Researching sensitively without sensitizing: Using a card sort in a concurrent mixed methods design to research trust and distrust

Researchers exploring sensitive issues need to obtain valid and reliable information. This may necessitate participants not being sensitised to the precise research focus to prevent contamination of findings. In this paper research exploring feelings of trust and distrust and emotional responses to organisational change is used to assess how a concurrent mixed methods design, utilizing a constrained card sort and in-depth interview, can enable such sensitive issues to be researched without sensitising participants. This illustrative example provides instructive guidance regarding how to apply this mixed method. It also reveals how feelings of trust and distrust and emotional responses are directly associated with positively and negatively interpreted change situations rather than misappropriated, highlighting reasons for these responses including the role of managers. The paper concludes by considering how this mixed methods design can support researching such sensitive issues in organisations