The right to be properly researched: research with children in a messy, real world

Unless they focus on epidemiological debates, most thematic issues of social-science journals concentrate on research results, describing methods only as a means to an end. Nevertheless, the burgeoning field of research with children in the context of international rights-based programming has placed a new spotlight on epidemiological questions. What exactly (and what age) is a child when seen as the subject rather than object of research? How does this affect both methodology and method? Does the special social status of childhood imply new approaches and techniques, different ethical considerations, a novel role for researchers? Who should be a child researcher? What, indeed, are the human rights of children?