Documenting the Challenges of Conducting Research on Persons with Disabilities (PWDs): Sharing Experiences and Suggestions to Ponder

Abstract

As can be inferred from literature reviews across the globe, research on people with disabilities (PWDs) are growing tremendously over the years. Although the number of research on PWDs is increasing, little is known about the challenges experienced by researchers in the field. Given the under-studied and limited published research on PWDs in Malaysia in comparison to other studies conducted in the western arena, especially on the challenges faced by researchers, efforts must be intensified to produce more researchable and publishable issues on PWDs. Experienced and suggestions are shared for the community and academics to ponder upon, and act accordingly so that the well-being and potentials of PWDs can be further explored. The discussions presented in this paper result from the experience of doing fieldwork while conducting applied research on creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for all PWDs in the B40 group in Baling district. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges faced by the researchers in conducting research on persons with disabilities. The challenges we faced while conducting the interviews are broken down into several categories, namely the respondents themselves, family members, communication challenges, expectations of the respondent, and the ability and capability of the researchers themselves. The reflections discussed in this paper will assist future researchers to be more aware of the potential challenges they might encounter in the field of a similar low resource settings while conducting research among marginalised population groups, such as persons with disabilities.