Participatory research in institutional contexts: achieving ethical symmetry in research practice

ABSTRACT

The article examines the question of asymmetries in participatory research relationships in institutional contexts. The principle of ethical symmetry forms the theoretical framework for the investigation. It draws on experience from three (participatory) research projects in different settings, involving academics and people living in the settings as co-researchers. The central methodological tool is a research process model used to systematically dissect the research process and its progress over time. The three-step empirical analysis was structured as follows: First, building on Foucault’s concept of the dispositif, we discuss the invocations experienced by the academic and co-researchers. Secondly, we investigate how the actors handled the invocations, adopting a relational understanding of agency. Finally, we integrate the two perspectives to explore the possibilities of achieving ethical symmetry. The article concludes with reflections – drawing on the findings from the three case studies – on the impact of the principle of ethical symmetry on social work practice and research.

KEYWORDS:

• Participatory research practice
• relational agency
• ethical reflection
• research process model
• institutional power relations

Acknowledgments

The PaStA research project on participation in nursing homes was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (number 03FH007SX6). The opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.

We would like to thank Meredith Dale for translating parts of this paper into English. The translation was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The present contribution is based in part on a German-language publication by the same authors: Marilena von Köppen, Kristina Schmidt and Sabine Tiefenthaler, ‘Doing Ethical Symmetry – ein handlungsleitendes Prinzip für den Umgang mit ethischen Herausforderungen bei der partizipativen Forschung in institutionellen Kontexten [Doing Ethical Symmetry – a guiding principle for dealing with ethical challenges in participatory research in institutional contexts]’. Österreichisches Jahrbuch für Soziale Arbeit #1: 203–28.

2. In this article we use the term ‘co-researcher’ to refer to the people living in these institutions who worked with the academics in the research process.

3. The term ‘reception centre’ is more commonly used in academic discourse, while ‘camp’ was used by the research participants in the field.

4. Guillemin and Gillam (2004, 263) distinguish here between procedural ethics and ethics in practice.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [03FH007SX6].