3. Methodology
The aim of this study was to find out what support young people need as they have their first relationships. To find out we decided to talk with young people, parents and whānau and professionals who provide support to young people.
The fifth principle of the YDSA (Ministry of Youth Affairs, 2002) is that “youth development is triggered when young people fully participate. This principle acknowledges the importance of providing opportunities for young people to increase their control of what happens to them and around them, through advice, participation and engagement” (p. 22). In undertaking research about an issue affecting young people it was important to ask young people for their views. The YDSA also states that positive youth development is about young people being connected – to their family and whānau, school, training or work, peers and their community (Principle two); and that youth development happens through high-quality relationships (Principle four). These principles suggested that it was important to talk with the people who were likely to be providing support to young people as they worked through relationship issues. We therefore recruited parents, whānau and a range of professionals working with young people, including school counsellors, community-based youth workers and social workers working in secondary schools.
3.1 Focus groups and interviews
The focus groups and interviews were guided by five questions, which varied slightly depending on who the participants were. For example, only the young people were asked the question “What do young people want out of a relationship?” In summary, the questions asked were as follows:
- What skills and information about relationships do young people need?
- Where do young people learn about relationships and who has the responsibility to teach them?
- Where do young people go for support and what are effective ways to support them?
- How can parents support their young people?
The focus group and interview questions are provided in full in Appendix 1.
Most of the focus groups were attended by two facilitators, one of whom took and then transcribed detailed written notes. Interviews were undertaken by one researcher who took and transcribed written notes.
3.2 Recruiting participants
Personal and organisational networks were used to recruit all the participants. To recruit young people we approached youth groups established through a church, schools and a community-based social and health-service provider, and a contact with links to a co-ed Catholic boarding school (four of the nine focus groups were affiliated with a church youth group or Catholic school). Using established groups of young people meant that the young people already regularly met as a group and knew each other, their parents were aware of their participation in the group (and so parental consent was easier to attain, where the young person was aged 15 years or under), an adult facilitator was already engaged with the young people and a support system was already in place. We aimed to recruit a mixture of girls and boys aged 11 to 18 years old, from a range of ethnic groups and, specifically, a group of gay and lesbian young people. The three focus groups with predominantly Māori young people were co-facilitated by the Families Commission researcher and Māori facilitators. The focus group of gay and lesbian young people was co-facilitated by the Families Commission researcher and the convenor of the support group.
The young people and the parents and whānau we recruited were not related to each other. To recruit parents and whānau we used contacts in a workplace and in two community groups, and members of an existing Families Commission Parents Panel.[3] We aimed to recruit mothers and fathers, Māori whānau and grandparents and parents living in a rural or provincial community. The focus group with Māori parents and whānau was co-facilitated by the Families Commission researcher and a Māori facilitator.
To recruit the professionals working with young people we contacted the school counsellors’ representative at the New Zealand Association of Counsellors, who referred us to contacts in the Wellington region. We consulted with the Wellington Youth Network to recruit youth workers. We also recruited youth workers and school counsellors through a youth worker working in a community-based organisation in the Wairarapa. We used contacts to recruit three social workers working in secondary schools in Auckland.
In February and March 2009 we held the following focus groups and interviews:
- nine focus groups with young people in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, involving 77 young people
- four focus groups with parents, grandparents and whānau in Auckland, Wellington and the Wairarapa, involving 23 participants
- three focus groups with youth workers in Wellington and the Wairarapa, involving 14 participants
- interviews with seven school counsellors and a focus group with three social workers working in two Auckland secondary schools.
| Table 1: Characteristics of young people and parents and whānau participating in focus groups | ||||||||
| Gender | Age | Ethnicity | ||||||
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The professionals working with young people were not asked to provide demographic information about themselves.
3.3 Ethical approval
Ethical approval for the research was granted by the Families Commission Ethics Committee. All potential participants were given information sheets outlining the aims of the study and what their participation would involve, and explaining that any information they provided would be confidential, and that recordings of interviews would be destroyed at the conclusion of the research. All participants signed consent forms. For participants aged 15 years and under, information sheets and consent forms were also sent to their parents and their consent obtained. The young people aged 15 years and under also assented to their own participation in the research.
3.4 Data analysis
A thematic analysis of the transcripts was undertaken for each group of participants (young people, parents and whānau and professionals) and by each question asked. Analysis included noting common themes and issues, and examining the extent to which results varied across the different groups of participants. Where possible, some assessment was made of the extent to which responses differed by gender and ethnicity. The responses from the group of gay and lesbian young people were also compared to responses from the focus groups with heterosexual young people (note, however, that the latter focus groups were not asked to identify their sexual orientation and may have also included gay and lesbian young people).
Given the small number of participants in the sample, a quantitative analysis of the issues emerging through the focus groups was not undertaken.
Verbatim quotes from the participants have been used in the report to illustrate the themes that emerged. Following each quote, information about the participant is provided in brackets (for example, ‘Girl, Wellington’). We have done this to provide some context for the quote, while also aiming to protect participants’ anonymity.
Strengths and limitations of the study
Our sample was small and selective. For example, we did not have sufficient representation in the focus groups from rural areas, Pacific peoples, other ethnic minorities or at-risk young people. The research findings are therefore not representative of young people, parents and whānau or professionals working with young people in New Zealand, and the findings from this project cannot be generalised across the population.
Footnotes
- [3]
- Families Commission Parents Panels are discussion groups of eight to 12 participants who live in similar circumstances. Groups meet three times a year for two years to discuss issues that affect people raising children. Currently we have 10 discussion groups across the country. These groups represent Māori whānau, sole parents, parents of teenagers, rural families in Central Otago, parents of young children, grandparents raising grandchildren, refugees, fathers and parents of children with disabilities. Each group is co-ordinated by a community organisation selected for their expertise in a particular field, or their ability to connect with local representative families and whānau. [Return to reference]