What role does the ‘parent-effect’ play in child centered research? The case of photo-interviews of children’s home reading practices

Abstract

Drawing on a photo-interview study of home reading practices with 35 children (ages 5–8) we examine how the ‘parent-effect’ influences research with young children. Not surprisingly, we find that parents influence reading practices and access to literacy resources. However, it is also clear that children’s reliance on parents affects data collection. Children who have more help from parents produce better photographs and a clearer narrative about home reading practices, but parents’ use of impression management influence the images that children produce and sometimes the photo-interview that follows. Rather than compromising children’s agency or the purity of the data, we argue that the parent-effect can be used an indicator of cultural norms about parenting; it can shed light into the dynamics of the parent-child relationships; and it can illuminate the degree to which children exert ‘child capital’ over home reading practices and the social construction of family life.