Case Study - Survey of Young People in Blyth Valley, Northumberland
Research Method Used
- 6 focus groups – two in each of the Community Assembly areas (Blyth,
Cramlington, Seaton Delaval). These were gender based groups (males and
females split) with the various age ranges represented. The focus groups
provided the basis for the main survey.
- A survey of young people, using moderated self-completion
questionnaires. These were administered in a variety of settings which were
selected in ‘clusters’ including schools, young people’s centres, colleges,
jobcentres, benefits offices, training providers, sports venues. In order to
keep methodology simple, the questionnaire was paper-based. It is important
to note that this was not a full census of young people in the area, but a
sample using the clusters.
- The use of moderators, whose role was to assist with the running of the
survey in the clusters, was important. In some clusters, these were young
people employed by the contracted company, in others they were community
workers or teachers. Clearly there were issues around literacy and
comprehension of the survey, in particular for ‘hard-to-reach’ groups - this
was overcome with assistance from moderators.
Questionnaire Content
The aim of the research was to discover the attitudes of those aged 11-24. The
specific elements of the questionnaire were:
- To collect measures of Customer Satisfaction, participation, and
attitudes about services to Young People, including the Care Trusts, Social
Services, Job Centres, Connextions and the Voluntary Sector
- To understand Community Cohesion across and within generations,
including perceptions between young people and adults.
- To determine the best methods for obtaining involvement in Youth
Governance:
- To obtain measures of Lifestyle Behaviour in young people:
- To cross-reference the work undertaken with the Community Consultation
conducted with adults
Involvement of Young People
It was felt that it was essential that young people were used in the fieldwork
process in order to gain the trust and co-operation of young people. Information
by Design, the company commissioned to carry out the research recruited and
trained 4 young people. These people were trained in interviewing techniques,
were involved in the design of the questionnaire and contributed to the data
entry, analysis and writing of the final report. All the young people recruited
have continued their employment with Information by Design, working on other
projects.
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