Young Lives Project
1 October 2005 to 30 September 2008 (project continues to 2011 under the Timescapes programme)
Project Summary
Young Lives is a qualitative longitudinal study exploring young people's relationships and identities in the different domains of home life, school life and personal/social life, and the ways these change over time.
Research Questions and Aims
- How do young people construct their personal relationships and identities over time?
- What is the relative significance of family/peer group/school and community in their daily lives and how does this change through their teenage years?
- What values do young people draw upon in constructing their relationships and identities? What are the sources of their morality?
- How do young people make sense of their past, present and future? How do they refine their idea at different turning points in their lives as they 'overwrite' their biographies?
- What opportunities and constraints exist inyoung peopl's lives and how far is the notion of 'life planning' applicable to them? How do divese aspirations and subjective experiences relate to standard dimensions of social difference and inequality?
Our Methods
The project used an innovative blend of qualitative and quantitative methods in a longitudinal time frame.
There are three dimensions to this:
- A qualitative longitudinal study, carried out with a creative range of tools involving visual methods, interviews, diaries, collages, timelines, walkabout interviews, video diaries, and a project website.
- A survey of young people’s expectations, aspirations and values as they link to both standard socio-economic indices and the young people’s reference groups (see below for a findings report circulated to schools)
- Links to a national survey tracking 20,000 young people (the DfES Longitudinal Study of Young People in England).
The ethnographic study took a participatory approach and used a wide range of tools, many with a visual emphasis. Participants were consulted about the research design and could choose between different methods. Data collection took place in two waves:
Wave 1 (Winter 2006/Spring 2007)
- First interview: self portrait, timeline, first photo elicitation exercise
- Second interview: second photo elicitation exercise, relational map
- Further activities (optional): collage, diary, walkabout interview, video diary, photographs.
Wave 2 (Spring/Summer 2008)
- Project website launch through 'When I'm 25' essay about future
- Interview, drawings, timelines
Project Findings
Questionnaire survey: Leaflet for schools
Part of our research programme is a questionnaire survey of young people, aged 13-14, about their experiences, attitudes and expectations of the future. We have done the survey and are analysing the data collected. We have circulated a leaflet with summary findings to participating schools, and further analysis will be reported in academic journals and other outlets.
View the report on the schools survey(Link opens in new window) [
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Research Team
- Anna Bagnoli (Researcher)
- Bren Neale (Project leader)
- Sarah Irwin (Survey leader)
- Jon Prosser (Visual consultant)
Project associates: Inge Bates, Phil Hodkinson, Aisha Walker.
Funding
This project was funded under the 'Real Life Methods' award (2005-2008) as part of the National Centre for Research Methods. Young Lives is continuing until 2011, funded by the ESRC Timescapes programme(Link opens in new window) at the University of Leeds.