3. As the lead researcher on US and global research teams, I have developed or reviewed discussion guides and reports and provided constructive feedback; counseled moderators throughout the projects to ensure proper handling of client and research issues, shared responsibility for each researcher for their progress, evaluated moderator performance, and provided information, tools and resources to set them up for success. I have trained the moderators as needed to master new and difficult techniques required for optimum success of the study.

4. I teach a graduate-level course in qualitative research at the University of Cincinnati College of Business, and have taught the fundamentals of market research at Xavier University.

It is still a new idea to solicit teens' opinions on museum exhibits and programming. Only six years ago Deborah Schwartz argued in Museum News that "teens, if we allow them, have the potential to provide our museums with the fresh perspective and energy required by each new generation." Why not learn from them, Schwartz reasoned, "invite these youthful audiences to actively participate in the transformation of our institutions?" ¹ While programs designed to engage teams have surged in the past decade, efforts to learn from teens are still rare and bold in 2011. So it is worth examining the audacious plan of the Children's Discovery Zone, the first children's museum of Saudi Arabia, scheduled to open in 2012.

When the Children's Discovery Zone was envisioned for this ultra-orthodox kingdom, its administrators designed a first-of-its kind research model that was radical by any country's standards. Rather than import professionals to conduct research for the Children's Discovery Zone, they would build a world-class, self-sufficient team led by adult staff and composed of teens from around the community. The teens would 1) integrate the voice of Saudi children into the museum's programs and exhibits through qualitative research, 2) provide actionable key findings and recommendations and 3) identify emerging trends that can enhance and evolve the museum experience. Indigenous qualitative research is virtually unknown in the kingdom. A museum staff of teenage researchers is presumably unknown anywhere.

Why research

Many museums that hope to engage kids under age twelve either conduct no children's research or limit research to testing ideas created by grownups. The heads of the Children's Discovery Zone (CDZ) wanted to create an engaging research environment where children would open their inner selves and participate in a process of co-creation. The real insights would come from uncovering and developing the children's own feelings and imagination.

Why teenage researchers

The idea of training teens as researchers evolved out of a successful teen outreach program created by museum heads Michelle Alireza and Anne Gaasedelen. Gaasedelen had recruited local teens in Saudi's Eastern province to serve as CDZ Ambassadors who hosted "Cafes" at the CDZ offices, playing with area children and eliciting their ideas about a museum that would be just for them. The success of the Ambassadors program inspired Alireza and Gaasedelen to consider expanding the rich interaction into a research approach. If the teens could be trained as capable researchers, it would be a triple win:

• Children age four to twelve would get the kind of researchers they were obviously comfortable with in the Cafes: teens who liked to play with them and listen to them, like big brothers and sisters. Teens shared the children's sense of fun and wonder, inspiring their confidences, in contrast with grown ups who would perhaps communicate a sense of right and wrong responses. Add the dimension of high quality training, and this rapport could potentially develop into valuable research insights into children's inner selves for the CDZ.

• The youth themselves would grow through this community service. Gaasedelen's Ambassador program already filled an important need: an opportunity for teens to talk freely among themselves and for girls and boys to work together under the guidance of a grownup who instilled in them commitment to community service and empowered them as the public face of the CDZ, even to the point of providing bi-lingual public speaking lessons. Add the dimension of high quality research training, and the teens would be empowered still further into valuable partners in CDZ planning.

• The CDZ would have its own staff of capable, bi-lingual researchers trained specifically to elicit children's insights for the museum. Given the difficulty and expense of brining in professionals with that specific skill set, this was a major advantage to achieving their research goals.

The importance of a respected sponsor

Parents were initially suspicious of girls and boys working together and spending time away from home and homework. It helped that Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, was building the Children's Discovery Zone as part of the King Abdullaziz Center for World Culture. Saudi Aramco has built schools, hospitals, and outreach programs throughout the kingdom. The Aramco halo helped allay the resistance of dubious parents.

The kids' perspective

In May 2010, I flew to the kingdom as the research expert on the Just Kid team; Just Kid was the marketing company under contract to the CDZ. I met the kids in the CDZ offices to sound them out on the appeal and feasibility of committing to comprehensive training in market research. The group of about twenty 14-18 year olds had minimal understanding of either marketing or research. Since neither Gaasedelen nor Alireza was trained in market research, it would be up to the kids to become a largely self-sufficient research team until a research manager might be hired. They would have to train with us in the evenings after school and all day during Ramadan, when they are forbidden to eat and drink. Would they agree to commit to this? Yes, because they had thrived on the personal growth and friendships of the Ambassador program and regarded the research training as simply the next step. They didn't know exactly what they were committing to – nor did I know whether training kids as researchers would work – but they were infused with a can-do attitude remarkable in Saudi youth. As 17-year-old Sarah said when I asked about her qualification for the training, "I have lots of self-confidence from my public speaking training." Though looking hidden and anonymous covered in her black abaya, Sarah was becoming her own person.

