Stream One
Participatory and Collaborative Approaches
Migrant Women as Community Researchers: An Engaged Feminist Participatory Approach
Matina Kapsali - The University of Manchester
Drawing on an ongoing research project, this presentation explores the transformative potential of an engaged feminist participatory framework in positioning migrant women as co-researchers rather than subjects of inquiry. Using Peer Ethnographic Evaluation and Research (PEER), this approach actively involves migrant women in knowledge production, challenging hierarchical research structures and amplifying the voices of those often excluded from academic discourse. Rooted in feminist principles of collaboration, reciprocity, and reflexivity, PEER provides a methodological space where lived experiences shape both research processes and outcomes.
By embedding a feminist ethics of care and co-creation, this talk will reflect on the challenges and possibilities of implementing PEER within an engaged feminist framework. It will examine how this approach disrupts traditional power imbalances in research, highlights the situated knowledges of migrant women, and generates critical insights for policy and advocacy. Ultimately, this methodology not only produces richer, more ethical research but also advances feminist commitments to social justice, equity, and community-led transformation.
However, while PEER offers a powerful tool for inclusive and community-led research, it is not without its challenges. Training peer researchers requires time, trust-building, and ongoing support, as participants may not initially see themselves as "researchers." Power dynamics between academic institutions and community members must be carefully navigated, and ethical considerations—such as informed consent, emotional labor, and the risks of sharing personal narratives—require constant attention. Moreover, balancing the need for rigorous data collection with the flexibility necessary in participatory approaches presents methodological tensions that must be acknowledged.
Intergenerational Automobilism
Iulian Negru - The University of Manchester
In this research, I define Automobilism as the cognitive, moral, attitudinal, and behavioral outcome of a complex social process that imposes the car (as a socio-technical object) and car usage (as a socially recognized skill) on the individual as fundamental, desirable, and time-planned values. In short, Automobilism refers to the attachment to automobiles and is expressed through the preference for purchasing and using cars. I assume that Automobilism is transmitted between generations, and I investigate this transition process between parents and children.
For this research, I used a self-administered Google Forms questionnaire, distributed through the snowball sampling method via Facebook. The questionnaire consists of two sections: one addressed to the parent and one addressed to their minor children.
Advantages of Google Forms:
- Allows respondents to choose the most convenient time to complete the questionnaire.
- Enables respondents to pause and resume the survey at a later time.
- Provides privacy and a sense of freedom in choosing answers, without the pressure of a stranger’s presence.
- Creates a non-invasive connection between the researcher and respondents.
Disadvantages:
- Uncertainty regarding respondents’ understanding of the questions.
- Uncertainty regarding parental influence on children’s responses. The main challenge will be identifying interview participants and creating the appropriate context for each case, as I aim to include children aged 8 to 17 years, with parental participation being mandatory for ethical and research design considerations.
The Challenge of Co-Production
Richard Seymour - The University of Manchester
This presentation examines the challenges encountered during the attempted co-production and implementation of an emotional literacy curriculum designed to support students transitioning from primary to secondary education. Despite following established co-production frameworks and engaging key stakeholders, the initiative faced significant barriers that ultimately prevented full implementation.
Drawing on boundary theory, I analyse how the transition between educational environments created tensions in policy alignment, stakeholder engagement, and cross-institutional collaboration. The study identifies three primary barrier categories: logistical challenges, communication breakdowns, and stakeholder resistance (particularly where the intervention's emotional support approach conflicted with existing behavior policies).
My findings contribute to our understanding of implementation science in educational settings by demonstrating how boundary-crossing initiatives require more than good intentions—they demand structured, ongoing collaboration, transparent communication channels, and careful alignment with existing institutional frameworks.
Communication and Collaboration: The Opportunities and Challenges of Using Digital Platforms to Co-Design Research with Non-Speaking Autistic Adults
Ellen Taylor-Bower - University of Cambridge
Co-authors: Molly Rigby, Ioana Dobre, Ellen Taylor-Bower, Dr Kate Plaisted-Grant, Dr Stephanie Archer
Participatory and collaborative research frequently aims to prioritise the lived experience expertise of marginalised and vulnerable communities and those traditionally excluded from research. However, this approach can still struggle to engage communities with significant communication differences and/or access needs that make established research methods unfeasible and inappropriate.
Within autistic populations, it is estimated that approximately 30% of individuals are non-speaking or partially-/minimally-speaking (Tager-Flusberg & Kasari, 2013; Jaswal, Lampi, & Stockwell, 2024). This, together with the long-standing marginalisation and mistreatment of autistic individuals within research, makes it both vitally important – and particularly challenging – to develop research methods and approaches that are both accessible and respectful for working with this community.
This talk will predominantly reflect upon the process of designing and conducting a research project that aimed to work collaboratively with non-speaking autistic adults to develop alternative methods for conducting interview-style research with this community. We will discuss the challenges of adapting communication methods to facilitate effective and respectful community consultation and collaboration, as well as how the use of digital platforms enabled and supported these alternative methods of communication throughout the research process. As well as sharing the practical and ethical considerations, challenges, and opportunities we encountered throughout this process, we will offer some suggestions and insights into how we as researchers can ensure that communication differences do not continue to exclude already-marginalised individuals from shaping research, and from sharing their lived experiences and expertise.
