Child participation in research preparation: Experience of deSHAME Croatia and deSHAME Serbia

Children by the Convention on the Rights of the Child have the right to express their opinion on all aspects of their life. The participation of children in research is in the focus of experts and policy makers. It implies the involvement of children in all phases of the research, from planning and preparation to the implementation, and finally interpretation and dissemination of the results. Children from Croatia (N = 12) and Serbia (N = 12) participated in the planning and preparation of the research as part of the deSHAME (international comparative research on sexual harassment and children online risks). The individual and group interviews with high school children (14-18 Years) were conducted with the main goal of improving the research instrument. Specific objectives were (1) supplementing the questionnaire (2) language check and comprehension (3) defining the time frame for questionnaire completion. This paper will present child contribution that resulted with final version of questionnaire used in a nationally representative, internationally comparative survey. Participation of children in early phases of research is important, especially in topics regarding modern technologies and it’s extensive use, allowing more appropriate measurement of these phenomena.