The risks of failure

Emily Rooney of Just Kid, Inc. was my training assistant. Both Emily and I have strong backgrounds in qualitative research for children, and I had led several training sessions in the US and abroad, though for adults. Teaching teens to elicit and analyze children's insights for the Saudi children's museum would break the mold for us both. Teens are not normally trained as qualitative researchers because of the risks involved. We worried,

• Would teenagers have the intellectual maturity to frame market research problems, objectives and solutions, and the emotional maturity to listen objectively and empathetically to respondents?

• The Saudi kids were clearly bright enough to grasp the principles of qualitative research, but would they capture the nuances of meaning, especially if I slipped into sophisticated vocabulary or American idiom or research jargon?

• Would they be able to grasp the strategic context of marketing research without a solid background in marketing?

• Could they pay attention for hours at a time?

• Could they concentrate when they were hungry during Ramadan or overwhelmed with homework during the school year?

• Being volunteers without perks or compensation, would they stick with the program when competing interests arose?

We hoped that a five-day, hands-on training in the fundamentals of qualitative research would give the kids sufficient grounding and that by adding plenty of activity and variety we would hold their interest. After that, we would either admit failure or evaluate the need for a second round of training.

The Training: Elements Central to Success

The training was held in the middle of August, spilling over into two days of Ramadan, because that is when the majority of the kids had the same five days of free time. Training lasted six hours a day, with two or three breaks for required prayers. I had written a 120-page manual that I hoped would cover the fundamentals.² Of the fifteen kids who filtered in and out, eleven stayed for the entire five-day training. Here is what we discovered to be the pivotal elements for success.

• Sense of purpose. Since these kids had no career motives for taking the course, it was helpful to organize the training around a purpose that was important to them. If you have ever asked high school or even college students their purpose for taking a course, you know how risky this approach can be. But these teens, who have all experienced modern western culture through satellite TV and travel, had no problem at all agreeing on their shared purpose. It was to bring Saudi children into the 21st century by listening to their dreams and aspirations, separate and distinct from the dictates of an ultra-orthodox society, and to make it possible through research findings for the children to try on the different sizes of their real selves in the CDZ programs and exhibits. Throughout the training we continuously asked the teens, "Why are we doing this," "What does it have to do with your purpose," "Do you think you're accomplishing your purpose" to keep them focused. As one girl said, this wasn't just a course, this was "being able to have some input in the future of Saudi youth - a great experience."

• Work from communication basics to establish common ground. The point of starting the training with a full day of exercises in spatial relationships, non-verbal communication, empathy and active listening was to establish relevant and meaningful common ground before adding the skills specific to qualitative research. Age, language, culture, knowledge of business and marketing practices divided us; the basis for our training together was therefore the development of such interpersonal communication skills. Learning that listening and empathy are as influential as talking was both meaningful to the kids and relevant to the qualitative research instruction. It was a common theme in their course evaluations, e.g., "I personally learned how to interact better with others in a better way," "I learned the fundamentals of qualitative research. I also got to improve my communication skills."

• Plenty of activities. Nonetheless, these mature, focused students were kids who needed to expend energy and have fun. In their course evaluations they wrote such adult statements as, "The best beneficial part was when we learned the structure of proper communications and interaction," but they also wrote that the best part was the fun. To make it fun and keep the kids engaged, we followed conceptual teaching with frequent exercises of application: we used practice sessions, competitive team exercises and theatre games on non-verbal communication, interpersonal skills and group dynamics.

  After the three days of formal training, Gaasedelen brought in actual respondents for two days of practice focus groups. Conducting 45-minute practice groups was their favorite part of the course – not because it put their training to the test – but because it was the most fun: for example, "when I was a moderator it was great but [three girls were] extremely funny." The kids were so engaged in the practice focus groups that we kept forgetting they were hungry and thirsty due to Ramadan.

  The school curriculum in Saudi Arabia draws heavily on rote learning, especially of Islamic teachings. The kids were energized to be able to think and argue qualitative solutions for themselves and then get up and try them out in fun exercises and practice focus groups. Two themes emerged in their course evaluations on how the course could be improved: 1) have an "even longer" training session and 2) have even "more activities that we can join to be more energetic and active."

• Group interdependence. The pressure on these kids went far beyond the hunger and thirst of Ramadan. Fourteen year olds entering high school had to prove themselves to eighteen year olds bound for college. Girls shrouded in abayas and trained to speak in scarcely more than a whisper had to hold their own with scrappy, confident boys. Yet the girls came, even when it meant being dropped off by dad two hours before class began and waiting two or three hours after to accommodate dad's work schedule, climbing into the back seat of the car to avoid being seen sitting next to a man. Since it is illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, some boys had to miss an entire day of class to run errands for their housebound mothers.

