Approaches to democratising qualitative research methods

Voices advocating radical challenges to traditional research practice and to our conceptions of how and what sort of knowledge is generated by researchers, have grown louder over the past decades. They have questioned the model of research that positions the people who are the focus of study as subjects, and those who research them as experts who can analyse and evaluate. They have called for a fundamental transformation of the nature of research, to centre alternative perspectives and ways of knowing, to reset research agendas around issues that are important to those who have been pushed to the societal margins, and to research those issues collaboratively. Advocates of these approaches have found a wider academic audience internationally, not least among qualitative researchers. The democratisation of research has been identified as one of the key methodological challenges of the 21st century (Crow, 2012). Reasons put forward for a transformation of conventional paradigms in qualitative and other research processes are ethical, political and pragmatic. They range across projects to address social justice and transform society (e.g. Mertens, 2009). Such endeavours encompass principles of democratic dialogue and participatory equality for all those involved in setting agendas for and practising research (e.g. Gustavsen, 2001) and the empowerment of those who are treated as the subjects of research. Other rationales concern cultural appropriateness and validity (e.g. Kirkhart, 2005). They also stretch to instrumental considerations around the recruitment of research participants and the need for research to demonstrate that it has an impact (Crow, 2010). These sorts of ideas about the transformation of research may also be linked to theorising about ‘democratisation’ since the mid-20th century, identifying the emergence of expectations of equal relationships and choices in lifestyles, coupled with calls for ‘dialogic democracy’ involving consultation and participation in decision-making within society generally (e.g. Beck and Beck Gernsheim, 2002; Giddens, 1992, 1998). These societal shifts may be echoed in the practice of social research. This special issue of Qualitative Research brings together articles exploring the challenges posed both by, and for, the disruption of conventional research practice and implementation of democratic, transformative and collaborative knowledge production. Contributors reflect on the conduct of their research projects and on methodological issues in different international and local contexts. The special issue covers a range of alternative approaches to conventional research paradigms, aiming to promote dialogue between them. In this editorial we lay out the shared endeavours, but also the 706869QRJ0010.1177/1468794117706869Qualitative ResearchEdwards and Brannelly editorial2017