03.01.2016 the precarious worlds of children a methodological approach to the experience of poverty...
TRANSCRIPT
21.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
A methodological approach to the experience of poverty from the point of view of children
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
221.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
Overview
1. Introduction
2. Child poverty – national and international findings
3. Child poverty from the perspective of children: a qualitative study
1. Aims of the research project (2009 to 2012)
2. The Research Field
4. Research Design / Methodology
1. Participant Observation
2. Photo documentation and interviews
3. Group Discussions
5. Conclusion
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
321.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
2. Child poverty – national and international findings
• At present, one in six children (under the age of 15) live in poverty in Germany
• Child poverty cannot therefore be reduced to a single cause but is a complex
matter for which there are manifold causes
• Research must move beyond the material level
• It must explore what constraints and restrictions children experience in their
everyday lives in addition to their poverty and what experiences they talk
about
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
421.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
3. Child poverty from the perspective of children: a
qualitative study
3.1 Aims of the research project (2009 to 2012)
• Analysis of precarious childhood in Germany from the view of the
disadvantaged children themselves
• To link different qualitative methods with an approach that is sensitive to social
inequality
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
521.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
3.2 The Research Field
• Childcare centre in a precarious district of Hamburg
• The children involved in our research were in the age range of six to twelve
• 23% of all children in Hamburg are poor, the highest child poverty rate in Germany
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
621.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
4. Research Design / Methodology
4.1 Participant Observation
• The major focus of our research was the question of the social reality of these
children
• Looped process: constant interplay between the phases of collection and
analysis
• The method offers a adequate approach to the research field and allows to
make contact with the children and to create a situation of trust
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
721.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
4.2 Photo documentation and individual interviews
• At the beginning the children had the chance to document their environment
with disposable cameras
• During the interviews, the children made collages using the photos and other
craft materials
• The collages were meant to take into account forms of expression suitable for
children and create a friendly and relaxed atmosphere
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
821.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
Collages
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
921.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
4.3 Group Discussions
• The group discussions were recorded on video and the detailed transcript is
the basis for the later analysis
• The aim of the group discussions was an exchange by the socially
disadvantaged children of their joint biographical experiences and certain
aspects of their life world
• If certain methodical conditions are met, group discussions can be a useful tool
in childhood research
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
1021.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
5. Conclusion
• The three methods are closely connected to the children’s themes and build on
one another. The promise of this procedure is to get as closely as possible to
the children’s own experiences
• Our view of poverty and the social disadvantage of children can be
reconstructed very closely to that of the children themselves
• For research into childhood and poverty, this approach brings a considerable
gain in knowledge
Elena Bütow and Sarah Korenke
1121.04.23
The Precarious Worlds of Children
Elena Bütow & Sarah Korenke
Goethe University of Frankfurt
DFG-Research Project:
„Precarious Childhood – How Children Experience Poverty“