Session 5. Doing health research with children in a pandemic time: new methodological approaches and methods

Doing research with children is an emblematic expression of the process of democratisation of research towards more and more participatory forms (Doyle, 2013). From a  methodological point of view this meant considering children as active and competent subjects, i.e. doing research with them and not on them and giving them a voice by taking their point of view seriously (Mayall, 1996; Holland et al., 2010). 

The literature debate on children’s participation in research, and even more so in health research, emphasises the need for the researcher to question issues such as: the difficult balance between protection and participation, the ethical implications of participation on such sensitive issues, and the power differential that characterises relations between research and children (Montreuil, Carnevale, 2018).

Starting from 2020, this debate seems to have entered in a new phase as Covid-19 has challenged researchers with the urgency of critically questioning the methodological and ethical complexities of the children’s participation in health research in the context of a health crisis characterised by isolation and physical and social distancing (Cortés-Morales et al., 2021; Cuevas-Parra, 2020). In this framework, are welcome empirical and/or theoretical papers promoting critical thinking on the following issues and other related topics:

     i) rethinking and/or adapting methods and tools used in health research with children;

     ii) ethical issues such as those related to moving from face-to-face to remote fieldwork;

     iii) reflexivity and the positioning of the researcher in the Covid and post-Covid research.

Stefania Fucci is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Law, Politics and International Studies of the University of Parma. Her main research interests are: sociology of childhood with particular reference to the relationships among peers; sociology of health and illness with particular reference to the issues of children’s participation to the therapeutic choices; methodological and ethical issues of the research with children. Among her most recent publications: “L’écoute des enfants dans les contexts de soins: une question de participation”, Revue des Sciences Sociales, 2020; “Ethics and research: methodological issues in health research with children”, Salute e Società, 2019.

Francesca Zaltron is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Law and Economics, Political and Social Sciences of the University of Eastern Piedmont. Her main research interests concern childhood, health and parenting. In particular,  she has carried out research on agency and recognition of children’s competence in the management of illness experience and the therapeutic relationship. Her most recent publications include “Déclinaison éthiques et réflexivitè partageé dans la recherche auprès des enfants » Revue des Sciences Sociales, in press, 2022; « Adjusting life to illness or illness to life? Reflections on children’s competences in the neoliberal era» Emerald, 2019.