Experiences in broker-facilitated participatory cross-cultural research: Overcoming practical and ethical challenges

Authors

Stephanie P. Kowal, University of Alberta, Canada
Tania M. Bubela, University of Alberta, CanadaFollow
Cynthia Jardine, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada

Document Type

Article

Department

Office of the Provost

Abstract

Health researchers are increasingly using community-based participatory research approaches because of the benefits accrued through ongoing community engagement. The documentation of our research partnership highlights key ethical and analytical challenges researchers face in participatory research, particularly in projects partnering with service providers or cultural brokers in cross-cultural settings. In this article, we describe how choices made to accommodate a participatory research approach in the examination of vaccination behavior impacted the process and outcomes of our qualitative inquiries. First, we found that employing multiple interviewers influenced the breadth of discussion topics, thus reducing the ability to achieve saturation in small study populations. This was mitigated by (a) having two people at each interview and (b) using convergent interviewing, a technique in which multiple interviewers discuss and include concepts raised in interviews in subsequent interviews to test the validity of interview topics. Second, participants were less engaged during the informed consent process if they knew the interviewer before the interview commenced. Finally, exposing identity traits, such as age or immigration status, before the interview affected knowledge cocreation, as the focus of the conversation then mirrored those traits. For future research, we provide recommendations to reduce ethical and analytical concerns that arise with qualitative interview methods in participatory research. Specifically, we provide guidance to ensure ethical informed consent processes and rigorous interview techniques.

Comments

Issue no. is not provided by the author/publisher. This work was published before Tania joined Aga Khan University.

Publication (Name of Journal)

International Journal of Qualitative Methods

DOI

10.1177/1609406917706883

Recommended Citation

Kowal, S. P., Bubela, T. M., Jardine, C. (2017). Experiences in broker-facilitated participatory cross-cultural research: Overcoming practical and ethical challenges. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16, 1-9.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/provost_office/740