Interviewing Children While Doing Research

Exploring the Method and Experiences of Research Interviewing with Finnish Daycare Children

Abstract

Traditional research focusing on children has been carried out by collecting informationfrom the children’s parents, teachers, and other adults. Information acquired from thechildren themselves has been considered of secondary importance. As the number of studies  focusing on  children has increased,  it is  important to  consider  the children themselves as research subjects. This article investigates the following areas: (1) how to encourage 5 to  7  year-old  children to  talk, (2)  how  a  researcher, as  an adult,  can understand the child’s world, and (3) how a researcher can free  him/herself from                 the adult-centered perspective. This article             clarifies                         the                         features                of     a             method         forchild interviewing, and demonstrates how vividly and easily Finnish daycare children (N = 29) are able to talk about their experiences in a research interview.