Participatory childhood research with concept cartoons

Participatory research with children is frequently characterized by adaptations of methods intended to embrace children's perspectives as co-researchers. Within the framework of a participatory qualitative study on the issue of divorce, a method deriving from the didactics of teaching was advanced. For the first time in social science research with children, the method was made useable for research with children: Concept cartoons, in which text-based and visual elements are interconnected, assist in encouraging children to engage in discussions and in involving them in various phases of the research. In this article, we present this approach to the participatory development and application of concept cartoons. The joint process of designing and using concept cartoons with 60 eight-to ten-year-old children elucidated the important incentives for discussion, as well as the potential this methodological approach has as a participatory research tool. The use of concept cartoons in this study made it possible to reconstruct children's associations and experiences and to gain insight into their concepts of parental divorce. Based on the participatory prospects in childhood research, we introduce the method and its potential, while highlighting participatory development and the pathways to application in social science research with children.