Structure of talk

1. What can qualitative longitudinal research with children and young people add to international development? Ginny Morrow & Gina Crivello DSA, Birmingham 16th November 2013

2. Structure of talk • Background to Young Lives • Definitions of Qualitative Longitudinal Research • QLR in development studies? • QLR in Young Lives - two examples: • (1) policy-relevant question - transition to adulthood, and • (2) QLR for a specific study linking research to policy & practice • Discussion and challenges

3. Background: Young Lives • Longitudinal study of childhood poverty -Ethiopia, Andhra Pradesh, India, Peru and Vietnam • Commissioned by DFID to track progress of MDGs • 12,000 children 2001-2017 • Survey every 3 years; Qualitative research with ‘nested’ sample n=200 • Interdisciplinary research teams • Improve the understanding of causes and consequences of childhood poverty • How policies affect children

4. QUALITATIVE DATA • 3 rounds collected from a nested sample of both cohorts in 2007, 2008 & 2011. 50 children in each country. • 4th (final) round planned for 2014. • Methods include: interviews with children, creative methods, caregivers, group discussions, interviews with teachers/other community members. • Qual 1 & 2 – wellbeing, experiences of poverty, transitions • Qual 3 – included social support, caregivers’ life histories. • Children’s life trajectories, role of poverty in shaping life-course, decision-making and choice

5. WHAT IS QUALITATIVE LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH? • Multiple approaches to investigating aspects of time and change (no single definition) • Mixed methods approaches where qualitative longitudinal elements are attached to a quantitative study • Planned prospective qualitative longitudinal studies • Follow-up studies (revisiting communities) • Evaluation/tracking studies • Unit of analysis can be individuals, households, communities, schools, NGOs, CBOs

6. QLR in development studies? • What is the status of qualitative research in development knowledge? • Temporality - goals of development are change and sustainability – but approaches to research in development are cross-sectional/snapshot = disjunction? • Dominance of human capital approaches, uncritical acceptance of developmental psychology - marginality of children and young people’s experiences.

7. QLR in Young Lives • Embedded within a larger survey study (Young Lives not originally designed as a QLR study) • Complements other data sources • Children’s and caregiver’s evaluations of what has shaped their trajectories • Identification of broad unifying research questions • Iterative – survey and qualitative protocol design • Adds depth to processes behind survey findings • Adaptable to changing research contexts, age and biographical circumstances of participants • Policy and communications - individual cases in broader context of changing communities

8. Example 1: ‘transitions’ to adulthood • Work, school, marriage nexus and change over time in rural AP. • High rates of school leaving amongst rural poor • Eg - Ranadeep – in 2007 was missing school to work, but optimistic. • 2008 - wanting to migrate, open a shop. Wanted to continue his schooling, but complained about working. • 2010 had failed Grade 10 - ‘I will be a waste’ • Can’t ask his family for support - ‘I know they are struggling’; crop failure because of drought, indebtedness. • Wants to support his mother/family.

9. Example 2: QL approach to Research to policy and practice • Oak-funded study on risks, vulnerability and resilience for children • To explore the challenges of translating research into practice in Ethiopia and India • Process – iterative, consultative – • Background research - analysis of Young Lives data (survey and qualitative) to identify question • Interviews with stakeholders (policy, NGOs) = policy context analysis • Consultation meetings to identify research priority • (Orphanhood in Ethiopia, hazardous work in AP)

10. Continued… • Qualitative research study, highlighting context-specific understandings of children’s vulnerability • Results reported to stakeholders in consultative process • Outcomes: in Ethiopia • Opportunities to share learning: Child Research and Practice Forum • Meets regularly bringing together researchers, policy-makers, practitioners • Building a local network for using and engaging with research, shaping future agenda • 2nd project ongoing on evidence-based approaches to children’s work/child labour

11. Reflections • QLR helps explain changing circumstances that led to outcomes for Ranadeep • QLR is a powerful way of linking individual biographies with structural (poverty) factors • Oak research emphasised the importance of creating spaces over time, networks, relationships – meetings, newsletters etc. • QLR enabled ‘capacity-building’, two-way learning, trust-building between research teams others. • OAK – strengthening relationships that transcends the study, and continue.

12. Challenges • Practicalities • Costly • Ethics – (respondent fatigue, maintaining relationships in long-term research, etc) • Data management – transcribing/translation • Disciplinary boundaries – development economists? • Mixed methods papers? Publishing conventions in development studies? • Getting beyond ‘stories’?

14. Data collection Data Collection