Researcher-participant Relationship Research Articles

Ethical practice in participant-centred linguistic research

Abstract This article outlines ethical principles for ‘participant-centred linguistic research’ (PCLR), a term we coin to incorporate a range of linguistic research approaches that place importance on the involvement of participants. Linguistics, as a field, has strengthened its focus on participant-centred and socially situated research, recognising the value of better understanding our participants’ practices and linguistic knowledge. However, this also brings ethical challenges for our research practice. Drawing on three differing UK-based case studies from the authors’ own work, the article explores complex issues that can arise during PCLR and establishes four key principles that cut across our varied experiences. Firstly, we address participant consent and confidentiality, establishing the principles: 1. Informed consent and ethics protocols are dialogic processes and 2. Expectations around confidentiality and anonymity can shift during a project. Secondly, we address our research relationships with participants, our key principles being: 3. The researcher-participant relationship is complex and variable and 4. Close attention must be paid to power dynamics within the research setting. Ultimately, we argue that the human interactions and relationships involved in PCLR mean research may inevitably be somewhat unpredictable; researchers therefore need an understanding of the ethical parameters of their practice to navigate these complexities.

Using video diaries in educational ethnography: what being alone with a camera does for self-representation, trust, and affording a participant perspective

ABSTRACT Video diaries are an innovative tool for ethnographic research, contributing to the quality of fieldwork and ethnographic data by giving additional attention to participant voices. Grounded in two fieldwork periods in secondary and higher education, this paper illustrates three key qualities through which video diaries contributed to ethnographic research: (1) Building trusting relationships with participants, (2) providing a space for participant autonomy, and (3) being a medium of self-explication and truth-telling. In video diaries, participants exercised free speech, providing a widely unmediated, personal perspective on their professional identity, roles, and relationships. This personal perspective allowed participants to contribute to trusting on their own terms, which mitigated face-work – especially when talking about conflicts and challenges – and provided additional entry points for conversations, enabling deep dialogue and understanding. Ultimately, the use of video diaries significantly strengthened the researcher-participant relationship and enriched the ethnographic data and the quality of interactions.

“But our worlds are different!”: reflexivity as a tool to negotiate insider–outsider dilemmas

PurposeIn ethnographic research, negotiating insider–outsider perspectives is essential in order to get closer to the participants’ lives. By highlighting the importance of empathy and reflexivity, the paper attempts to trace my reflexive navigation as a novice researcher as I enter the field as an outsider. The process of co-creation between the researcher and the participant is mediated by the nuances of the researcher’s identity, thereby shaping the researcher–participant relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe current study elaborates my journey as a Ph.D. scholar in an ethnographic study of persons with spinal cord injury or amputation. The different themes organised around my personal reflections discuss the various challenges I faced and how I navigated through them.FindingsThe paper reflects on how different aspects of my identity, such as being non-disabled, a female and differences in socioeconomic status shaped the researcher–participant relationship. Additionally, it highlights how I traverse through the blurred worlds of insider–outsider and explore the role of reflexivity and empathy in creating a horizontal researcher–participant relationship.Originality/valueThis reflexive journey offers potential insights into budding researchers who often face dilemmas whether or not it is necessary for qualitative researchers to be members of the population they are studying. The paper also contributes to an understanding around practising reflexivity while working with a sensitive population. It argues researchers to look beyond the insider–outsider debate and utilise reflexivity as a tool for a nonhierarchical researcher–participant relationship.

Tailoring Sexual Health Research Practices to Meet the Needs of Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Findings from Mexico.

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) research is essential for the development of population-tailored evidence-based policies and programs that support sexual health among adolescent girls. However, ethical challenges create barriers to girls' participation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). From February to September 2019, girls aged 16-20 (n = 30) who participated in the Jovenes Sanos study in Tijuana, Baja California (ClinicalTrials: NCT03660514) responded to in-depth interviews (IDs) on the perceived risks and benefits of participating in studies which address gender-based violence, unintended pregnancy, and STIs. Emergent themes indicated the need to ensure that consent and incentive procedures are tailored to the developmental level of participants, while highlighting the importance of researcher-participant relationships, and demonstrating how research can serve as an opportunity to empower girls to express their sexual health medical needs. Understanding adolescent girls' voices is a critical step in ensuring that consent to participate SRH research is tailored to the developmental needs of participants, is culturally competent, and has a participant-centered approach.

