Navigating the Methodological and Ethical Dilemmas in Child Field Research

Children have the right to be heard and to have a say in decisions that affect them at every level of society, as required by Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children with paid work experience have a right to express their views and for these views to be considered in the broader systems and policies that frame their work nationally and internationally. Through empirical research, I explored children's experiences working as electronic waste recyclers at the Agbogbloshie scrapyard in Ghana.

Undertaking ethnographic research, I observed for over six months the activities of children recycling electronic waste at a scrapyard in Ghana and interviewed thirty child recyclers aged between 6 and 17 years. In addition, I interviewed twenty-five adult workers and ten stakeholders. I encountered a plethora of ethical challenges and I will discuss the dilemmas while undertaking this empirical research and the approaches taken to address these.

The dilemmas ranged from how to gain access and consent to how to handle cultural biases. Most of the children involved in the research were street children working with adult workers and there were complexities with negotiating access and gaining consent from gatekeepers. The challenges of managing cultural sensitivity and coping with cultural biases as a female researcher in a male-dominated setting in an informal work setting will be discussed in the presentation. In addition, this presentation will explore the approaches taken to address the dilemmas such as addressing power imbalances, adopting methodological strategies that prioritise child participation in research and allowing children to take ownership of their narratives.

In conclusion, conducting child research comes with several dilemmas. However, adherence to the ethical principles of research is necessary to balance the rights, well-being and best interests of the children with the goals of the research.