ABSTRACT

In the past children’s lives were often explored by examining the views and perspectives of adult caretakers, rather than by asking the children themselves (Kirk, 2007). However, parents can be inaccurate reporters on the lives of their children, because their answers will reflect their own concerns and issues, they may be unaware of some aspects of their children’s lives such as when they are at school or with friends, or they haven’t fully appreciated how their child is feeling about a particular issue (Eiser & Twamley, 1999). More recently researchers have sought to elicit responses directly from the child participants, and this has been summarised as a shift from researchers seeking information about children, to seeking information from children (Doherty & Sandelowski, 1999).