Feminist activist ethnography through Arabic Twitter: fellowship as a method

This article reflects on my journey conducting online ethnography through Iraqi, Saudi, Kuwaiti and Yemeni feminist Twitters as an Iraqi researcher residing in the United Kingdom. It examines the intersection of online ethnography and feminist activism, emphasising the essential role of long-term immersion in social media spaces as an activist prior to undertaking this type of research. I gained crucial insights into the complexity, fluidity and emotional dynamics of online spaces and relationships through years of visible presence and engagement with other activists before conducting my ethnography. While some level of intimacy and affiliation with feminist activists existed, the absence of offline encounters posed challenges to forging friendships; however, this difficulty served as a catalyst for developing an ethical method to navigate relationships with participants and address the limitations of a friendship-based approach. In this article, I propose an alternative approach centred around a fellowship affiliation, approaching other activists as ‘fellows’ in the two Arabic senses of zamāla and rifqa (peer- and comrade-driven) relationships. This shift in the researcher–participant relationship moves away from the intense and demanding nature of the ṣadāqah (friendship) relationship. In doing so, it offers a politically powerful stance and a much-needed critical space for constructive debate while maintaining mutual respect and a shared commitment to the cause. The fellowship-based method necessitates activist transparency and critical allyship dedicated to collaboration and unconventional methods of knowledge co-production, promising solidarity and transcending differences and disagreements. Nonetheless, achieving this can, at times, be challenging. While acknowledging the limitations of the approach, the article recognises that moments of silence or distance can also arise from a sense of activist responsibility and commitment to protecting others.

Beyond the participant-researcher division: co-creating ethical relationships through care and rapport in studies of post-laryngectomy communication

This article presents the ethical implications for social science research emerging from our study on interpersonal communication after a laryngectomy. By tracing the evolution of our approach through specific research experiences and participant feedback, we provide empirical support for a flexible, multidimensional, and relational understanding of key ethical concepts, such as vulnerability and the researcher-participant relationship. Our approach has shifted from institutionally imposed rigid categorizations and somewhat stereotypical treatment of both the research group and the researcher-participant relationship to an emphasis on building relationships founded on mutual care and rapport. We argue that this revised perspective fosters ethical collaboration that is beneficial and secure for all parties involved, and we offer practical examples of its implementation in research practice.

Toward Culturally Responsive Qualitative Research Methods in the Design of Health Technologies: Learnings in Applying an Indigenous Māori-Centred Approach

There is a growing call for health researchers to address the inequities in healthcare experienced by indigenous populations by focusing on the development of culturally responsive research approaches. This article presents a contextual example from Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) of how indigenous (Māori) knowledge and practices helped reimagine and enhance an existing qualitative descriptive research protocol exploring clinicians’ perspectives of robotic rehabilitation for people with stroke. The intent was to develop a research design that upheld and valued mātauranga Māori (indigenous knowledge systems) alongside Western clinical sciences knowledge. To achieve this, a collaboration of non-indigenous (tauiwi) and indigenous researchers with experience in Qualitative and Kaupapa Māori (indigenous) methodologies, and clinical practice was formed. The researchers undertook a cyclical process of relationship building, engagement with mātauranga Māori, discussion and exploration of how indigenous knowledge and practices could inform and shape the existing study design. Key influences in adapting the research design were drawn from Māori ethical principles, Māori frameworks of health and wellbeing, and Māori cultural practices for clinical engagement. Drawing on indigenous knowledge and practices to develop a Māori-centred research method resulted in significant changes to the study design, methods, and interview approach. Focused development of a culturally responsive approach enabled the researchers to engage indigenous participants in a research process that was safe, respectful, and culturally appropriate. Transformation occurred within the researcher-participant relationship from one often characterised as transactional, to one of deeper connection and reciprocity, which facilitated a richer and more in-depth inquiry. The explicit valuing and integration of indigenous knowledge and practices in adapting the research method strengthened the cultural responsivity of the research. Central to the process was prioritising working in relational partnership. Non-indigenous researchers’ self-reflection on their own culture, alongside being attuned to the influence of historical, political, and social contexts of the participants experiences proved essential.

