Children and their research: a process document

This is an account of a major socio-economic household survey, covering 7,573 households in eight Panchayats in Karnataka State in Southern India, conducted by 270 young researchers, boys and girls aged from eight to eighteen years. They were mostly working children with little education, belonging to the organisation, Bhima Sangha, although some school-going children also helped. The project built on a long-standing strategy of Bhima Sangha to collect accurate data on which to base their initiatives. Besides providing accurate information for CWC (the Concerned for Working Children), the project aimed to improve child participation and empowerment by equipping the children with skills to collect information to support their planning and decision-making. This book describes the process of developing the project and training the children, and the enthusiastic way in which child researchers collected data and overcame the difficulties facing them. The book does not present the data or its analysis to assess, but it does indicate some insights that arose from the research. A postscript points to further collection of data by children for subsequent projects. Results show that by complying with childrenÆs right to information and participation, they can be empowered to have a beneficial impact on society. The book reads easily, and is illustrated with incidents from the research and quotations from what children said about it. It is recommended to anyone interested in the practice of child participation, as well as those more specifically interested in engaging children in research