From 16 to 18 July 2025, the Summer School Methods of Childhood Research took place at the PH Schwäbisch Gmünd. This is a joint event organised by the ‘Sociology of Childhood’ section and the ‘Network for Social Science Research on Children and Childhood’ section within the German Sociological Association (DGS) in cooperation with the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd. The aim of the Summer School is to reflect on research ethics, methodological and methodical challenges in research involving children.
A particular focus of the summer school was working on one’s own material. Selina Gartner had the opportunity to contribute various empirical materials from her research. The data was discussed in two workshops, ‘Group Discussions with Children’ and ‘Free Workshop.’ The discussion with fellow students revealed interesting aspects for further research.
©DGS-Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie
In addition to several workshops and two exciting keynotes on the topics of ‘Intersectional childhood studies and the implications for research, policy and practice with children’ and ‘Social reporting as an underappreciated subject and corpus of childhood research Social reporting on children,’ there was an opportunity to network with other German-speaking young researchers during a joint dinner on July 17. This could be particularly exciting for future research collaborations in the context of dissertations, but also for subsequent academic careers.