of both researchers and
practitioners. One chapter in particular forcibly brings home the necessity of involv-
ing children in all aspects of research, from initial ideas about methodology to
dissemination. This is the chapter by McKechnie and Hobbs in which they discuss
the history of Childhood Studies and focus on particular examples of research on
children that have sought to alter policy and practice. The first example concerns the
successful UK anti-bullying strategy involving children (pp. 274–5); the second, of
less impact, concerns UK child employment. McKechnie and Hobbs suggest that,
compared to bullying, ‘a consensus on child employment seems less likely’ (p. 277)
and conclude that this may be a matter of timing (an incoming government that was
BOOK REVIEWS 153
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