Youth-Led Research and the Tensions Between Relational Methodologies and Fast Methods: Learning and Living in the In-Between

Abstract

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) has often been characterized as a meaningful way of including young people in research about and for them. Much has been written about the need to develop trusting relationships between adult and youth researchers in this process. These types of research relationships take time to develop authentically and we see a need for that relationship-building time to be built into research designs and timelines. At the same time, in our experience working with the Youth Research Council in Northern Virginia, USA, we have seen youth researchers express desires to use “rapid” research methods, such as hallway interviews, text messaging, speak-back surveys, and video testimonials to gather data from peers. The purpose of this article is to explore these tensions, to uncover the privilege of what have been called slow ontologies, and to offer recommendations for other youth-led research teams.