'You find out more than just the numbers'
Emma Duvekot and Iris Scherphof from HZ Center for Community Research Zeeland began #ZLDjongeren&culture with mixed feelings, a study on the cultural experience and cultural life course of children and young people between ten and thirty years old. “From previous experiences, we knew that culture is a difficult topic. We were afraid it wouldn't take off,” says Emma. “Moreover, it is a qualitative study. Young people had to talk to us for an hour to an hour and a half.” However, through their tireless efforts and innovative research methods, they managed to engage far more young people than they had dared to hope.
Eugène de Kok, editor HZ Discovery
Intrinsic motivation
They look back on the research with satisfaction. In a few weeks, the pair spoke with more than a hundred children and young people about culture in Zeeland. They usually went to the young people, sometimes during the day, often in the evenings, and occasionally even on weekends. “We wanted to make it as easy as possible for them. If you conducted the interviews at HZ in Vlissingen, that would again be a barrier for them to participate,” says Iris.
Even so, it was still challenging to set up the conversations. Emma and Iris posted messages on social media, sent emails to contacts in the field, approached schools, and let the press know that the study was underway. “We also made flyers. That turned out to be incredibly effective. I was amazed by that,” says Emma.
Geographical distribution
The geographical distribution of respondents was important. After an initial round, in which they received a lot of responses from Walcheren, they mainly approached young people in the Oosterschelde region and Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. “We enlisted the help of cultural institutions, but you know that the young people who go there are already interested,” explains Iris. “That's why we also sought contact with welfare institutions and community centers. ‘Help us,’ was our request. And if they were young people who had nothing to do with culture, that didn’t matter. We especially wanted to talk to them too.
‘We enjoy conducting research in a creative way. If I were a child, I wouldn't sign up for a boring study either’
Interviews
Ultimately, their efforts yielded more than a hundred respondents. That is a lot for a qualitative study, says Emma. “We conducted 39 interviews. The largest group we spoke with was four. You noticed that they were most comfortable and honest in small groups. For example, in a large group, children are less likely to say that their parents find a performance too expensive.”
The pair approached the conversations in a structured way and tried to keep it interesting for all age groups. They devised methods using Lego bricks, for example. Each participant received ten, which they could distribute over activities they liked.
Emma and Iris tested these and other methods during the Science Day at the JRCZ on the first Saturday in October. “You could see that children enjoyed working with those Lego bricks. We emphasized that they should do it as honestly as possible and that they didn’t have to put the bricks on something cultural,” says Iris. “We thought a lot about that,” adds Emma. “We wanted to entice them to be as honest as possible in a playful way. Probing further was also important in this study. That way, you get the best qualitative results. Our methods provided structure and support, the rest we had to achieve with our questions. It was sometimes hard work, but if you get good answers, it’s worth it.”
Creative approach
The two enjoyed the research. “We enjoy conducting research in a creative way. If I were a child, I wouldn't sign up for a boring study either.” The pair discussed their approach with their colleagues at the knowledge center. They were enthusiastic about the innovative approach and contributed ideas.
Enormous puzzle
Emma and Iris recorded all the conversations. Processing them took a lot of time. “We had over 2000 pieces of relevant text that we had to organize and code. We dealt with four different age groups from three regions, but you still want to say something general. It was an enormous puzzle to discover patterns in everything that was said,” says Iris.
It resulted in an exploratory study. It was commissioned by the province. A group with cultural institutions and organizations contributed ideas. They did not yet have a study on the cultural life course of children and young people. “I can imagine that follow-up questions will arise from this, which are worth investigating,” says Emma.
Extremely valuable
The two dismiss criticism that qualitative research is ‘not real research’. “More and more people see that it is extremely valuable. I think so too. You can also sketch the background. You learn more than just figures.” Iris gives the example of children being taken to museums by their parents, even though they don’t enjoy it. “If you only have the numbers, you don’t see the latter. Through qualitative research, you get a better idea of what’s going on. This method works well for research among children and young people. However, you shouldn’t want to draw conclusions for all young people in Zeeland. That’s not possible based on these results. We are talking about the group we spoke to. Nevertheless, the results are indicative of what is generally happening in Zeeland.”