Examining young children's information practices and experiences: A child-centered methodological approach

Highlights

• Participatory multi-method approaches have proven to be successful in examining youth's engagement with information.

• Data collection methods included book discussions, poster activities, photography, and photo-elicitation conversations.

• Multiple methods enhanced participation by allowing for varying comfort and interest levels in data collection activities.

• Researchers should focus on establishing trust and comfort with child participants throughout the research process.

Abstract

Researchers interested in children and youth's engagement with information have developed participatory, multi-method approaches of collecting and analyzing data directly with children and youth. However, examples of this approach in studies specifically focused on young children in library and information science are scarce. This article describes the methodological approach used in a study of 5- to 7-year-old children's information practices and experiences related to their individual interests. Drawing on conceptual frameworks from both library and information science and childhood studies, this study used multiple methods of data collection in understanding young children's own perspectives of their information activities. Namely, data was collected through parent surveys, book discussions, poster activities, participant-generated photography using the mobile app PixStori, and photo-elicitation conversations. Participants also contributed to a child-driven content analysis of their photographs. Recommendations for researchers working with young children are provided.

Introduction

Child and youth engagement with information has been a significant area of study within library and information science (LIS) for many years (Agosto, 2018). Through the related lenses of information behavior, information practices, and information experience, LIS researchers have explored the information needs of children and youth, as well as the ways in which they engage in activities such as information search, information seeking, information use, information sharing, and information creation in a variety of contexts. While there is a substantial body of existing research in this area, there remains room for growth, in both the research questions addressed and methodological approaches used. For example, in her review of the extant literature on youth information behavior and practices, Agosto (2018) notes that the LIS field is “in serious need of more studies that collect data directly from young people and of more studies that aim to understand young people's information worlds from their own cultural and personal perspectives” (p. 114). LIS research that directly engages with children and youth in investigating their own life experiences has the potential to “allow information science to create more nuanced and less static descriptions of and knowledge about children and the conditions within which they perform their information activities” (Lundh, 2016, Discussion and conclusion, para. 4). By engaging children directly in research, our knowledge of their lives and experiences can gain both depth and breadth.

Participatory, multi-method approaches have been established as one means of investigating the experiences of children and youth, re-orienting the processes of the traditional research enterprise to one that is focused on doing research with youth rather than research on youth (Christensen & James, 2008b; Harlan, 2016; Meyers, Fisher, & Marcoux, 2007). Central to this approach is attending to and creating space for children's own voices through the use of appropriate methods of data collection and analysis (Greene & Hill, 2005; James, 2007; Woodgate, Tennent, & Barriage, 2020). Within such a participatory approach, researchers often advocate for the use of multiple methods of data collection for a number of reasons, including: to appeal to children's diverse abilities and interests (Hill, 2006); to make room for participants to have choice in how they participate (Darbyshire, MacDougall, & Schiller, 2005; Fargas-Malet, McSherry, Larkin, & Robinson, 2010); to allow for participation in line with children's different communication styles (Clark, 2005); and to increase the likelihood of the researcher understanding the child's meaning (Clark & Moss, 2011; Garbarino & Stott, 1992). Examples of work within LIS using a participatory, multi-method approach to exploring children's engagement with information include Agosto and Hughes-Hassell's (2005) study examining the information seeking behaviors of teens within the context of everyday life, Meyers et al.'s (2007) “Tween Day” methodology used to explore the everyday life information seeking behaviors of 9–13 year olds, and Fisher, Bishop, Fawcett, and Magassa's (2014) “Teen Design Day” methodology that was used to explore the ways in which teens act as information mediaries for their families.