Titel/Projektbezeichnung: Multinational Qualitative Study of Children’s Well-being
Institutionelle Anbindung: Sektion Soziale Arbeit, Universität Vechta
Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Christine Hunner-Kreisel (Universität Vechta), Prof. Dr. Susann Fegter (TU Berlin), Dr. Tobia Fattore (Macquarie University Sydney)
Projektpartner aus 21 Ländern weltweit
Laufzeit: seit Januar 2014
Kontakt: christine.hunner-kreisel[at]uni-vechta.de
Kurzbeschreibung: The study involves a qualitative counterpart to the Children's Worlds study which explores concepts of the Children's Worlds study by emphasising local contexts in a comparative national analysis.
The Children's Worlds study aims to understand children's subjective well-being and how they experience daily activities within their families, neighbourhoods and at school. The study is closely linked to the international research field of child well-being and its shifts towards child-centred perspectives.
The study has thus far discovered some very important and original insights into children's lives. These include documenting national differences in feelings of safety at home and at school, levels of participation, time-use and variations in different 'domains' of life satisfaction. Like no other research study before it will show how children all over the world experience their subjective well-being.
However what these findings mean and why these differences exist are not well understood. For example why do children in Uganda feel safer in school than at home? What does it mean 'to feel safe' for children in Uganda compared to children in Israel? Do boys and girls share the same concept of 'feeling safe'? Why is it that children in the United Kingdom feel more 'listened to' than children in South Korea? What does it mean to be 'satisfied' with one's life and how do different cultural values contribute to this feeling? How do local contexts affect well-being outcomes for children in different countries? A qualitative study is best placed to answer these types of questions.
Thus, the first findings already show that additional qualitative research is needed to provide a wider understanding for the Children's Worlds study, to make the findings from the quantitative study more understandable and to reach the study’s aims in a more grounded way.
The research questions for the study Multinational Qualitative Study of Children’s Well-being are the same as those of the Children’s Worlds study, however explored from an explicitly qualitative perspective. These include:
• How do children use their time?
• What do children need?
• What resources do children have?
• What do children think and feel?
• What is important to make children feel connected and related?
• How do children contribute?