Children's Voices and Agency: Ways of Listening in Early Childhood Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research

The increased international legislation emphasising children's participation agenda heightened the need for high-quality research in early childhood. Listening to young children asserts their participation, agency and voices in research, an approach commonly associated with qualitative research methods. This Element provides a novel approach to listening to young children's voices by focusing on research approaches in early childhood studies that are broadly categorised as quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. Locating these research approaches from a children's rights perspective, this Element is based on values that young children have the right to be involved in research irrespective of culture and context. Each section discusses how the diverse methodologies and methods commonly used in early childhood research reflect children's participation, agency and their right to a voice in matters that concern them. The Element closes with some thoughts on ethical considerations in early childhood research and proposes some future directions.