Rethinking the evaluation criteria for qualitative tourism research: introducing resynthesis

This conceptual study aims to examine the evaluation criteria introduced by Lincoln and Guba (1985) through the lens of the current trends in qualitative tourism research. Emphasis is placed on the techniques of credibility, which are divided into internal and external. The findings reveal that internal techniques refer to the accuracy of the researcher’s interpretations of data analysis based on the researcher–participant relationship. In contrast, external techniques pertain to techniques requiring external reviewers and sources that increase the accuracy of research outcomes (e.g., peer debriefing). In this respect, this study proposes resynthesis as a technique that compares the findings of a qualitative study with past research. Although this technique is used in systematic literature review and metasynthesis, its scope differs in that it compares the empirical study’s findings with the existing literature in an attempt to enhance credibility.

What's trust got to do with research: why not accountability?

This paper explores the intricate dynamics of trust, power, and vulnerability in the relationship between researchers and study participants/communities in the field of bioethics. The power and knowledge imbalances between researchers and participants create a structural vulnerability for the latter. While trust-building is important between researchers and study participants/communities, the consenting process can be challenging, often burdening participants with power abrogation. Trust can be breached. The paper highlights the contractual nature of the research relationship and argues that trust alone cannot prevent exploitation as power imbalances and vulnerabilities persist. To protect participants, bioethics guidance documents promote accountability and ethical compliance. These documents uphold fairness in the researcher-participant relationship and safeguard the interests of socially vulnerable participants. The paper also highlights the role of shared decision-making and inclusive deliberation with diverse stakeholders and recommends that efforts should be made by researchers to clarify roles and responsibilities, while research regulatory agents should transform the research-participant relationship into a legal-based contract governed by accountability principles. While trust remains important, alternative mechanisms may be needed to ensure ethical research practices and protect the interests of participants and communities. Striking a balance between trust and accountability is crucial in this regard.

“I’m New to This”: Navigating Digitally Mediated Photovoice Methods to Enhance Research With Older Adults

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a shift in long established participatory visual qualitative methods. Some researchers adapted photovoice— which traditionally happens in-person—and used technology to connect with participants referred to as “digitally mediated photovoice”. Collective knowledge about best practices for digitally mediated photovoice to support and enhance research with older adults is in its infancy. Thus, to advance the field, we describe our approach to digitally mediated photovoice with older adults for a study in Vancouver, Canada. We explore participant and researcher reflections with data generated during three sessions over two-and-a-half years during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first two virtual interview sessions used photo elicitation, and the third session was an in-person interactive photography exhibition. We identified three central benefits to using digitally mediated photovoice. This approach 1. built rapport through the shared experience of navigating technology; 2. allowed a rich exchange of information despite physical distancing; and 3. facilitated opportunity for participants to exercise their agency. As we consider constraints for in-person data collection, digitally mediated photovoice may offer an avenue to establish mutually beneficial researcher-participant relationships with older adults. We add to the growing body of literature that addresses how qualitative researchers incorporate technology into the research process to reshape how we understand intimacy and access.

Blending in or Being Co-Opted: Reflecting on an Internship-Cum-Field Work at a New Town Government in China

Existing literature details many complexities of researcher–participant relationships in field work. It nonetheless evades a possibility that the researcher could be co-opted and lose his or her researcher self in specific field situations. Reflecting on an internship experience with a Chinese new town government, I present and problematize such a possibility. Two questions are explored: (1) In what contexts and in what ways was the researcher co-opted? (2) What have been the implications of the co-option to the researcher’s research practices? By answering these questions, this article makes three contributions. First, it presents a new complexity to researcher–participant relationships in the field. Second, in explaining the emergence of such a complexity, it develops a conceptual framework of resubjectivation that considers the intersection of the researcher’s biography and the agency of the field site. Third, the article unravels how being co-opted in the field had profound impacts on research, posing complex methodological and ethical challenges.

