The value of maps in geographical and social-scientific research as tools that afford imaginative aesthetic engagement with research topics has become increasingly recognised. We explore here, for the first time, the value of these affordances for interviewing experts. In particular, the imaginative engagement maps can provide may help unsettle routines of thought, and invite reflexivity towards the assumptions on which expert knowledge may rest. This contribution of maps can be particularly valuable in research where anticipating potential future consequences of societal transformations is a central aim. We examine a case study from South Wales, UK, relating to explorations of socio-technical transitions in the field of energy, and show how the imaginative engagements that maps afford for expert participants can facilitate specific ways of anticipating potential futures that avoid simply extrapolating from what is familiar.

For social scientists, understanding our complex relationship to the human experiences we study may be uniquely illuminated by artistic methods, especially for scholars seeking opportunities for creative expression while conducting their scholarly work. The purpose of this paper is to outline a guide to arts-based reflexivity , a step-based method that employs both textual/linguistic and creative/aesthetic tools to increase scholars’ engagement with their positionality and their relationship to their artistic and scholarly works. This flexible yet clear process contributes to existing literature on reflexivity by (a) responding to calls for actually “doing” reflexivity rather than offering only a theoretical explanation of reflexivity and (b) diversifying what are commonly only textual or linguistic tools for reflexivity such as journaling and memoing. Through this piece, the author outlines a step-based guide to arts-based reflexivity, offers one of her arts-based reflexivity processes as a case example, and outlines implications and future directions for the method.

Researchers, especially early career scholars, face numerous dangers as they conduct fieldwork on war, displacement, and crime. Yet how the risks of such fieldwork are shaped by growing economic precarity among scholars has gone relatively unexamined until now. This paper explores ways through which the neoliberalization of scholarly labor manifests amid the challenges of what is typically described as research in ‘dangerous fields.’ Describing three specific moments from previous fieldwork toward my dissertation, the paper argues that the 'precarious fieldworker' is increasingly forced into dilemmas that compromise core research principles like caution, rigor, and care. It does so with an eye toward improving discussions and planning for researcher ethics and safety in a world where the risks to scholarly fieldwork are constantly changing.

This article argues that one specific way of conducting participant observation is idealized in the qualitative research community. This ideal is the traditional version which has been and continues to be long-term fieldwork of participant observation far from home. Unfortunate effects of this idealization are the production of one ideal ethnographer as well as systematic exclusion of some groups of academics and their knowledges and perspectives, for instance (some) disabled researchers. To increase accessibility, an inclusive version of the method is introduced under the term ‘episodic participant observation’. It opens for a flexible and pragmatic use of participant observation which in this version may be conducted ‘episodic’, meaning for shorter or longer timespans, planned or spontaneously, and at any location. Two empirical examples are used to illustrate the potential scientific value of ‘episodic participant observation’ as a supplementary method in qualitative studies.

Documentary films potentially provide a rich source of secondary data on societal phenomena. As novices and ‘fools’ we first used documentary films as secondary data during the extended COVID lockdown. We describe in detail the methods used in two case studies. Each focuses on a different environmental theme and one uses documentary films to supplement two additional sources of secondary data while the other uses films as secondary data to compliment primary data. As novices we made many mistakes, most notably failing to engage with the rich literature and theorising on documentary films. However, we learned much from the process, including that documentary films as secondary data provide valuable insights on social issues being researched.

The method of performance ethnography includes participation in the community being studied, performance as a way of communicating with the community, and performance as a way of sharing findings beyond the community of study. “Performance” can be taken here in the more theatrical, staged sense, or in the sense of engaging with the social dramas of a community. The performance ethnographer understands that they are not a neutral observer and owns and contextualizes their subjectivity. Although used across multiple disciplines, performance ethnography is not a common method in Library and Information Science. This article argues for the value of using this embodied method to study embodied information practices, specifically describing research on the American reality (true, personal, edgy) storytelling movement. Using performance ethnography allows the researcher to enter into a meaningful dialog with the community of study and bring others into that dialog as they share their research. Embodied information research can challenge the conceptualization of information as a disembodied object, while facilitating critical conversations about information needs and access.

Historically, medical discourses have dominated sex work research alongside assumptions of heterosexuality. Lesbian sex workers, that is, lesbians or queer women who provide sex work services to men, remain a neglected cohort in research. This article seeks to contribute to the epistemic break that has characterised sex work research over the past decade or so in line with the shift towards better understanding sex workers’ experiences and demedicalising the field. We report on our South Australian study that sought to examine sex workers’ identities as lesbian/ queer people providing sexual services predominantly for men. We argue for the creative queering of traditional research methods which, for our study, was a creative method made up of three factors: centring peer research; using paper dolls as a method; and the production of capsule biographies. Using paper dolls with a peer researcher, participants ( n = 20) reported the ways in which their identities were navigated. Utilising capsule biographies, participant narratives embed identity outside of medicalised notions of sex work as well as point to the creative ways participants navigated work and personal identities. The peer researcher led the study and narrated the capsule biographies. This article contributes to the literature by providing a methodological counterpoint to a history of medicalised research on sex workers.

This article explores the evolution of the relationship between the inquirer and participant within a narrative inquiry conducted in the field of environmental education. Our focus is on how relational ethics contribute to the creation of narrative spaces that cultivate a caring and reciprocal relationship, where respect, trust, and productive self-reflection foster personal and professional growth for both parties. Building on this, we discuss the potential to reenvision research in environmental education—and beyond—as a caring and reciprocal experience. Ultimately, we advocate for the view that educational research should serve as a platform that fosters interactions promoting democracy, through cooperation and equitable dialogue, and ethical growth through care and reciprocity.

This reflective article centres on the controversy surrounding the practice of compensating research participants, drawing on insights gained from data collection experiences in rural, non-affluent schools in Kenya. The practice of going to the field ‘empty-handed’ is explored, shedding light on participants’ reactions. To comprehend the foundational issues embedded in our field experiences, we employ perspectives from decolonial and post-colonial theories, examining three questions: What knowledge systems shape research practice with regard to compensation? What power structures guide the research agenda and influence compensation? And, what ‘being’ determines the ‘acceptable’ research practice with regard to compensation? We argue that the knowledge systems, power structures and conceptualizations of ‘being’ shaping research practices regarding compensation during data collection are often external to the research participants. This leads to the marginalization of the participants’ voices concerning compensation. The practice of compensation during data collection can strengthen connections with participants and enhance research integrity.

Participatory research often claims to inspire and empower young people to change their lives and communities but what if the problems are entrenched, and the world remains intransigent? The article draws on Berlant's ideas of fantasy, cruel optimism and the impasse to navigate the ethics of mobilising and managing young people's aspirations for change in adverse, austerity contexts. Naming the youth participatory democratic project (YPDP) is a useful concept for understanding youth experiences of deflation in a creative, arts-based participatory project. The YPDP works with marginalised young people but is a professionalising, institutionalising fantasy that proscribes the transgressive activism and infrastructural practices of care and solidarity that such communities have required to realise change. To help navigate the impasse, the article presents two fantasies. One outlines the Mental Health Movement project, the other is an alternative and speculative youth state that builds infrastructures of support for young people to organise amidst adversity.