On ‘being researched’: why do people engage with qualitative research?
By Tom Clark. 2010
159 citations recorded by the source corpus.
While there has been some anecdotal discussion that hints at what motivates people to engage with qualitative research, little research has systematically explored the role of research engagement for those who choose to participate: Why do people engage with qualitative research? Using interview data collected from experienced researchers (n=13), this article seeks to systematically explore this issue by examining how researchers understand the mechanisms that motivate and facilitate research engagement. At an individual level, the supporting mechanisms identified include: subjective interest, enjoyment, curiosity, introspective interest, social comparison, therapeutic interest, material interest and economic interest. At a collective level, however, the mechanisms identified by researchers include: representation, political empowerment, and informing ‘change’. It is argued that a greater appreciation of these supporting mechanisms is likely to be crucial in examining how the research process is shaped by the motivations of those who engage, as well as helping to maintain current levels of research engagement through the development of more positive research relationships.
Subfields: General Health Professions, Sociology and Political Science
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c7055be9f577e42212e2450b97d25e0369af4b80
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In General Health Professions
In Sociology and Political Science
Citations in the corpus
- Participants’ experiences of the qualitative interview: considering the importance of research paradigms (2015, background): “…to the potential value of interviews as opportunities for self-reflection, appraisal, catharsis, being listened to, responded to emphatically, and to being validated (Birch and Miller, 2000; Campbell et al., 2010; Clark, 2010; Cutcliffe and Ramcharan, 2002; Hutchinson et al., 1994; Munhall, 1991).”
- LGBTQI+ Youth and Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research (2019, background): “One of the reasons participants may voluntarily engage in this type of research is the implicit chance that the evidence will inform change by giving them a voice, hence both personal and political empowerment (Clark 2010).”