Who Do They Think We Are? Reflexivity and Participant Constructions of the Researcher

This article addresses an underexplored issue within management and organizational studies researcher reflexivity, namely how participants perceive and construct the researcher. However, reflexivity which includes how our participants see us is necessary for a more complete understanding of the research process and ourselves as researchers, and for how participants choose to talk about themselves and their practice. I therefore present a novel method for reanalyzing research data to construct a version of myself-as-researcher from the talk and responses to me of my manager participants, addressing the question: “to whom were my participants speaking?” which identifies multiple constructions of the researcher as auditor, consultant, and therapist. I extend the literature on the researcher–participant relationship by highlighting the role of emotion and uncertainty of managers in making sense of the research occasion, and I add to the suite of tools available to researchers to review and reflect on their research practice.

“I’m Really Glad that You’re Doing this Research”. Qualitative Research Involving Doctors With Lived Experience of Mental Health or Substance Use Challenges in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

Background Doctors with a history of mental health or substance use challenges face barriers accessing treatment and are difficult to recruit for research. This makes understanding their experiences challenging, yet essential. Overcoming barriers to research participation among unwell doctors is critical to advancing their overall health and wellbeing. Methods A qualitative interview study of 21 allegedly impaired doctors in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand who were subject to regulatory processes relating to their health. Based in an interpretative phenomenological paradigm, this paper examines participants’ motivations for participation in this study and their reactions to participating. It highlights wider implications for sensitive research involving doctors and marginalised groups. Results Participants were strongly motivated to participate in our research for their own benefit (desire to be heard, catharsis, and empowerment) and to benefit others (to change the system, and to avoid other doctors experiencing what they experienced). Careful planning and communication of unique legal risks fostered a trusting researcher-participant relationship. To assist other researchers undertaking sensitive qualitative research with vulnerable participants, we describe our research protocol, challenges, and successes in detail. Conclusions Despite ethical concerns about research risk, researchers can and should pursue qualitative research into the experiences of under-represented groups, including allegedly impaired doctors. Without involving them in research that examines issues directly impacting on them, we may be inadvertently perpetuating the barriers and stigma that also hinder them from accessing treatment and support. This also deprives us of knowledge that can be used to improve doctors’ health. This paper has broader relevance for anyone doing research with doctors, people in vulnerable positions, people disempowered by institutional or social systems, people who are stigmatised or shamed, and people who have experienced trauma.

Legally Effective but Ethically Inadequate: Institutional Review Board Policies for Consent from Legally Authorized Representatives.

The prevailing approach to enrolling decisionally impaired adults in clinical research is to rely on permission from a default surrogate, one identified by law rather than by the prospective research participant. Reliance on a surrogate transfers the focus of ethical protection from a researcher-participant relationship to a researcher-surrogate relationship; the selection and role of the surrogate are therefore important. The Common Rule defers to state law governing default surrogate consent to research, but most states have no such law; for those states, the Common Rule defers to institutional policy. I reviewed twenty-five of the study sites with the highest National Institutes of Health funding levels to elaborate the content of institutional review board (IRB) policies and compare those to a suggested paradigm for ethically defensible policies. My findings suggest that IRB policies provide inadequate protection because they recognize surrogates who lack knowledge of the subject's current values and preferences without imposing adequate additional safeguards.

Ethical challenges in participatory research with children and youth

The growth of relational, participatory, collaborative and emergent research approaches in recent years has brought new ethical challenges for research with children and youth. These approaches require greater consideration of the specific social and cultural contexts of the research, along with the greater emphasis on researcher–participant relationships that often occur over sustained periods of time. Very few tools are available to help researchers think through the everyday ethical dilemmas such research can raise. In this article, we review the theoretical underpinnings of feminist and indigenous research methodologies that have encouraged these emerging approaches. Through examining an 18-month Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project case study, we critically review ethical moments relating to negotiating consent over a sustained period of time, enhancing co-design and navigating power issues between adult and youth researchers. We conclude with a number of questions to ‘think with’ when reflecting on ethical research with children and youth.

