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Interviewing Children at Home: Exploring the Use of Individual and Focus Group Interviews

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Methodological Approaches

Part of the book series: Geographies of Children and Young People ((GCYP,volume 2))

Abstract

This chapter considers the methodological issues and generational power relations involved in conducting research with children in the home setting. The paper discusses some task-based interview tools as well as the advantages and disadvantages of interviewing children individually and in groups within the home context. Moral, emotional, and practical considerations are explored before, during, and after doing interviews with children at home. Ethical and spatial issues are examined along with the power imbalances both between child participants and between children and researchers.

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Acknowledgments

Portions of this chapter also appeared in “I Felt they were Ganging up on me”: Interviewing Siblings at Home’ (Children’s Geographies 2007) by Samantha Punch, 5(3):219–234.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, UK

    Samantha Punch & Elizabeth Graham

Authors
  1. Samantha Punch
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  2. Elizabeth Graham
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Correspondence to Samantha Punch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, United Kingdom

    Ruth Evans

  2. Department of Geography, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

    Louise Holt

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Punch, S., Graham, E. (2017). Interviewing Children at Home: Exploring the Use of Individual and Focus Group Interviews. In: Evans, R., Holt, L. (eds) Methodological Approaches. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-020-9_26

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