Innovative qualitative research with children and young people

This symposium draws together four papers exploring innovative approaches to qualitative research with children and young people. The ‘standard’ method of qualitative research has historically been the semi-structured interview. However, the recent turn from ‘talk text’ to explorations of space, embodiment and non-verbal experience has resulted in qualitative researchers in children’s mental health developing new and interesting ways to explore young people’s experiences. In ‘Four Paths towards understanding children’s wellbeing’, Judith Sixsmith explores the use of multiple methods in qualitative research with children and young people, including experiential walks, daily diaries, artwork and personal accounts. Sarah Crafter discusses the use of children’s drawings in research around young people in CAMH services and their experience of space and place. Jane Callaghan explores research in online spaces as a way of understanding young people’s mental health, with a specific focus on the internet as a performative space within which concerns about eating and weight management are negotiated. John Horton and Sophie Hadfield-Hill discuss the use of geographical methods in exploring young people’s accounts of the everyday, with a particular focus on the use of GPS and mapping techniques in understanding young peoples’ lives