Researching children’s food practices in contexts of deprivation: ethical and methodological challenges

Abstract

The paper develops a critical reflection upon the methodological and ethical challenges of researching the food practices of low-income families with children. We draw on data and fieldwork experience in Portugal, within a recently completed European research project. The study aimed to understand children’s experiences and views about the place of food in their lives, drawing on sociological approaches to childhood that conceptualize children as social agents, active participants within families and competent experts on their own social and interactional worlds. These assertions underlie the project’s mixed-method approach (in-person interviews, questionnaires and photo-elicitation). We argue that beyond well-known ethical challenges (such as gatekeeping, power asymmetries, reciprocity and active participation), food and food poverty bring forth unique dilemmas, which may affect children’s participation in research. Following the dimensions suggested by Tracy, our contribution offers a reflexive account of ethics-in-practice of how we dealt with ethical dilemmas on the field.

Keywords:

• Food practices children
• families methods ethics Portugal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (FFP. Grant Agreement ID:33797) and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/130072/2017).

Notes on contributors

Vasco Ramos

Vasco Ramos is a sociologist and researcher, at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, University of Lisbon (ICS-ULisboa). His research focuses class and family, food practices, and human-animal studies. He is a member of CLAN (http://humananimalstudies.net/en/clan/), currently engaged in ethnographic work with children and pets.

Mónica Truninger

Mónica Truninger is a sociologist and researcher at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, University of Lisbon (ICS-ULisboa). She specializes on food, consumption, children, sustainability, food poverty and security. She coordinates several research projects and has a strong publication record on these topics. She coordinates the research group Environment, Territory and Society at ICSULisboa.

Sónia Goulart Cardoso

Sónia Goulart Cardoso worked as postdoc researcher in the ERC funded study Families and Food Poverty at Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. She concluded a PhD in Psychology in University of Porto. Her research interests are on families, eating practices, emigration and group dynamics.

Fábio Rafael Augusto

Fábio Rafael Augusto is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa (ICS-ULisboa) and currently holds a Ph.D. grant (SFRH/BD/130072/2017) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). His research interests include food (in)security, poverty and social exclusion.