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Using ‘cases’ in a longitudinal dataset on
child poverty: challenges and examples
from Young Lives
Gina Crivello, Young Lives
NCRM advanced methods workshop
Case Histories in Qualitative Longitudinal Research
The Keep, University of Sussex
October 6th & 7th 2016
Outline
1. Background to Young Lives and QLR within the study
2. What the data look like and challenges arising over time
3. Examples of how case-based data have been analysed and
used
4. Recent work on children’s trajectories and ‘exceptional’
cases
Background to Young Lives
- 4 waves of QLR
Qualitative research tools
A variety of tools for engaging children in research about everyday experiences of poverty across time
What the data look like and challenges over time
• transcribed, translated
interview transcripts (case
children, parents,
community members)
• Researcher reports of group
discussions (children and
adults)
• Digital record of creative
outputs (drawings, maps,
etc.)
• Researcher reflections –
variation in depth and detail
Practical challenges - across time and space• Tracking the sample between rounds of data collection; attrition (eg, migration in Peru)
• Retaining the same researchers over long time periods
• Managing expectations (eg, meeting local expectations regarding reciprocity) – ongoing
ethical challenges, amplified as research relationships deepen with time
• ‘Saying goodbye’ in the final visit (2014) – tentative closure, some ‘closed’ cases ‘re-opened’
in 2015
• ‘the absence of analytic closure’ (Thomson and Holland 2003:243)
• Managing large and evolving data sets; how to ‘enter’ the data analytically and how to
integrate both cross-sectional and longitudinal dimensions of analysis
• Small sample size means re-using the same ‘cases’ -- risk prioritizing accounts from the
‘interesting’ ones!, the talkative ones, the ones we know best; become emotionally invested
in certain children
• For UK-based researchers, striving for ‘closeness’ in secondary analysis (eg, listen to audio
files), create our own image of certain children (see Morrow, Boddy and Lamb 2014)
• Heavily reliant on text to create case histories, although we generate visual material
(photographs of/by children and their families and everyday environments), we have
committed to not use images of YL participants – constrains the medium of storytelling
• The data are not perfect (translated across languages and cultures for secondary analysis) –
lots of cross-checking -- country researchers involved in analysis with UK researchers
- Initially, Haymanot was not a ‘core’ case – was recruited as a
‘reserve’ for group discussion and in case others dropped-out
- So, no Round 1 (2007) biographical interview
- Round 2 (2008) – her mother fell ill (remains ill)
- Left school age 12 to care for mother and work at a stone crushing
plant (met her future husband)
- Round 3 (2011)- got married (age 15) and had a baby (age 16)
(according to her, getting married was her mother’s idea; her
mother suggests it was Haymanot’s)
- Round 4 (2014) – discover at age 16 she got divorced
- Return visit (~age 20) – remarried at 19 (her own initiative) and
had second child; age 20, remains close to ailing mother so can
provide care.
(Mis)managing inconsistencies (example) - Haymanot
Recurring themes: food insecurity and poverty, ill health, intergenerational
mutuality, constrained choice and agency (marriage as a livelihood option)
Name of File: ET171002_OCG_29NOV15_105
01) ID of Community: ET17
02) Interviewee: Case girl
03) Age: 18
04) Gender: F
05) Cohort: OC
06) Date of Activity: 29 - 11 - 2015
.
You have said that you got married in 2007, right?
Yes.
How old were you?
I do not totally know my age.
Did you know when you got married with the first one?
At that time may be I was 15 or 16 years.
….
Is the current one [husband] older than you?
Yes.
With how many years?
How old am I ? (asked the sister)
You are 18 years but he is older.(sister responded)
His age is 27.
What about the first one?
He is 21 at this time.
Haymanot’s case also shows flimsiness of our classifications (became an
emblematic case of ‘early marriage’, ‘child bride’) – yet dynamic (‘divorcee’;
emphasizes second marriage was on her terms). This nuance not captured by
the survey (strong on social determinants/drivers of early marriage, etc.).
We come to accept the messiness of the data set which sometimes reflects the
realities of life rather than data errors. (example transcript extract)
Even ‘age’ is not fixed.
Examples of how case-based data used
1. As a methodology for analysis
2. To represent findings (including for a wider audience)
As a methodology, still many decisions to be made:
• Which age cohorts (one or both?)