Approaching responsibility

Feminist researchers have long argued that refl exivity is key to a responsible research practice. As a method, reflexivity has the capacity to reveal power relations and highlight situated perspectives. Consequently, it has become a mainstream tool in qualitative research. Yet it has also been criticised for producing tick-the-box reflections and promoting a researcher-centric narrative that undermines participants’ contributions to knowledge production. This article takes a sensory approach to reflexivity and considers its methodological implications. Borrowing our interpretation of recognisability from Skeggs (1997), and that of emplacement from Pink’s (2015) conceptualisation of sensory ethnography, we use the compound concept of ‘recognisable emplacement’ as a reflexive theoretical lens with which to analyse the researcher-participant relationship. We are furthermore methodologically inspired by duo-ethnography in that we as co-authors create a collective and reflexive space for analysis. The analysis therefore enables us to illustrate the dynamic negotiations between participants, environment, and researcher, and to shed light on the sensory cues that form these negotiations. Based on an understanding of responsibility as a multifaceted and situated practice we suggest that a sensory approach to reflexivity increases the researcher’s capacity to take responsibility by foregrounding the intersubjectivity of researcher-participant relations.

Community based participatory research for public relations: Realizing potential for researcher-participant relationships

Relationship management theory and organizational-public relationships (OPR) continue to guide much of the research in public relations (PR) and espouse values of building collaborative and dialogic interactions for mutual benefit. Yet, OPR historically prioritized the use of relationships to reach organizational goals instead of public or community needs. Furthermore, the relationship paradigm has overlooked the significance of relationships between researchers and participants. This essay urges PR to prioritize researcher-participant relationships when engaging in research that concerns a community by using community-based participatory research (CBPR), an approach that values the contributions of community partners. We consider the foundations and critiques of relationships in PR and explain how CBPR can transcend some of these limitations by facilitating mutual benefit in methodological decisions. We then outline the benefits and challenges of using CBPR based on a review of studies across disciplines and the authors’ reflections on employing CBPR in their research. This work builds on the PR scholarship of relationships to offer concrete ways that researchers can utilize CBPR to address community needs and prioritize participants in the research process.

A systematic review of the qualitative research examining stakeholders’ perceptions of the characteristics of helpful sport and exercise psychology practitioners

ABSTRACT Research indicates sport psychology practitioners vary in their abilities to help athletes. Understanding the characteristics of helpful practitioners can inform applied sport psychology training. We reviewed qualitative research on stakeholders’ perceptions of the characteristics of practitioners. The electronic and manual search yielded 33 studies, with extracted data being subject to an abductive analysis. We also critically appraised the studies according to criteria listed by the Cochrane Collaboration. Results indicated that stakeholders perceived that helpful practitioners were able to (a) build rapport or interpersonal bonds with athletes, (b) develop real relationships based on openness and realistic perceptions, (c) inspire hope and suitable expectations, (d) promote engagement in the change process, and (e) operate well in the contexts where clients are located. The critical appraisal indicated that the studies provide an informed representation of stakeholders’ perceptions, but also where research may improve, such as considering the researcher-participant relationship. The review points to avenues of future research, such as experiments testing if the characteristics stakeholders believe describe helpful practitioners lead to better client outcomes. The current findings can also inform the training, supervision, and continued professional development of trainees and practitioners.

On being a Black woman ‘Mzungu’ researcher

With limited inclusion of Black traveler experiences in tourism scholarship and given that gender and racialization occur across geographies, this article explores the ways in which positionality and embodiment influence a Black diasporic woman researcher’s experience in the cross-cultural context of Livingstone, Zambia. It further explores key player and researcher-participant relationships within the research context, where an autoethnographic approach and the creative analytic practice (CAP) of poetry are used as reflexive practices and to demonstrate the impact of researcher social identities (e.g. race, gender, nationality) on the research process. Aligning with the creative (re)turn in geography scholarship, the use of CAP demonstrates how similar methodologies can provide a more well-rounded view of participant voices, specifically that of Black people informing the production of knowledge. More importantly, the Blackness of diasporic researchers is valued, especially when coupled with mindful intentionality in the approach and assumptions of the research process.

Researcher-Participant Relationship: Strategic Dances in Research Encounters

Researcher-Participant Relationship: Strategic Dances in Research Encounters