Working with community interviewers in social and cultural research

Peter Hopkins*, Raksha Pande, Nafhesa Ali, Claire Chambers, Richard Phillips

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
32 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Working with community or peer interviewers can provide valuable access to the lived experiences of individuals and communities who researchers are unlikely to reach. However, the ethical and methodological issues involved in working with community interviewers has received relatively little attention in social and cultural geographical research. In this paper, we reflect on our work with community interviewers in qualitative research about the sexual relationship practices of young British Pakistani Muslims. We outline the training we offered to them and consider several ethical and methodological issues, including issues of power and positionality, the politics or remuneration, providing feedback to community interviewers, issues of mental health and wellbeing, and addressing expectations and community relationships. We explore the benefits of working with community interviewers while also highlighting the ethical and political challenges associated with such work.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)400-407
Number of pages8
JournalArea
Volume54
Issue number3
Early online date10 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • community interviewers
  • Muslims
  • peer researchers
  • relationships
  • UK
  • research ethics

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