2.2 Investigate the meanings of health for young people

1. Creating a research question

A clear research question is the starting point for a strong investigation. It guides your data collection, and helps you avoid collecting information that does not answer what you are trying to find out.

A useful research question is usually:

• Focused on a specific group of young people (for example, a year group, an age range, or a community setting).
• Researchable, meaning you can realistically collect enough evidence with the time and access you have.
• Open, so people can explain their ideas rather than give one-word answers.
• Meaningful, linking directly to the dot point by exploring what young people think health is, what they value, and why.

To make your question more precise, define key terms (for example, what you mean by health, wellbeing, or important). Also decide what type of evidence you need (for example, rankings, explanations, or examples).

Example: “How do young people aged 16–18 at [school] describe ‘good health’, and which aspects do they prioritise most?”

2. Developing method(s) to collect data

Your method(s) should match what you need to answer your research question. Meanings of health are about beliefs, values, and explanations, so methods that capture people’s views are usually the best fit.

You can collect data as:

• Primary data: information you collect directly from participants.
• Secondary data: existing information from credible sources (for example, reports, surveys, and published research).

Your data can also be:

• Qualitative: words and explanations.
• Quantitative: numbers such as counts, rankings, and rating scales.

Using both can strengthen your investigation. Quantitative data can show patterns across a group, while qualitative data can explain why those patterns exist.

Common primary methods for this dot point include:

• Survey (best for patterns across a larger group).
• Interview questions (best for deeper, individual explanations).
• Focus groups (best for listening to shared discussion and different viewpoints).

Each method has trade-offs. Surveys can reach more people quickly, but may not give depth unless you include open-response items. Interviews can give a lot of depth and detail, but usually involves fewer participants (as it is more time consuming). Focus groups can create strong discussion, but group dynamics can affect what people are willing to say – they might ‘jump on the bandwagon’ or be too timid to say what they really think.

Your sample also matters. If you are investigating meanings of health for young people, your participants should be in a relevant age range, and include a mix of backgrounds and experiences. If your sample is too narrow, your findings may be biased and less useful.

Example: A way you could try to ensure you are adhering to time limits but also attain meaningful data is by: conducting a short online Survey for broad patterns, followed by 5–10 short interviews using Interview questions to prompt participants to elaborate on why those patterns exist for them.

3. Considering how the determinants of health impact a young person’s meaning of health

Young people do not form a meaning of health “in isolation”. Their beliefs are shaped by determinants of health, including:

• Broad features of society (for example, social norms, media, social cohesion, expectations around achievement).
• Environmental factors (for example, location, transport, safety, availability of facilities and services).
• Socioeconomic characteristics (for example, family income security, education, employment, cultural background).
• Health behaviours (for example, sleep patterns, physical activity habits, help-seeking behaviours).
• Biomedical factors (for example, genetics, disability, chronic illness, injury history).

Determinants can influence what feels realistic, urgent, and normal. They can also shape what a person believes is within their control.

Example: A young person under financial pressure may define health in terms of affordability and access, such as healthy food, transport to sport, or access to a GP. A young person with a chronic condition may define health as symptom control, energy levels, and being able to participate day to day.

To capture determinants properly, your data collection should allow participants to explain what has influenced them. This makes your findings easier to interpret, because it helps connect what young people prioritise with why they prioritise it.

Example: A student in a rural area might prioritise access to health services, while a student in a high-pressure academic setting might prioritise stress management and sleep.

4. Analysing the different ways young people define what is important to their own health

Analysis means going beyond listing responses. It means identifying patterns and differences, then explaining what the evidence suggests.

In this dot point, analysis should focus on how young people define health and what they prioritise, then link those priorities to likely determinants and contexts (when your data supports this).

Strong analysis often includes:

• Identifying the most common priorities (for example, sleep, mental health, fitness, friendships, diet, safety).
• Noting differences between groups (for example, sport involvement, work commitments, location, or cultural influences), only when there is enough evidence.
• Explaining why differences may exist, using determinants of health as a lens.

Avoid assumptions or stereotypes. If you describe a pattern, it must be clearly based on your evidence.

Example: If many participants emphasise mental health, you might link this to assessment pressure, time management, family stress, and constant online connection.

5. Discussing ethical considerations

Ethical considerations are about protecting participants and supporting trustworthy findings. In a school investigation, ethical practice must also match school policies.

Key ethical considerations include:

• Informed consent: Participants are told the purpose of the research, what they will do, how long it will take, and how the information will be used. Participation must be voluntary.
• Privacy and confidentiality: Responses should not identify individuals. Identifying details should be removed early, and data stored securely.
• Respect: Participants should not be pressured. They can withdraw at any time, and questions should avoid judgement and reduce discomfort.
• Integrity: Record and report findings honestly. Do not select evidence to “prove” a preferred point. Acknowledge secondary sources properly.

Some methods make confidentiality harder. For example, in Focus groups, participants hear each other’s responses. You must explain the limits of confidentiality, and ask participants not to repeat what others share outside the group.

Ethical design should also minimise harm. Meanings of health can connect to sensitive topics (for example, mental health, body image, family stress). Ethical practice includes allowing participants to skip questions, and avoiding prompts that require private health disclosures.

Example: A Survey can ask what young people believe is important for health (sleep, stress, exercise, relationships) without asking for diagnoses or medication use.

6. Discussing validity, reliability and credibility of data collection

These concepts describe whether your data collection is strong, and whether your findings can be trusted.

• Validity: whether your method and questions actually measure what you claim to be investigating. If you are investigating meanings of health, your questions should capture definitions, values, and priorities, not only behaviours.
• Reliability: whether your method is consistent. Reliability improves when you use clear questions and standardised procedures, such as the same instructions and conditions for everyone.
• Credibility: how trustworthy the evidence is, and how fairly you interpret it. Credibility improves when you explain how you collected and analysed data, acknowledge limitations, avoid overgeneralising, and use credible secondary sources when appropriate.

Using more than one method can also improve credibility, because it lets you check whether patterns and explanations line up.

Example: A ranking question in a Survey can show patterns, but credibility improves if you also include one open-response item explaining why priorities were ranked that way.

7. Presenting findings and drawing conclusions

Presenting findings means showing what the data reveals in a clear way. Choose formats that match your data.

• Quantitative findings are often presented using tables and graphs, because they make comparisons and patterns easy to see.
• Qualitative findings are often presented as short theme summaries, supported by a few carefully chosen quotes or examples (without identifying details).

Drawing conclusions means answering the research question using the strongest evidence you have. A good conclusion:

• Summarises the main patterns or themes.
• Explains what the patterns suggest about young people’s meanings of health.
• Links ideas to determinants of health when your evidence supports it.
• Stays within the limits of the sample and method.

Example: If the dominant theme is “balance”, a conclusion could explain that many young people see health as managing competing demands (school, sport, work, social life), and that this meaning is shaped by time pressure and expectations.

8. Identifying further research questions that could be explored

Further research questions build on your findings. They should link to a gap, a surprising result, or something that needs deeper explanation.

Further questions often:

• Compare meanings across different groups or settings (for example, regions, school contexts, or age bands).
• Explore a dominant theme in more depth (for example, why sleep is prioritised).
• Investigate how determinants shape meanings for particular subgroups, based on your evidence.
• Carefully explore the relationship between beliefs and actions, in a way that stays ethical.

Example: If many participants prioritise mental health, a logical further question is how young people believe they can protect mental health, and whether they feel they have access to support and services.