Youthscape online discussion group - information for parents

What is this research about?

Hi, I’m Dr Lucie Moore and I am the Director of Research at Youthscape, a Christian charity that works with and supports young people. We are running a research project at the moment called 'Translating God', which is exploring how the world has changed for young people over the last decade, and what that means for how they view Christian faith.

We are gathering groups of young people to read or listen to a passage of the Bible, and asking them what they make of it. We'll use what we learn to write a report that helps church leaders and youth leaders understand more about young people's views, and how they might need to adapt what they do.

What does it mean for my child to be involved?

We are inviting your son/daughter to take part in an 'online community' over the week of the 13-17th February (or 20th-24th Feb if your half-term is a week later).

This will mean logging on to the Liveminds platform each day for about 20-30 mins a day from Monday to Friday, and answering a few questions that are set each day. They can download the Liveminds app onto a smartphone, or access it via a webpage.

They will be part of a small group of about 5/6 other young people aged 14-17 who will all be asked to read or listen to a story from the Bible, and to share their reactions by writing or videoing their responses, or uploading images. They will be able to discuss their thoughts with others in their group, and new questions will be added each day.

We hope that it will be an interesting project to take part in, and that they will enjoy knowing they are helping churches better understand how to include young people.

As a thank you for taking part, we are also offering every young person who completes the five days a £30 voucher.

The information the young people share with us will be used to write a report. It may also be used in future publications, such as articles or books. If we use any quotes from children and young people, these will be reported anonymously, so no one will know that your young person took part. For more information about the research, here's the page we're sending to young people who are interested in taking part, and which links to a form they need to fill out, to give their consent to participate.

If your child is 16, 17 or 18 we don't need anything more from you.

If they are 14 or 15, we also need your permission for them to participate, so please fill out the consent form below if you are happy for them to take part.

How do I know it's been well thought through?

The design of this study has been reviewed by the Youthscape Research Advisory Board, and an ethical protocol has been approved by the Youthscape Centre for Research Ethics Committee. This provides a framework for how we conduct and report the research, including how we take an ethical approach to doing research with children under 18. If you would like us to send you a copy of this ethical protocol or have any other questions please email lucie.moore@youthscape.co.uk.