Infant-led Research: Privileging Space to See, Hear, and Consider the Subjective Experience of the Infant

ABSTRACT

The subjective experience of infants is seldom considered in research directly concerning them. Commonly, infants are not believed to possess self-agency or innate communicative abilities, obscuring space for researchers to consider the infant’s subjectivity. Rather, measuring and coding behaviour or seeking the parent’s perspective is privileged. Making meaning is not limited to the capacity to verbalise; as meaning encompasses feelings, behaviours, and contexts. In this paper, a novel “infant-led” qualitative research methodology is presented utilising infant observation techniques, drawing on theories of “intersubjectivity” and using a constructivist grounded theory method. Distinct to this methodology is how data collection begins with the infant before any other, as does the process of data analysis; providing the basis upon which all other data are interpreted. The application of such an approach is nonintrusive and has much to offer social workers working with infants in high risk situations in community, health, and mental health settings.

IMPLICATIONS

• The experience of infants is entitled to be included in research that directly impacts them.

• Adopting an infant-led approach brings alive the experiences of infants and challenges assumptions that minimise the competencies and contributions infants make.

针对婴儿的研究少有谈论婴儿主观体验的。人们通常认为婴儿不具备主体性或内在的交流能力，这就遮蔽了研究婴儿主观性的空间。人们更重视对行为的测量和编码，或寻求父母的视角。其实，表达意思并不限于词语的能力，因为意思也包含情感、行为和语境。本文使用婴儿观察技巧，依托“主体间性”理论，并取建构主义的扎根理路，提出了一种新颖的“婴儿导向”的定性研究方法。这种方法的独特之处在于资料收集始于资料分析的其他所有事情之前，为资料的阐释打下了基础。其应用是非扰动性的，对于在社区、保健、精神卫生环境中照看高危婴儿的社会工作者大有助益。

KEYWORDS:

• Infant-led Research
• Infant Observation
• Intersubjectivity
• Constructivist Grounded Theory

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge Dr Julie Stone for her generous input in aiding with the implementation of an infant-led research approach.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Margarita Frederico http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9028-7823

Mary Whiteside http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4607-7113

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by La Trobe University postgraduate scholarship.