  The group solidarity that the museum's Gaasedelen had nurtured not only held the group together despite such challenges, it also created interdependence that sustained them and drove them to succeed. They were friends embarked on a collective purpose, and along with teasing and giggling they folded newcomers into the group, collaborated to solve problems, and mentored and critiqued each other honestly.

  This group dynamic will also keep the goal of a self-sufficient youth research team alive. As the research program continues to absorb newcomers and the older kids leave for college, the continued growth and sustainability of the program will be due in large measure to the interdependence and collaborative spirit of these kids who share a mission.

The Failures

• No research facility. For the practice focus groups with children, there was no professional facility and no professional recruitment, screener or incentives. Some respondents came to the wrong sessions or not at all. Some children froze at having students, trainers and staff together in the room observing them. Some little girls age six and seven were afraid to say a single word.

• Superficial moderating. The moderators had understood the fundamentals of qualitative research and even designed elaborate methodologies, but they had not internalized that moderating requires focus and depth to unearth and explore research solutions. Face to face with the children, some of them defaulted into being goodwill Ambassadors and wanted so much to get along with the children that they refrained from asking anything remotely challenging. One teen, tasked with identifying ways to improve Aramco's oil exhibit, simply let the children tell stories about a fairy princess, butterflies and dinosaurs.

• Expecting too much. The practice sessions needed to be at the appropriate training level, and one of the two discussion guides we provided was accordingly problematic. The concrete, experiential guide on making the oil exhibit more kid-friendly was at the kids' level as novices and worked well. But Emily's company, Just Kid, also wanted to test the positioning concepts being developed for the museum, and without grounding in marketing, concept testing and positioning, the kids struggled to probe effectively and provide useful findings.

The Successes

The training in August had succeeded in that the teens met our goal of learning the fundamentals, but they were still far from becoming a "world-class, self-sufficient team." We realized that their training should include a more advanced phase that picked up where they had reached their limits. In October 2010 we returned to provide 5-days of advanced training.³

Of course kids are in school more often than not. This second round was during the school year, meaning that our 6-hour days in August gave way to 3½-hour days, and the teens were tired after school and pre-occupied with homework and exams. Further, we had fourteen pupils, six of whom were brand new and had never learned the fundamentals. Given this scenario, we got through only half the material. Furthermore, for the practice sessions with respondents, there were still no facility, recruiting, screening and incentives.

But they got it. The teens grasped basic marketing concepts. They formulated the research problems, objectives and methodology for testing existing exhibits. They probed and handled group dynamics including putting at ease little children like those who had frozen up before. They debriefed the key findings and indicated actionable recommendations.

Success due to group interdependence, group responsibility and sense of purpose. The teens who had taken the Phase I training mentored the newcomers. Nayif, a 14-year-old who had trained in August and was the youngest and newest member back then, turned out to be one of the most caring and able mentors.

The teens thrived on the problem solving and taking the responsibility for finding actionable research solutions without adult supervision. Whereas in Phase I they were handed objectives and discussion guides, in this round of more advanced training they took responsibility for developing the objectives, design, discussion guide, techniques and level of probing that was necessary to answer the client's needs. It actualized their sense of purpose and was a welcome change from rote learning in school for such bright, motivated youth.

In the practice sessions with respondents, the teens conducted sessions simultaneously in morning and afternoon slots, with only one observer – a fellow student - per session. The point of this was both to create a more intimate environment for the child respondents than they experienced surrounded by observers in August, and to leave the moderators on their own. The teens understood that Emily and I were depending on them to answer the research needs in the group debriefs.

They rose to the challenge in the debriefs, motivated equally, I think, by the intellectual challenge, their sense of mission - "being able to have some input in the future of Saudi youth" - and the collaborative experience of friends sharing and building on each other's findings. Each moderator had spent over an hour per session eliciting detailed findings, as contrasted with the superficial focus groups of August. Even Ali, the class clown, was never so focused and intense as when he shared his detailed and insightful findings and recommendations.

Future Plans and Recommendations

This training is about the Children's Discovery Zone and the Saudi kids stretching boundaries, but also about the capacity of other cultural institutions to stretch boundaries too. This was unlike training I had done before – not because it took place in Saudi Arabia – but because it was a successful pilot in teaching teens the research skills to guide the museum's programs and exhibits: very bright, motivated, somewhat westernized kids, but still kids 14-18 years old. As such, the training relied heavily on intangibles to succeed, most especially their interdependence, their sense of mission, and their empowerment as researchers collaborating to find actionable research solutions. Working on real problems with real respondents, they were given the responsibility as a group to make a positive difference. That's ambrosia for teenagers.

