Summary information

Study title

Everyday childhoods 2013-2015

Creator

Thomson, R, University of Sussex
Berriman, L, University of Sussex
Bragg, S, Independent research
Howland, K, University of Sussex
Kehily, M, The Open University
McGeeney, E, University of Sussex
Hadfield, L, Independent researcher
Sharpe, S, Independent researcher
Courage, F, Mass Observation Archive
Arnott, S, Independent
Hughes, C, Independent

Study number / PID

853709 (UKDA)

10.5255/UKDA-SN-853709 (DOI)

Data access

Open

Series

Not available

Abstract

The Everyday Childhoods collection is a qualitative longitudinal dataset that was collected by researchers from the Universities of Sussex and Brighton and the Open University during 2013-15. The initial project, called ‘Face 2 Face: Tracing the real and the mediated in children’s cultural worlds’ (F2F) was funded by an NCRM Methodology Innovation award. The primary aim of the project was to explore how technologies documented and mediated the everyday in children's daily lives. The F2F project generated the majority of the data contained in this collection and the dataset comprises data from two research panels: firstly, a younger panel (the 'extensive' panel) of children aged 7-8 years (n=6) who had previously been involved with their families in an ESRC funded study of new motherhood ('The Making of Modern Motherhoods: Memories, Representations, Practices'). Their geographical location ranged across the South, South East and South West of England. Secondly, an older panel (the 'intensive' panel) of children aged 10-15 years (n=7) were recruited for the first time in this study. Their geographical location was focused in the South East of England. This latter sample were recruited to illustrate a diversity of youth experiences and identities, including along intersectional lines of ethnicity, religion, dis/ability, urban/rural locality, and economic background. Over the course of 12 months, both groups of children took part in a series of regular research activities aimed at capturing their everyday lives.Face 2 Face: Tracing the Real and the Mediated in Children’s Cultural Worlds (2013-14) was a 12-month methodological innovation project funded by the ESRC’s National Centre for Research Methods. The study documented thirteen children and young people’s everyday lives over a 12-month period, focusing on how new media technologies were infused in their everyday lives and relationships. The research team worked with two panels: a group of 8 year olds who were...
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Methodology

Data collection period

01/09/2013 - 01/09/2015

Country

United Kingdom

Time dimension

Not available

Analysis unit

Individual
Family
Time unit

Universe

Not available

Sampling procedure

Not available

Kind of data

Text
Still image
Audio
Video

Data collection mode

(1) ‘Favourite Things’ interviews – Carried out with each participant at the beginning of the study, during which children were invited to share ‘favourite’ possessions in their homes with a focus on objects that connected to their past and objects that connected to their future. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed and the children’s objects were photographed.(2) Family interviews - To gain a sense of the children’s everyday routines, some of the children’s families were interviewed about a typical day in their household. These interviews typically included the child and at least one parent, and sometimes siblings and extended family. The family interviews were audio recorded and transcribed(3) ‘Day in a life’ observations – Each child was ethnographically observed by a researcher over a single day. These included school days, holidays and weekend days – and were normally chosen by the child in conjunction with their parent. The researchers drew on multimodal practices of ethnographic observation – collecting visual and audio data alongside traditional field notes.(4) Recursive interviews – At the conclusion of the 12 months of fieldwork, each child took part in a final interview to look back on their participation in the study, and to look at the data collected as part of the project. All younger children, and some older children, were interviewed with their parents. Data was presented back to the participants in curated multimedia documents which were intended to be shared publicly on the project’s website with the permission of children and parents.

Funding information

Grant number

512589109

Access

Publisher

UK Data Service

Publication year

2019

Terms of data access

The Data Collection is available from an external repository. Access is available via Related Resources.

Related publications

Not available