Participatory and Collaborative Approaches to Survey Research |
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| Session Organisers |
Dr Dirk Schubotz (ARK; Queen's University Belfast) Dr Katrina Lloyd (ARK; Queen's University Belfast) |
| Time | Friday 19th July, 13:30 - 14:30 |
| Room | D16 |
This session’s focus is on examples of survey research that have used participatory and collaborative approaches, including community-based participatory research (CBPR) designs, rights-based approaches, stakeholder involvement, user-led research, and survey research that employed co-researchers or peer-researchers in the process of survey data production and dissemination.
The participatory turn in social research as well as the focus on evidence-based policy making means that there is a growing scope for collaborative approaches in survey research and an increasing understanding that these approaches can be meaningful and achievable. Further, policy regulations in many European countries require decision makers to involve users in the development of services, and as surveys remain an important instrument in the development and monitoring of policy and services, collaborative approaches to survey research have recently multiplied and diversified. Examples of this can be found in areas such as health and social care, education, housing, children's and young people's rights, disability, ageing and the environment.
In this session we will therefore discuss examples of collaborative and participatory approaches to survey research. We invite papers that focus on all aspects of survey co-design, including ethical and epistemological implications of collaborative survey research. We are interested in hearing about small scale community-based research projects, but equally about larger scale regional, national and international examples as well.
Keywords: collaborative approaches; survey co-design; rights-based approaches; participatory survey design
Dr Katrina Lloyd (QUB) - Presenting Author
Developing questionnaires for use with children and young people can be challenging; this is especially so when the topic of the survey is violence and the potential respondents come from six diverse European countries. This paper discusses the establishment and involvement of children and young people's Advisory Groups in the creation of a questionnaire about how adults can help support them if they were to experience harm. Two advisory groups were recruited in Northern Ireland; one consisted of children aged 9 and 10 years and the other of young people over the age of 14 years to represent the age groups being targeted by the survey which was 9-16 years. The questionnaire was piloted with groups of children and young people in all six countries which raised a number of issues and challenges in relation to translation, context and logistics that had to be addressed by the survey team. Adjustments were made where possible; the survey was translated into five languages and completed by 1,230 children and young people in schools across the six countries – Austria, Belgium, Germany, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Romania. The survey data were analysed with input from the Advisory Groups and the findings used to inform further phases of the project. The value of involving children and young people in the development of the survey is discussed along with the lessons learned by the survey team working with six countries and a very sensitive topic.
Mr Raghu Maharishi (Save the Children India) - Presenting Author
Mr Pradeep Kumar Mishra (Save the Children India)
Community Score Card (CSC) is one of the most effective methods of participatory data collection, providing evidences from the field for better planning, monitoring and also to ensure that the services reach those for whom they are meant, especially for those residing in rural areas, the poor, women and children. Data collection process via CSC is also a community monitoring tool for promoting community led action and for promoting right based approach. Now a day there is increased recognition that community involvement is critical for enhancing democratic governance, improving service delivery, and fostering empowerment. The comprehensive framework for community-based monitoring and planning at various levels places people at the centre of the process of regularly assessing whether the needs and rights of the community are being fulfilled. The approach encourages stakeholders, especially the poor, to influence and share control over priorities, resource allocation and access to rights and services, thus contribute in promoting local governance and accountability at various level of the system.
To reduce child marriage and its adverse effects on girls and women Save the Children is implementing ‘Marriage No Childs Play’ project in India as part of More Than Brides Alliance member. The project collected data through CSC’s for community based participatory appraisal of the SRHR services, in the first round data was collected from 108 score cards. The CSC was being administered in 4 districts of Rajasthan & Bihar states of India and the findings provided a basis for influencing health officials and the health system beyond providing evidences for the adolescent community to understand and evaluate SRHR services from their perspective. In addition, this process brought accountability in system since health workers and other government officials know that they will be periodically evaluated on selected parameters.
Dr Dirk Schubotz (ARK - Queen's University Belfast) - Presenting Author
Youth Action Northern Ireland is the lead organisation in the ‘Youth Network for Peace' programme, an EU-funded youth-led cross-border project in Ireland which has involved around 10,000 young people on both sides of the Irish border in a range of participative social action projects. One aspect of this programme is to assess the impact that this programme has had on young people’s attitudes to community relations and respect.
In this presentation I will discuss how I collaborated with Youth Action Northern Ireland to support them in the development and facilitation of a participatory survey design that elicited the attitudes of young people who participated in this 'Youth Network for Peace' programme. I will cover aspects such as the rationale for using a participatory survey design, the extent to which the participatory approach facilitated capacity building among young people, the challenges of a cross-border survey design, the involvement of young people in the data collection, processing and analysis and their participation in young-people friendly data dissemination.