| Learning Objective #1: Discuss some of the salient issues/barriers of interviewing young children | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Understand and anticipate some of the issues related to sampling and the at-risk population of young children |
Background Children’s healthy cognitive and language development, social competence, emotional maturity, and physical health are determined by a broad array of factors that influence a child’s competence. A well-grounded association exists between risks at the individual level, family level factors, and community level factors that influence children’s health. Objective There is an emerging recognition that population-based research must be augmented by a rich theoretical understanding of the ways in which risk is manifest in the lives of children. One way to augment our understanding is through in-depth interviews with children. However, there is a paucity of literature, which provides guidance for performing qualitative interviews with at risk children, with children with language barriers, and how to best approach young children. The purpose of this study was to provide insights into the process of interviewing at risk children about their health, illuminating issues of translation in interviews with children, and discovering the most effective approach to interviewing young children. Methods A qualitative ethnographic method was employed to develop an in-depth understanding of the issue of interviewing children. One-on-one interviews followed a semi-structured interview guide as well as involved play therapy techniques. Sample An inner-city neighbourhood in a large metropolitan centre, which has a high proportion of children, considered at risk for poor health outcomes provided the site for this research. Six children from diverse socioeconomic and multiethnic backgrounds with a range of known health risk factors were interviewed for this study. Findings and Implications This presentation will report the findings of this study, which provide a foundation for understanding how to most effectively interview young children. The researcher will discuss interview techniques and issues, sampling problems, not only with children, but also with the at risk population, and identify some of the salient issues of using translation with children during interviews.
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