A toolkit for young people interested in research and co-research

This toolkit will support and guide you on the early stages of your research journey. We focus on social research (it’s what we do!) but there’s still plenty of helpful information for other areas of research. The toolkit offers support, alongside research training and professional development. The aim is that you can get involved in meaningfully shaping and conducting research that investigates some of the trickiest challenges that our society faces today.

Building resilient societies should be by and for young people - your involvement as collaborative researchers is critical because those who make decisions about society draw on research to inform what they do. The resources in this toolkit provide information, advice and resources for you to build confidence and skills as co-researchers to contribute to real-world impact. It includes:

  • Information about what it means to be a co-researcher

  • Insight on what it’s actually like being on a research team

  • A summary of the benefits that young people, research, and the community can experience from having young people involved

  • Real experiences and advice from other young researchers

  • ‘How to’ guides that provide tips to manage research challenges and get started in a research career

  • Introductory training guides and activities that introduce the concepts of research ethics, social research methods and research project management

  • Practical tools and templates, from managing wellbeing to planning a research project timeline.

This toolkit has been developed by young people, researchers and partners at the Centre for Multicultural Youth, through CRIS research. The toolkit was identified as one key way to build effective youth participation in research about the issues that impact young people’s lives.

This toolkit is a work-in-progress, which we will refine, refresh and add to from time to time. So don’t forget to come back and see what’s new!

 
 
two cartoon researchers in giant purple glasses

Introduction to the Youth Co-research Toolkit

Cartoon young women sitting on huge book

Nina’s Story

Alex’s story

Dan’s story

How to manage the challenges of being a young researcher

.

How to develop a career plan in research

Training Guide: Introduction to Social Research

Training Guide: Introduction to Ethics in Social Research

Training Guide: Power and Privilege in Social Research

Training Guide: Introduction to Research Project Management

Self-reflection journal

How to look after your wellbeing

Hear from some of the Explore co-researchers about their experiences:

Here are some additional resources to support you as a co-researcher

  • It is important to make sure that you are being paid at the right rate and are legally protected in your job. Fair Work Australia has great resources that cover everything from your rights, your employer’s obligations, and how much you should be getting paid to how to have difficult conversations and resolve issues in the workplace.

  • Worried about what to do on your first day?
    Headspace has great tips on starting a new job.

    Are you feeling unsure about how to write professional emails?
    MindTools has a great blog including examples of how to write effective and concise emails.

    How about budgeting?
    Moneysmart is a great government resource that provides you with templates so you can keep a track of where your money is going.

    Want to make lists?
    Todoist is basically an upgraded version of your traditional to-do lists. It allows you to group tasks together based on projects and syncs them across all your devices.

    If you have a mixture of handwritten and digital notes, Evernote is the app for you! As well as being able to take notes directly in the app, you can also take photos of any written notes and upload them to the app.

    Want to improve your focus?
    Forest is a great productivity app that encourages you to stop using your phone.

    How about a way to communicate with your team?
    Many workplaces use Slack as the main tool for team collaboration and communication. It is essentially an instant messaging app with video calling and file-sharing options. Here is a great quick start guide on using Slack.

    What’s the most efficient way to schedule meetings?
    Doodle is an online calendar app that lets you create Doodle polls where people can indicate their available times. This way you can check everyone’s availability and decide on the most suitable time without getting caught up in a long email chain.

    Do you keep forgetting to track your hours?

    It can be really tricky to keep track of how much time it takes to complete a task. This is especially the case if you work on a casual basis or work from home. Everhour and Toggl are great apps that allow you to track your time, so that you can accurately fill in those timesheets!

    Want to work together with others?

    Google Drive is an online tool that lets you store and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentation slides with others. All the changes and edits sync together and save automatically, in real-time.

    Miro is another cloud-based collaboration tool, but with more creative options. You are given an online whiteboard that can be used for research, story mapping, group brainstorming or simply as a more engaging alternative to presentation slides. It is free to use and you can collaborate with as many people as you like!

  • The Auckland Co-design Lab is a unique collaboration between the local and central government and aims for whānau and communities to lead and have ownership of effective responses to complex issues. Their online symposium “Co-design in Aotearoa: Ways of being, knowing and doing” examined in detail how the co-design approach could be applied authentically in the public sector, alongside communities and tangata whenua. They have a great list of resources on their website.

    Practical resources for creating a safe and inclusive space for participation, and potential strategies for recruiting young people in the design process as participants and co-designers are provided in the “Enabling participation guide” by the Young and Well Cooperative Research Center.

    Orygen is an organisation working directly with young people, their families, and friends to discover approaches to the prevention and treatment of mental disorders. They have also created a guide to assist PHNs and youth mental health services on how to effectively co-design with young people.

    Design research method is a research approach that uses curiosity to create a broad understanding of the participants’ perspectives. This site contains extensive resources on design research methods, in the form of books, tools (such as method cards), organizations, practice, and articles. Method cards are a deck of cards that contain a provocative image or statement about the future and are especially effective for idea generation in the earlier stages of the research process.

  • Ethical research with children and young people brings new ethical issues, such as power differentials, ability to provide informed consent, and a range of potential risks to participants’ wellbeing.

    Download this pocketguide to these key ethical considerations.