• Whose accounts to include (children, parents / individual and group interviews?)
• Which rounds of data? (often not feasible to include everyone/every round)
• Thematic analysis of latest wave of data
• Select cases for in-depth analysis across multiple waves
Examples from my work: ‘There’s no future here’ – Geoforum 2015
This paper examined young Peruvians’
aspirations and the role of migration in their
imagined futures, from a generational
perspective.
Used a biographical approach that sees
migration as part of individual biographies as
well as social structures and life course
processes.
Interested in the social contexts in which
aspirations are generated, family migration
histories and children’s social networks.
First, read the coded data (‘migration’, ‘transitions’)
Then read latest wave of individual interviews with children, then caregivers,
including caregiver life histories (paired reading)
Selected a small number of cases as illustrative, more detailed, particularly because
they showed complication and complexity, the fluidity of migration processes.
ID number Pseudonym Age
2011
Sibling
birth
order
Mother migration history Networks Aspiration by/for children
PE058019 Maria 16 1 0f 3 Born in different province.
Amazonas
Grandparents and uncle: lived
one year with them to attend
secondary school.
….
Maria: different district within
province
Mom: re-locate whole family to
where Maria moves for school, then
to work ‘in the city’
PE058020 Diana 16 5 of 7 Born in different province.
Cajamarca
Sisters in [neighbouring country].
Sister and friends in Lima.
Baby’s father’s family in XXX.
Age 13: wanted to go to Lima
Age 14: moved to different region
where baby’s father lives
Age 16: returned home following
break-up with baby’s father
PE058022 Rodrigo 16 2 of 3 Born in different province.
Cajamarca
Age 13: moved to region.
Age 15: began work as
domestic maid.
Mom and dad travel for weeks at
a time for work.
Aunt in XXX capital of different
region.
Brother was in Amazonas,
returned.
Age 16: went away for 3 months
with a friend to work as a farm
hand.
Mom: should study in XXX where
aunt is.
Age 13: wants to live locally.
Age 16: wants to work and live in
Lima.
PE058025 Elmer 16 3 of 4 Born elsewhere. Sister in Lima. Siblings rotate
helping her with childcare. Elmer
lived in Lima 1 year.
Returned to village, but then
moved again to different village,
and mom and dad moved to yet a
different village.
Age 14: study in XXX car
mechanic, living near family.
Mom: study in XXX, region’s largest
city
Example of case-level notes by attributes and topics, 2011 (extract)
2007 (Qual-1) 2008 (Qual-2) 2011 (Qual-3)
PE058022
Rodrigo
Oolder
Cohort
(OC)
Q2
12yo; lives with parents; sister, since around
3 years ago, parents left kids with grandma
for up to two weeks at a time so they could
go work on the land. Mom says boy
becomes sad, loses weight, gets head aches
and fever, but medicine helps. Aspiration:
mom would like him to become a
‘professional’, since his older sibs didn’t
manage. Because of their financial situation,
boy should study in XXX because that’s
where his aunt is.
13yo; now, lives with mom, dad, younger
sis, bro who had moved to XXX, has
returned with spouse and child. Other bro
moved out, but nearby. Aspiration: wants
to stay living here because he wants to be
close to his family and its a good place to
live.
16yo; in 5th grade secondary. He wants to start looking for
work during holiday eg in XXX as a farm worker to help the
house. Last year he went for 3 months with a friend to work
in a caserio near XXX. Paid for all his schooling. Wants to
study computing, wants to work and live in Lima. Even if he
doesn’t finish secondary school, wants to go to Lima.
PE058030
OC
Luis
Q3
13yo; major family problems [….] Aspiration:
by 15-17yo thinks he’ll finish secondary
school, and 1 or 2 two of his sibs should be
living in Lima working. Mom wants him to
keep studying and to migrate to a city. She
says that a life in the fields is a life of
suffering.
14yo; Now, older brother has migrated to
[neighbouring country]. He works in
construction and sends money home.
Mom saves money to send boy to school
and buy some land. The dad had been
home for about a month but he was likely
going to leave again to work. Aspiration:
boy says would like to become a police
officer in Lima, but not sure about it.
