Open AccessUnderstanding Participant Experiences: Reflections of a Novice Research Participant
Author(s) -
Barbara Dennis
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of qualitative methods
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.414
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 1609-4069
DOI - 10.1177/160940691401300121
Subject(s) - participant observation , qualitative research , psychology , empirical research , social psychology , sociology , epistemology , social science , philosophy
There is very little empirical work on the experiences research participants have engaging in qualitative inquiry; yet, qualitative researchers often think of themselves as forging critical relationships with their participants. It seems that perhaps the actual experiences of participants in the research process are being taken largely for granted. I want to problematize research participants being taken for granted. In this article, I analyze the existing literature and report on insights from my own experience as a participant in two interview studies. The article offers insights regarding participant experiences that are not well captured in the existing literature