The ‘right time’ – negotiating the timing of interviews with vulnerable young people

Abstract

Participant retention is a key factor in determining the success of longitudinal research. Challenges in re-locating and retaining participants over the long term are major issues for researchers working with young people who face adversity and experience frequent changes in circumstances. This article reports on a study of vulnerable young people and their transition into adulthood. Rather than the more conventional schedule-based approach to locating and re-interviewing young people, a relational process, the ‘right time’ framework, was used to facilitate young people's involvement in the study. Embedded in the ‘right time’ framework is recognition of the diverse and fluctuating circumstances that shape young people's availability for interviews. Several case examples are considered which amplify the way that the ‘right time’ framework allowed the research to navigate around these circumstances. The case examples highlight the value young people attached to being involved in the research, the influence on the ‘right time’ of wider relational tensions for young people and the need to negotiate researcher status as a different sort of adult. The ‘right time’ framework contributed to a high retention rate in the study generating a more representative sample and enhancing the subsequent data analysis by providing valuable insights into the lives of these vulnerable young people.

Keywords:

• vulnerable
• young people
• longitudinal
• retention
• the ‘right time’ framework

Acknowledgements

The researchers gratefully thank all the young people who made a commitment to this study; who responded so positively to our regular contact with them and for their generosity in sharing the details of their lives with us. We would also like to thank The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment who have funded this research programme over many years and acknowledge the contribution of The Donald Beasley Institute, Child Youth and Family, Youthline Auckland, Kapiti Youth Support and all the other researchers who helped out with the research.

Notes

1. In this study, the potential benefits of the research were explained to the young people that their voice and experiences may better inform service provision for other young people in the future; however, we were careful not to set up the expectation that the research could address the issues that the young people shared with us (Alderson and Morrow 2011; Sanders et al. 2013).