299 - Engaging Children in Evaluations

Abstract Information: Despite robust research in child psychology, development and welfare in disciplines such as social work, healthcare, and education, very little research exists on how to survey children themselves, including in evaluation. Although children are often the subject of studies and assistance programs, their thoughts and opinions on these interventions are often proxy-reported by adults or through observational studies. The research community has long thought of directly involving children in studies as unethical and unviable due to their perceived inability to give true consent, cognitive limitations, and heavy susceptibility to bias. However, children have a voice that can and should be heard particularly as evaluations of child-focused work remain a need. This paper builds on existing bodies of knowledge on engaging pre-adolescent children ages six and above in evaluation by detailing best practices and appropriate methodologies for their direct participation in mixed-method research, drawing on my work developing surveys for a national youth-focused nonprofit.

The lack of children’s participation in quantitative and qualitative research not only means that their authentic voices go unheard, but that the responses from their adult representatives may not be completely accurate. Pre-adolescent children are highly affected by the perceived desires of adults. Therefore, they may not be entirely truthful even with adults they know well about their experiences in order to not solicit concern or disciplinary action. Adults should always provide responses for children under the age of four due to their limited memory and communication skills. However, healthcare research indicates that children six years of age and over can provide detailed and reliable information based on their lived experiences that are unknowable to adults. That said, a child’s cognitive abilities and stage of development will influence the extent to which they can participate in studies or surveys, appropriate methods, and the types of bias they may be more susceptible to at different age groups. My work identifies ways to mitigate these and other unique challenges across age groups in mixed-method data collection, such as utilizing lead questions and varied question sequencing.

Directly engaging children in evaluations is likely to make many skeptical and indeed, the ethical considerations when working with children are more complex, especially in conflict or trauma-sensitive situations. Extra safeguarding measures should be taken to ensure children’s comfort, confidentiality, and informed consent, but evaluators should always use discretion on whether engaging children is appropriate. However, this paper and accompanying demonstration will provide a young evaluator’s perspective that surveying children is both feasible and beneficial for diverse stakeholders. With the appropriate support and methods, involving children in the evaluation process has the potential to be an empowering experience and show them that they are active participants in programming focused on their benefit.