Taking the long view: temporal considerations in the ethics of children's research activity and knowledge production

Abstract

Children are increasingly engaged in the research process as generators of knowledge, but little is known about the impacts on children's lives, especially in the longer term. As part of a study on children's mobility in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa, 70 child researchers received training to conduct peer research in their own communities. Evaluations at the time of the project suggested largely positive impacts on the child researchers: increased confidence, acquisition of useful skills and expanded social networks; however, in some cases, these were tempered with concerns about the effect on schoolwork. In the follow-up interviews 2 years later, several young Ghanaian researchers reported tangible benefits from the research activity for academic work and seeking employment, while negative impacts were largely forgotten. This study highlights the unforeseeable consequences of research participation on children's lives as they unfold in unpredictable ways and underscores the temporal nature of children's engagement in research.

Keywords:

• Ghana
• child researchers
• participatory research
• research ethics
• child rights

Notes

We acknowledge that the term ‘child’ is problematic and culturally contingent (Dehne and Riedner 2001). However, at the opening workshops, the ‘child researchers’ agreed that this was the term they wanted to use. Two years later, at the final workshop, their consensus had shifted towards ‘young researchers’. Here, we use these terms interchangeably.

Pseudonyms are used throughout.

University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

Sunyani is a large town, 8 hours’ bus journey from Cape Coast, where Mercy lives.

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi.

Tragically, one of the South African young researchers has since died.