Researching Children and Youth

Ingrid E. Castro, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA, USAMelissa Swauger, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, USABrent Harger, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USALoretta E. Bass, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

Sociologists, criminologists, and other social scientists explore some of the methodological issues, strategies, and innovations essential to conducting research with children and youth. During the past four decades, they say, theoretical constructions of childhood have positioned children as social actors, resulting in a growth of child-centered and youth-centered empirical research, a deepened understanding of ethical approaches, and a burst of innovative research methods. Among their topics are maneuvering the stormy waters of ethnography in an inner-city school: reflections from the field, researcher as college coach: dilemmas and possibilities in fieldwork with adolescents, sharpening theory and methodology to explore racialized youth peer cultures, and learning about inequality from kids: interviewing strategies for getting beneath equality rhetoric.

• The Continued Importance of Research with Children and Youth: The 'New' Sociology of Childhood 40 Years Later - Melissa Swauger, Ingrid E. Castro, and Brent HargerSECTION I: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES: ETHICS, LOCATIONS, AND ROLESThe IRB as Gatekeeper: Effects on Research with Children and Youth - Brent Harger and Melissa QuintelaUtilizing Youth Advocates and Community Agencies in Research with LGBTQ Young People: Ethical and Practical Considerations - Vanessa R. Panfil, Jody Miller, and Maren GreathouseManeuvering the Stormy Waters of Ethnography in an Inner-City School: Reflections from the Field - Anne Scheer Researcher Positionality in Participant Observation with Preschool Age Children: Challenges and STartegies for Establishing Rapport with Teachers and Children Simultaneously - Heidi M. GansenResearcher as College Coach: Dilemmas and Possibilities in Fieldwork with Adolescents - Melanie Jones GastSECTION II: METHODOLOGICAL STRATEGIES: THEORY, AGENCY, AND VOICEThe Cherished Conceits of Research with Children: Does Seeking the Agentic Voice of the Child through Participatory Methods Deliver What it Promises? - Jessica Clark and Sarah RichardsContextualizing Agency in High-Structure Environments: Children's Participation in Parent Interviews - Ingrid E. CastroSubverting the Research Encounter: Context, Structure, and Agency in the Creative Analysis of Research Data - Sally McNamee and Sam Frankel Challenges and Opportunities for Conducting Research on Children of Incarcerated Fathers - Kristin Turney, Britni L. Adams, Emma Conner, Rebecca Goodsell, and Janet MuñizSharpening Theory and Methodology to Explore Racialized Youth Peer Cultures - Ana Campos-HollandSECTION III: METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS: VISUALS, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY'Is that a Mom and Dad Church?' Children's Constructions of Meaning through Focus Group Interviews - Henry ZonioLearning about Inequality from Kids: Interviewing Strategies for Getting Beneath Equality Rhetoric - Tricia McTague, Carissa Froyum, and Barbara J. Risman'The Celebrity Thing': Using Photographs of Celebrities in Child-Centered Ethnographic Interviews with White Kids about Race - Margaret Ann HagermanDigital Ethnography and Youth Culture: Methodological Techniques and Ethical Dilemmas - Alecea StandleeAccessing Children's Digital Practices at Home through Visual Methods: Innovations and Challenges - Ana Nunes de Almeida, Diana Carvalho, and Ana DelicadoAFTERWORD - MY KIDS: FAIR WARNINGS AND BRAZEN METHODS - Gary Alan FineIndex