16yo; older brother moved to XXX where he’s at [art
school]. Boy wants to be a [artist] too. Dad has given some
land to his sons so they can start to work. Aspiration:
[artist] like his brother and study where he is. If that
doesn’t work out he’d have to work in the field, or seek out
work in another department/part of the region, which he
would scope out on his own. He’s not doing well in
school… and was expelled so moved schools. Gets bored.
Teacher says its because he’s an adolescent.
PE058026
Natalia
OC
Q1
12yo; 1st grade secondary; lives with mom,
dad, younger sis; 3 older sis don’t live at
home: one works and lives nearby; other one
who she was closest to lives in XXX, with bro
(20yo). Mom says she’s a good student,
never failed. Aspiration: girl imagines
finishing school at 15 or 16, then study
secretarial work; she likes this job because
she sees the secretary at school and likes it,
and also her sister in XXX is a secretary.
Wants to study and work in XXX like her
sister. Mom says its very likely girl will go to
XXX to live with her sibs.
13yo; Sibs continue living in XXX. Mom is
considering sending girl to sibs so can
study secondary, but girl might prefer to
stay with mom. To get to XXX, they go in a
taxi. Can walk it but far too long.
Aspiration: mom and dad value education,
neither could complete primary; see it as
essential girl finishes her studies. Girl
wants to contu and still wants to go to XXX
to do secretarial course. Says there isn’t
any work in locality. Mom says girl’s older
sisters are good role models because they
didn’t have kids early and finished their
studies.
16yo; 5th grade of secondary; contu living with parents and
younger sis (XX); sister (XX) and bro (XX) have gone to
live in LIMA. Other sister remains local. Girl has same
friends at school, but two have gone away to study, one to
LIMA and another to XXX. She says friends are important,
but not so much cuz eventually everyone leaves to go to
another place. She would have liked to change schools
and go to XXX. Cuz better teaching and internet, but its her
final year, so best not to. She didn’t manage to go because
her mom got ill so she stayed to take care of her. She says
most kids stay to finish school, but boys drop out more so
they can migrate for work.. Aspiration: girl wants to live in
XXX and study to be an orthodontist.
Example of case-level notes on migration across 3 rounds (extract)
Example: Boys’ trajectories to adulthood in Ethiopia
This paper explored how boys negotiated
poverty and transitions to adulthood in different
contexts in Ethiopia.
Conceptualised their transitions in terms of
‘vital conjunctures’ defined as a ‘socially
structured zone of possibility that emerges
around specific periods of potential
transformation in a life or lives (Johnson-
Hanks 2002; also Jeffrey 2010; Langevang
2008; Locke and Te Lintelo 2012)
Miki, Tufa and Afework: 3 Trajectories of Hope
Age 12 Age 19/20
MIKI
TUFA
AFEWORK
(Sense of hope)
(Sense of hopelessness)
Miki: “Working hard but not changing your
life” (the crushing effects of poverty)
‘Tufa’ – ‘Since I am the only boy in the
family…’ (gender and sibling composition)
Afework: ‘I am the fruit of their hard
work’ (the crucial role of family support)
Example of using three cases to illustrate
wellbeing experiences across time
Using cases to communicate to a wider audience:
Child profiles book (series 1-3) – extract from YL websiteIndividual children become emblematic of particular development issues (eg child
work) and solutions (eg school feeding programme)
India (example)
Deepak's story: The impact of the Midday Meal Scheme on nutrition and learning
Deepak is now about 8 or 9 years old. He is much happier. His father has remarried
and he has a new stepmother and baby brother and is boarding at a boys? hostel
so he can go to school...read more
Salman's story: Children and work
Salman is now 15 years old. He still lives in the city and is now working as a driver.
