Methods, Tools and Instruments for Use with Children

Summary

This paper focuses on the methods, tools, and instruments that may be useful for research with children in the second and subsequent phases of data collection in the Young Lives project. Specifically, it addresses methods for investigating the following two lines of
enquiry:
a) What are the factors (global, national, sub-national, community and household/family) that act on children’s lives, to either increase or reduce poverty and its effects?
b) What effects do multidimensional aspects of poverty have on children’s functioning, capabilities and well-being during the course of childhood?
The paper will include examples of qualitative and quantitative measures that could be used both in sub-sample and full-sample data collection. Analysis of this data will give a much deeper and broader picture of global child poverty than can be obtained through either quantitative household surveys or in-depth qualitative work alone. Further, combining and comparing the data obtained at the levels of the community, household and child build a rich context for the study of poor children’s lives.