Critical Incidents and the Health-related Behaviour of Schoolchildren, 1997

This is a mixed methods collection.<br> <br> The research focused on the role of critical incidents in the life of young people and the extent to which such critical incidents acted as crucial flashpoints in the generation of attitudes towards health-related behaviour. Specifically, the research investigated schoolchildren’s attitudes towards risk-taking and health. Consumption of alcohol and tobacco by young people was studied as a pertinent instance of health-related behaviour. Attention was focused on the 15-16 age range as a group who are of particular interest in terms of their stage of development in relation to the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. <br> <br> The aims and objectives of the research were to:<br> <li>analyse young people’s perceptions of self and personal health in the context of two recent developments in sociological theory concerned with ‘self identities’ and with the meaning of risk in contemporary western society;</li> <br> <li>investigate the role of ‘critical incidents’ in the formation of schoolchildren’s attitudes to health-related behaviour;</li><br> <li>provide a methodological development of the critical incident technique for social research based on group interviews with schoolchildren;</li><br> <li>engage with a variety of agencies concerned with young people and foster an interdisciplinary approach to the study of health-related behaviour;</li><br> <li>enhance the value of health education strategies through a contribution to the existing knowledge base on the willingness of young people to take risks with their health.</li><br> <br> The project used a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methodology, and the study therefore includes one quantitative data file comprising coded responses from the questionnaire, eleven transcripts of focus group interviews conducted with groups of 15-16 year olds who responded to the questionnaire, and eight transcripts of interviews, each conducted with two students together, at five of the schools that took part in the survey.