Project Information
- Project title
- Rating Quality of Life in yound children (3-8 years): evaluating the appropriate presentation and response formats
- Researcher(s)
- Jo Lawford (University of Sheffield), supervised by Christine Eiser
- Postal address
- Room 1.7, department of Psychology, Western Bank, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TP. Office Ph. 0114 2226641
- Project dates
- Commenced September 2000
- Anticipated completion early 2003
- Nature of the project
- Thesis research, Doctoral (at University of Sheffield, UK)
- Brief description
My research is centred on measuring Quality of Life (QoL) in young children (aged 3-8 years). I am interested in establishing a lower age limit for accurate and reliable self-reported QoL in children. Currently, I am examining which methods/formats are most helpful in enabling young children to understand and use self-report measures. I have been working on a variety of different ways to assess children's opinions about their lives. I have developed a storybook that uses child friendly language to ask children about their lives and abilities - Bruce's story. The interview consists of reading the story of Bruce the dog (his life, family, and interests) with each child, and asking them to respond by telling me about their own lives, thoughts and feelings.
I am also developing a self-report QoL measure for use with 3-8 year olds. This measure uses teddy bears and innovative response scales in order to help children understand the items and respond accurately to the questions asked.
http://www.shef.ac.uk/childfamilyresearch/jo.htm