ABSTRACT

Limited attention has been given to what motivates and informs children and young people’s decision to participate (or not) in social research, especially about sensitive issues. This paper reports the findings from focus group interviews with children and young people aged 9–16 years, undertaken as part of a larger study that explored what constitutes a sensitive issue in social research and the factors considered when deciding to participate. Participants articulated a range of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: benefiting others, getting something out of it, getting things ‘off your chest’ and the role of incentives and trusted adults. While similar to findings about medical research, the data from this study provides deeper insight into how children and young people make decisions to participate in social research. The critical role that accessible information plays in supporting children’s considered decision-making is highlighted, along with rich insights into why research might matter for themselves and others.

摘要

很少关注是什么促使儿童和年轻人决定参与（或不参与）社会研究，尤其是敏感问题。本文报告了对 9-16 岁儿童和年轻人的焦点小组访谈的结果，这是一项更大的研究的一部分，该研究探讨了社会研究中的敏感问题的构成以及决定时考虑的因素。参与者阐明了一系列内在和外在动机：造福他人、从中得到一些东西、让事情变得“不自量力”以及激励措施和值得信赖的成年人的作用。虽然与医学研究的结果相似，但这项研究的数据提供了对儿童和年轻人如何做出参与决策的更深入的了解社会研究。强调了可访问的信息在支持儿童深思熟虑的决策方面所发挥的关键作用，同时还对为什么研究可能对他们自己和他人很重要的深入见解。