Challenges certainly lie ahead for the Saudi training project, particularly around

• Completing the training that was truncated in October due to the demands of schoolwork. We recommend a 3-phase training program in future that has a clear beginning phase concentrating on fundamentals, intermediate level concentrating on achieving objectives and obtaining key findings and recommendations, and advanced level incorporating marketing concepts and offering more intensive development of analysis and reporting of key findings and recommendations.

• Establishing online mentoring between each phase of training and as a training follow up to keep developing the moderators' skills and critical problem-solving as researchers.

• Developing a more sophisticated recruitment model for practice sessions and future research.

I believe the Saudi teenagers will meet the goal of becoming a self-sufficient research team that is fully capable of 1) integrating the voice of Saudi children into the museum's programs and exhibits through qualitative research, 2) providing actionable key findings and recommendations and 3) identifying emerging trends that can enhance and evolve the museum experience. I can confidently recommend youth researchers for museums and other non-profits that serve children now that our pathway to success is clear. The CDZ's Gaasedelen and Alireza were right: teens could share the children's sense of fun and wonder, inspiring not only their confidences but also, with training, valuable research insights; and the museum can have its own staff of capable researchers specializing in children. The Children's Discovery Zone believed in and nurtured a group that is poised to thrive, and the will is there.

¹ Deborah F. Schwartz, "Dude, Where's My Museum? Inviting Teens to Transform Museums," Museum News, September/October 2005.

² The manual covered a summary of qualitative vs. quantitative research, principles of research objectives and qualitative research design, basic interview formats, basic questioning techniques, respondent recruiting, overview of group dynamics, analysis and reporting.

³ This training would cover basic marketing concepts, in-depth focus on framing market research problems, objectives and solutions, handling group dynamics including difficult child respondents, analysis, debriefing and reporting.

Teens tasked with research for center's Discovery Zone

Click image to enlarge A five-day Youth Moderator Training Workshop immersed teens in marketing principles.

DHAHRAN—Over the years, Saudi Aramco has inspired innovation, the passion for learning and the development of new ideas. Since 2008, the company has worked to implement these goals under the mantle of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture.

Focusing on the Kingdom's youth, the center is developing a Children's Discovery Zone (CDZ), which aims to provide children with experiences that widen their knowledge and encourage their dreams.

Rather than waiting for the result, 16 teens ages 15-17 recently joined the Just Kid, Inc. team in developing CDZ through a fiveday Youth Moderator Training Workshop held at the Saudi Aramco Exhibit.

"The whole idea of this program is that we want to get the children involved and get their voices because we want them to feel that CDZ is their place to come to, said program coordinator Anne Gaasedelen.

Click image to enlarge Photo: Abu Abdul Aziz Studio The Youth Moderator Training Workshop connected teens with children who would be the visitors to the Children's Discovery Zone. Through focus groups, teens engaged children in ideas for potential fun learning experiences.

In a short time, the program involved students in a condensed, intensive curriculum of marketing research. They attended lectures and took part in discussion and exercises that shaped them into professional marketing moderators.

Their training exposed them to the nature of qualitative and quantitative research, interpersonal and communication skills and conducting focus groups. They then applied those skills to the development of CDZ.

"This is something my brother is taking in college, and I'm taking it here in just one week! said 15-year-old youth moderator Reem Al-Sadoun. "It's kind of amazing how much we learn in such a short time, even though it feels like forever. But the adults really supported us, making us feel that we can do this.

The program worked to connect teens with children who would be the visitors to CDZ. Through focus groups, teens engaged children in discussions about their ambitions, expectations of CDZ and their ideas for potential fun learning experiences.

Together, they formed an image of the center that would reflect the youth of Saudi Arabia. "It's sort of rejuvenating to know that we control what happens to the future youth of Saudi Arabia, said youth moderator Hisham Al-Falih, 17. "I'm investing my time in something that will help my country to reach a better future of learning for children, so it's exciting to know that we play a big role in this process.

Children in the focus groups also noted their ability to reach out to the teens, whom they viewed as role models. "It was really comfortable, and they were really easy to talk to, said 11-year-old Baraa Amir, a focusgroup respondent. "I think we both learned stuff. Sometimes you have too much fun, so you stop learning, or you have too much learning, so you stop having fun. But here we had fun and learned at the same time, so it was a balance of both.

Over two days, the 16 focus groups gave each youth moderator the chance to take the reins of his or her own group. Male moderators led the boys while female moderators lead the girls. Each session provided 45 minutes for the teens to talk to the children about their likes, dislikes and ideas for the center, while the other moderators observed and took notes. The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture's mission is to create an institute that makes a positive impact on the future of the Kingdom. By listening to the voices of the Saudi youth, the center can craft its programs to welcome and inspire future generations.

"Our program involves Saudi teens in the opportunity to awaken the leaders within, said Gaasedelen. "Although the center is something Saudi Aramco is building, it's really the Saudi children who will create the programs and exhibits to act locally and grow globally.