20.3 Critical considerations

As I discussed above, rigor shines a spotlight on our actions as researchers. A critical perspective is one that challenges traditional arrangements of power, control and the role of structural forces in maintaining oppression and inequality in society. From this perspective, rigor takes on additional meaning beyond the internal integrity of the qualitative processes used by you or I as researchers, and suggest that standards of quality need to address accountability to our participants and the communities that they represent, NOT just the scientific community. There are many evolving dialogues about what criteria constitutes “good” research from critical traditions, including participatory and empowerment approaches that have their roots in critical perspective. These discussions could easily stand as their own chapter, however, for our purposes, we will borrow some questions from these critical debates to consider how they might inform the work we do as qualitative researchers.

Who gets to ask the questions?

In the case of your research proposal, chances are you are outlining your research question. Because our research question truly drives our research process, it carries a lot of weight in the planning and decision-making process of research. In many instances, we bring our fully-formed research projects to participants, and they are only involved in the collection of data. But critical approaches would challenge us to involve people who are impacted by issues we are studying from the onset. How can they be involved in the early stages of study development, even in defining our question? If we treat their lived experience as expertise on the topic, why not start early using this channel to guide how we think about the issue? This challenges us to give up some of our control and to listen for the “right” question before we ask it.

Who owns the data and the findings?

Answering this question from a traditional research approach is relatively clear—the researcher or rather, the university or research institution they represent. However, critical approaches question this. Think about this specifically in terms of qualitative research. Should we be “owning” pieces of other people’s stories, since that is often the data we are working with? What say do people get in what is done with their stories and the findings that are derived from them? Unfortunately, there aren’t clear answers. These are some critical questions that we need to struggle with as qualitative researchers.

• How can we disrupt or challenge current systems of data ownership, empowering participants to maintain greater rights?
• What could more reciprocal research ownership arrangments look like?
• What are the benefits and consequences of disrupting this system?
• What are the benefits and consequences of perpetuating our current system?

What is the sustained impact of what I’m doing?

As qualitative researchers, our aim is often exploring meaning and developing understanding of social phenomena. However, criteria from more critical traditions challenge us to think more tangibly and with more immediacy. They require us to answer questions about how our involvement with this specific group of people within the context of this project may directly benefit or harm the people involved. This not only applies in the present but also in the future.

We need to consider questions like:

• How has our interaction shaped participants’ perceptions of research?
• What are the ripple effects left behind from the questions we raised by our study?
• What thoughts or feelings have been reinforced or challenged, both within the community but also for outsiders?
• Have we built/strengthened/damaged relationships?
• Have we expanded/depleted resources for participants?

We need to reflect on these topics in advance and carefully considering the potential ramifications of our research before we begin. This helps to demonstrate critical rigor in our approach to research planning. Furthermore, research that is being conducted in participatory traditions should actively involve participants and other community members to define what the immediate impacts of the research should be. We need to ask early and often, what do they need as a community and how can research be a tool for accomplishing this? Their answers to these questions then become the criteria on which our research is judged. In designing research for direct and immediate change and benefit to the community, we also need to think about how well we are designing for sustainable change. Have we crafted a research project that creates lasting transformation, or something that will only be short-lived?

As students and as scholars we are often challenged by constraints as we address issues of rigor, especially some of the issues raised here. One of the biggest constraints is time. As a student, you are likely building a research proposal while balancing many demands on your time. To actively engage community members and to create sustainable research projects takes considerable time and commitment. Furthermore, we often work in highly structured systems that have many rules and regulations that can make doing things differently or challenging convention quite hard. However, we can begin to make a more equity-informed research agenda by:

• Reflecting on issues of power and control in our own projects
• Learning from research that models more reciprocal relationships between researcher and researched
• Finding new and creative ways to actively involve participants in the process of research and in sharing the benefits of research

In the resource box below, you will find links for a number of sources to learn more about participatory research methods that embody the critical perspective in research that we have been discussing.

As we turn our attention to rigor in the various aspects of the qualitative research process, continue to think about what critical criteria might also apply to each of these areas.