- Schools identified from research criteria are approached to participate in the study; providing information sheets for staff, young people, and young people's parents.
- Criteria for young people’s involvement are shared with school. School invites those within the criteria range to volunteer.
- For qualitative research, this may include an assembly of young people who are being invited to be co-researchers.
- Participants are selected by the research team and/or school staff.
Health & Social Care Research Across North East & North Cumbria.
Research in Schools
Research in schools
Are you a teacher or school representative interested in getting involved in educational research?
Hear why research is so important in schools.
Explore our tips and resources to help you get started.
1 Why is research important for schools?
Schools, teachers and students can benefit from participating in health and care research in many different ways.
Quantitative research
supports the curriculum in classrooms
Example 1. Mathematics: Using research data can support the teaching of statistics in maths in many ways including how the use of research statistics can measure the validity of findings.
Example 2. History: By using research data in History lessons, variables over time can be explored, such as the reduction of diseases through history.
Qualitative research
fosters personal growth in young people
Engaging in research activities and conversations benefits young people in a number of ways:
- Confidence boosting
- Improved trust and relationships with adults
- Empowerment and inspiration
- Critical thinking skills
- Socio-emotional development
- Communication and research skills
2 How can schools get involved in research?
There are three ways in which research in schools can be conducted. It could be a quantitative, qualitative or mixed-method study, each bringing its own set of benefits to schools and their young people.
Examples of Health Research Questions in Schools
Quantitative research
“A study to identify how physical activity can impact on obesity”
“Providing weekly lessons on mental health will reduce the incidences of mental health self-referral in schools”
Qualitative research
“An exploration of young people’s views on school mental health support”
“Understanding how interventions can tackle LGBTQ+ equality in schools”
5-Step Process for Conducting Research in Schools
- Consent forms are completed and returned.
- Quantitative research: Questionnaires/surveys are completed over a given period of time, usually between two and four weeks, depending on the number of participants.
- Qualitative research: School staff and the research team co-develop a way of working that enables focus groups, 1:1 interviews, meetings between co-researchers and participants, etc.
- Quantitative research: Questionnaires are returned to the research team for analysis.
- Qualitative research: The research team (which may include young people as co-researchers) works to analyse the information to develop findings.
- Research findings are presented to the school in a user-friendly format. If there are young people working as co-researchers, they may well be involved in the dissemination process as well.
3 Getting started
Check out the resources below and get involved now.
Featured Resources
Resource pack
This activity is a prototype designed to help pupils in Key Stage 2 and their teachers explore the importance and process of research by taking part in a simple research study.
- Designed for a group of up to 30 Key Stage 2 pupils
- Take approximately one hour to complete
The resource pack includes:
- Tables/ handouts about what research is
- Activity resource cards
- Links to additional background/supporting information
Downloadable resource pack available soon.
Available studies to take part in
A list of available studies coming soon.
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