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Working with community interviewers in social and cultural research
Author(s) -
Hopkins Peter,
Pande Raksha,
Ali Nafhesa,
Chambers Claire,
Phillips Richard
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/area.12789
Subject(s) - politics , remuneration , qualitative research , sociology , public relations , power (physics) , work (physics) , psychology , social psychology , political science , social science , mechanical engineering , physics , quantum mechanics , law , engineering
Working with community or peer interviewers can provide valuable access to the lived experiences of individuals and communities who researchers are unlikely to reach. However, the ethical and methodological issues involved in working with community interviewers has received relatively little attention in social and cultural geographical research. In this paper, we reflect on our work with community interviewers in qualitative research about the sexual relationship practices of young British Pakistani Muslims. We outline the training we offered to them and consider several ethical and methodological issues, including issues of power and positionality, the politics or remuneration, providing feedback to community interviewers, issues of mental health and wellbeing, and addressing expectations and community relationships. We explore the benefits of working with community interviewers while also highlighting the ethical and political challenges associated with such work.