Hearing children's voices: methodological issues in conducting focus groups with children aged 7-11 years

TLDR

Children’s rights to participate in decisions affecting them have spurred research into their perspectives, revealing a gap between their views and parental concerns, yet methods for studying children remain under‑developed. This article examines the authors’ experience conducting focus groups with 7‑ to 11‑year‑old asthmatic children to explore their lived experiences. The study employed child‑friendly techniques, addressing group size, composition, recruitment, dynamics, tensions, and sensitive moments to facilitate participation and access children’s meanings. The authors conclude that focus groups effectively elicit children’s views, complementing personal interviews, but further work is needed to enhance children’s participation in other research stages.

Abstract

Children are increasingly acknowledged to have rights in the determination of decisions that affect them. This has encouraged research to be undertaken with children themselves to understand their own views, experiences and relationships, and has demonstrated a considerable gulf from parental concerns and observations. Methods for research with children are, however, relatively under-developed. This article reflects on our experience of conducting focus groups with children aged 7-11 years to examine their experiences of living with asthma. It discusses the use of child-friendly techniques to promote participation and access children’s meanings, and raises issues about the size and composition of groups and recruitment strategies, group dynamics, tensions and sensitive moments. We conclude that focus groups are a valuable method for eliciting children’s views and experiences and complement personal interviews, while important questions relate to enhancing children’s participation in other stages of the research process.