‘They are too young to understand health’ a researchers reflexive account of researching with under fives

Abstract

ABSTRACTQualitative research is an inherently complex landscape which continually presents researchers with difficult, ethically challenging dilemmas. This paper foregrounds some of those challenges, experienced during a qualitative research study which focused on preschool children’s opportunities to access different forms of play in early year education settings and the impact of this on their learner identities and understandings of health. Specifically, the paper focuses on the challenges faced by the researcher when addressing issues of access, including dealing with gatekeepers and the influence they potentially have upon the meaning and authenticity of the data collected. The analyses explore how well the three methods (interviews, structured activities and observations) employed to ensure that the voices of young children, rather than those of gatekeepers and other adults, were captured by the research process, reflected their views, and recognised them as active, embodied, social agents.