Abstract
The standard approach for collecting sociodemographic data about children in developing countries is to elicit information from adults. While using proxy respondents is appropriate for very young children or for questions likely beyond children’s knowledge, it is less clear that it is better for older children and topics within their experience. Several arguments can be made that children could provide better or equally valid information on their activities than proxy respondents. We explore this question in the context of children’s work on environmental chores in rural Tanzania, using data that include parallel questions to children ages 10–17 and to proxy respondents about those children. Given the paucity of research on this issue, we offer exploratory evidence suggesting that efforts to collect data directly from children are fruitful and should be vigorously pursued, in keeping with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 50-65 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Oxford Development Studies |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding from the University of Minnesota (International Collaborative Seed Grant, Office of International Programs, 2010) made field research possible. We acknowledge NIH Center Grant R24HD041023 for support from the Minnesota Population Center and a Faculty Research award from Bowdoin College. We are grateful to Savannahs Forever Tanzania, its Director Susan James, and an excellent field team including Edward Sandet, Fenela Msangi, Gloria Mollel, Felix Shayo, David Mollel, Gerald Mollel and Majory Kaziya Silisyene. Helpful comments were received from Ana Dammert, Andrew Dillon, anonymous referees, and ODS editors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Oxford Department of International Development.
Keywords
- Child labor
- Tanzania
- child survey methods
- environmental chores
- proxy respondents
