Moving Beyond the Numbers: Data Walks as a Tool to Engage Youth in Research

Youth-driven solutions are required to address the mental health challenges facing youth in the United States. Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is a framework that values the contributions of young people to research processes. Data walks are a methodology that aligns with principles of YPAR, empowers youth, and enhances research quality and impact. Empower Your Voice (EYV), a study describing the well-being of girls in Chicago, conducted six data walk sessions after conducting a survey of 900 youth. Data walk participants reviewed survey results before participating in a facilitated discussion. Participants described positive experiences during the data walk sessions, noting peer-to-peer connection as a strength of the methodology. We found that data walks are an accessible tool for researchers seeking to enhance engagement with youth research participants and improve results interpretation. In EYV, implementation of this method resulted in a more collaborative and engaging research process. Key considerations are necessary to successfully employ the data walk methodology, including hosting data walk sessions in physically and psychologically safe spaces and designing thoughtful discussion questions.