Over the years, researchers from different disciplines have utilized a wide variety of research methods to give children a voice on issues that affect them. Particularly common are qualitative methods such as focus groups and small group discussions. Much rarer are large-scale quantitative surveys, which are a valuable way of comparing data from across different age-groups, countries and over time. Particularly lacking are surveys that give children an opportunity to voice their opinions using the technologies that play a major part in their lives such as the internet. To test the feasibility of collecting data from children

using a large-scale quantitative survey on the internet, a pilot Kids’ Life and Times (KLT) was carried out in June 2008 with a view to running the survey annually thereafter. All Primary 7 (P7) children (aged 10 and 11 years) in Northern Ireland were invited to participate in KLT and the data were collected using an animated questionnaire delivered via the internet in schools. Following consultations with P7 children in focus groups, the pilot survey included topics that were of importance to this age group such as bullying,

health and education. The paper will discuss how well this method for collecting data from children worked in practice, the quality of information received and the response rate achieved. It will also consider lessons learned for future KLT surveys and for other surveys with children using a similar methodology. The presentation will include a live demonstration of the online animated questionnaire.