Emergent Methodology to Understand BLM-Era Health and Well-Being: The Utility of Integrating Autoethnographic and Grounded Theory Approaches in Mixed Methods Action Research

Abstract

The disproportionate incidence of coronavirus cases and deaths among Black, brown and indigenous peoples in the United States further unmasks the impact of long-standing health inequities, reifies the effect of structural racism on health and well-being, and highlights the need for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) and allied social justice movements. Amidst social transformation, innovations in research methodology are frequently necessary because the research questions, their framing, and study outcomes are evolving with society (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2010). Consequently, to examine the impact of the widely variable, historically rooted but current injustices on the BLM-era health and well-being of Black people who are differently geographically, socially, and economically situated, might require the application of emergent methodology in the form of novel combinations of research approaches. Autoethnography, action research, grounded theory strategies, and mixed methods research are appropriate to attend to the context and inherent complexity of social justice inquiry because they support the use of diverse types of evidence, including the perspectives, worldviews, histories, and/or interpretations of the impacted community. This article presents methodologic concepts and examples as well as proposes methodologic adaptations as a mechanism to explore the value of integrating autoethnography and grounded theory approaches into a mixed methods action research cycle to examine issues associated with the health and well-being of Black people in the United States and other marginalized groups during the BLM and allied social justice era.