Methodological triangulation in ethnographic research with and about children

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7213/1981-416X.23.076.DS08

Abstract

This article analyzes the scope and limits of research methodologies and advocates the importance of triangulation in the construction and analysis of data in childhood studies, especially in research with and on children. Situated at the intersection of the New Social Studies of Childhood with scientific production in the field of Early Childhood Education, the text starts from the following problematization: What methodological guidelines would be adequate to identify the peculiarities of childhood and the social relationships that are established in the first years of life, especially in educational contexts? To discuss this and other questions, data from a survey whose field work was carried out during nine months of 2013, in a Municipal Early Childhood Education School, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, are reviewed. Eighteen four/five-year-old children (eight girls and ten boys) participated in the study, as well as two teachers. Eighteen four/five-year-old children (eight girls and ten boys) participated in the study, in addition to two teachers. Data production was carried out through participant observation; of drawings articulated with orality; of photographs produced by the children, also combined with their speeches and interviews. The analyzes suggest that triangulation, when associated with ethnographic principles, such as prolonged observation; the construction of holistic analyzes and, at the same time, focused, associated with the self-correcting and reflective dimension, makes it possible to broaden the interpretation of the data and expand the construction of meanings and possibilities for research with and on children and childhood.

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Author Biographies

Sandro Vinicius Sales dos Santos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Doutor em Educação.

Mônica Correia Baptista, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Professora associada da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (FAE/UFMG). Pesquisadora do CEALE - Centro de Alfabetização Leitura e Escrita da FAE/UFMG e do NEPEI - Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Infâncias e Educação Infantil da FAE/UFMG. Graduada em Pedagogia pela Faculdade de Educação da UFMG (1992), Mestre em Educação pela Faculdade de Educação da UFMG (1995), Doutora em educação pela Universidade Autônoma de Barcelona (2008), Pós-doutorado na Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro e Universidade Autônoma de Barcelona (2016). Líder do grupo de pesquisa Leitura e Escrita na Primeira Infância - LEPI (CNPq). Coordenadora do Projeto Leitura e Escrita na Educação Infantil (MEC/UFMG/UNIRIO/UFRJ).

Published

2023-03-21

How to Cite

Santos, S. V. S. dos, & Baptista, M. C. (2023). Methodological triangulation in ethnographic research with and about children. Revista Diálogo Educacional, 23(76). https://doi.org/10.7213/1981-416X.23.076.DS08