Today, although the family still struggles to make ends meet, he says he is doing
much better and he has high hopes for the future...read more
Sarada's story: The role of self-help groups
Sarada is now 15. She has developed into a confident and outspoken young woman. She is determined to
continue her studies and become a lawyer. She wants to make her own decisions in life, but this leads to conflict
with her parents. The past few years have been very difficult for her and her family, as they have fallen into
debt...read more
Ravi's story: Tribal and Scheduled Caste children
Ravi is now 16 and is working in the fields. There is no discussion of school for him now. He says he is proud to
earn money and help his parents out. Although he no longer talks about violence between his parents, he
describes how he was drawn into fighting his brother-in-law to protect his sister and nephew. He says there is no
place in his own future for the alcohol and violence that have blighted his family’s life...read more
Using cases to communicate to a wider audience:
Girls’ diverging pathways to marriage (recent blog)
https://medium.com/@Oxford_University/girls-diverging-pathways-to-marriage-
ba6042e83870#.o3jys2hlj
Arranging and rearranging cases in conversation
‘5 girls, born the
same year, growing
up in the same
village….’
Haymanot and
Haftey as two
contrasting cases
exploring points of
divergence
Generational time and
changing marriage
practices:
Haftey and her
grandmother’s timeline
(illustrating change)
Haymanot and her mother’s
timeline (illustrating
continuity)
Final example: new work exploring ‘exceptional’ cases across
the four countriesIn early stages…
What do we want to know? Contribute towards wider work within the study to create ‘a clear simple policy-relevant narrative of what (across childhood)
matters, most, when, in determining poor children’s outcomes by adolescence and early adulthood’.
What exactly are we looking for?
‘positive deviants’ ‘ resilient cases’ ‘outliers’ ‘success stories’
‘ exceptional cases’ children who ‘buck the trend’ ???
How to select cases systematically?– By intuition alone? (what we know about the cases from working with the qualitative data) – questioning assumptions
/ prevailing discourse (eg about orphan vulnerability, about who marries young, etc.)
– Children’s own definitions of wellbeing?
– Determined by the survey? (where qualitative children are located/distributed in relation to the average)
– Some combination of these?
Why QLR?– Observing trajectories over time means sharpens our eye to what might be considered expected / unexpected /
exceptional
Knowing the ‘average’ to identify the ‘exceptional’
FULL SAMPLE
progress2 % No. progress Freq. Percent
behind 10-
12years 5.03 45 -12 8 0.88
behind 7-9years 12.64 113 -11 13 1.43
behind 4-6years 29.98 268 -10 24 2.64
behind 1-3years 43.06 385 -9 36 3.96
right grade for
age 7.38 66 -8 38 4.18
ahead by 1-
3years 1.9 17 -7 39 4.29
Total 100 894 -6 69 7.59
-5 87 9.57
-4 112 12.32
-3 162 17.82
-2 111 12.21
-1 112 12.32
right grade for
age 66 7.26
1 11 1.21
2 5 0.55
3 1 0.11
Missing 15 1.65
progress2 male female Total
% No. % No. % No.
behind 10-12years 6.28 30 3.61 15 5.04 45
behind 7-9years 14.64 70 10.36 43 12.65 113
behind 4-6years 31.8 152 27.95 116 30.01 268
behind 1-3years 38.49 184 48.19 200 43 384
right grade for age 6.9 33 7.95 33 7.39 66
ahead by 1-3years 1.88 9 1.93 8 1.9 17
Total 100 478 100 415 100 893
As a first step, took the
example variable of school
progress:
• Full sample
Disaggregated:
• Gender
• Wealth terciles
But:
How is ‘success’ defined?
Locating the qualitative cases
behind 10-12years behind 7-9years behind 4-6years behind 1-3years right grade for age
ET081006 ET011042 ET011022 ET011001
ET081011 ET071038 ET011038 ET011015 ET141013
ET081015 ET171002 ET071004 ET011035
ET171019 ET081021 ET071006 ET071026
ET171026 ET081043 ET071016 ET071030
ET071032 ET081016
ET081026 ET141004
ET141010
ET141022 ET141011
ET171040 ET141020
ET171044
ET171010
(Haftey missing)Reflections:
• Haftey was missing because the data were based on survey Round 4 when Haftey
was working in Middle East as a maid. She has since returned. We could have
missed out on her.
• ET171026: not a ‘success’ in terms of education – he is the only child in the group
who was never enrolled in school, yet age 19 he is feeling hopeful about improving
his life as a farmer.
• ET141013: the positive ‘outlier’, a girl who made it to university. Yet, although she is
‘exceptional’, I have never written about her and cannot remember the details of her
childhood….(challenges my personal sense/understanding of striking cases)…
www.younglives.org.uk
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