Sensitive Topics and Trauma
Ethics and Issues of Access in Researching Survivors of Coercive Control and Financial Abuse
Melissa Cobb - Lancaster University
My research seeks to understand how survivors of coercive control, particularly women who experienced financial abuse, reintegrate into marketplace environments after periods of exclusion from market interactions due to coercive control from their abuser. I also aim to uncover the ways that the consumer identity is rebuilt after coercively controlling relationships. I intend to observe survivors in marketplace settings, such as financial services interactions and advice services such as Citizen’s Advice. I will also conduct semi-structured interviews with women who have overcome financial abuse, to gain a retrospective account of their socialization to consumer markets and consumer identity reconstruction.
However, I anticipate issues with the ethics of access during recruitment phase of data collection. Institutional barriers will likely prevent access to participants via marketplace interactions due to practitioners’ confidentiality concerns. Further, since many financial abuse victims are barred access to their own financial products it may be difficult to identify participants who are in many respects, ‘off-grid’. Domestic abuse research often recruits via domestic violence programs (Postmus et al, 2012) which are not used by all survivors, creating a potentially unrepresentative sample of coercive control survivors’ experiences. Additionally, while I intend to use a trauma-informed approach, there remains a risk of accidentally informing potential participants of abusive treatment from a current or former partner, thereby uncovering traumatic experiences for recruitment audiences, thus potentially causing psychological harm. In this lightning talk, I seek a discussion and feedback on solutions to mitigate these ethical risks and facilitate ethical, consensual access to participants.
Unlocking Lived Experience: Free Association Narrative Interviewing with Prisoner-Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Jessica Glynn - The University of Manchester
Traditional qualitative interview techniques often fall short when exploring the complex, often fragmented narratives of trauma survivors. Free Association Narrative Interviewing (FANI) offers a powerful alternative, providing space for participants to tell their stories in a way that aligns with their own meaning-making processes. It allows for the exploration of unconscious associations and the ways in which past experiences shape present identities, coping strategies, and barriers to rehabilitation. The method is particularly valuable in carceral settings, where traditional interviews may fail to capture the nuanced experiences of prisoners, or elicit defensive responses. This lightning talk will explore the use of the Free Association Narrative Interviewing method, drawing on the Making Change Meaningful project, which examines the needs of adult male prisoners who are survivors of sexual abuse, and the extent to which these needs can be met through the provision of trauma-informed therapy in prisons and through the gate. I will discuss the applicability of the method, explaining how it helps to surface narratives that might otherwise remain unspoken, and offers fresh insights into the intersection of trauma, criminalisation, and personal transformation.
Threads of imagination: exploring embroidery and its imaginative capacities as a method in exploring women's experiences of infertility and related treatments.
Rebecca Higginbottom - The University of Manchester
Despite our inner imaginings and their temporal dimensions being central to experiences of bodily disorders such as infertility, so far, few anthropological investigations have attempted to account for how these interiorities feature in the 'illness' experience. The reason for such limited attention is in part methodological. In attempting to research inner imaginings, researchers are often faced with the problem of how best to capture the elusive, transitory, extra-discursive and inchoate nature of imagination (see Irving, 2011). As such, this lightning talk will build upon a growing body of methods that attempt to provide a route for individuals suffering from bodily disorders such as infertility to access and express these inner imaginings without reifying them in oral or written form. I will explore embroidery, as processual practice that allows for messiness and multiple meanings, as a craft that may provide one key means through which inner imaginings can be accessed and expressed. As a craft that resists linearity (see Selago & Fine, 2017), it bears a unique potential to capture the multiple, overlapping and contradictory temporalities of bodily disorders and related treatments, as well as their imaginative components. By understanding our inner imaginings and material and symbolic worlds as co-constitutive, this talk will situate the imaginative and temporal dimensions of bodily disorder as essential to understanding the complexities of the 'illness' experience. Although this talk will focus infertility, it will have significance for researchers exploring other forms of bodily disorder, both within and beyond the discipline of anthropology.
Exploring Everyday Resistance through Photovoice: Adivasi Women’s Activism in Chhattisgarh, India
Bulbul Prakash - The University of Manchester
This study employs Photovoice, a participatory visual research method, to examine how Adivasi (indigenous) women activists in Chhattisgarh, India, navigate systemic violence and assert agency through everyday resistance. By documenting caregiving, economic sustenance, and grassroots activism, the research challenges dominant narratives that either erase or oversimplify their struggles.
Using a case study design, the study selects ten Gond Adivasi women engaged in activism against displacement, state repression, and corporate exploitation. Participants receive training in ethical photography and critical reflection before capturing images that depict their lived experiences. These photographs serve as visual testimonies of resilience, later contextualized through workshops and focus group discussions.
Data analysis follows a thematic approach, using NVivo/MaxQDA to identify patterns of resistance and transformation. Ethical considerations—including informed consent, anonymity, and trauma sensitivity—are central to the research, ensuring participant safety while amplifying their voices.
Findings will be disseminated through photo exhibitions in local communities and international academic spaces, fostering dialogue on gendered resistance in conflict zones. By centering indigenous women’s narratives, this research contributes to feminist and decolonial methodologies, demonstrating the power of visual storytelling in challenging systemic violence and reshaping global understandings of activism.
Emotions, Intimacy and Challenging Contexts
Data Collection using an Online Platform in Times of a Global Pandemic
Kashfia Ameen - The University of Manchester
The aim of the study is to examine how different strategies used by female workers to influence working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment industry are shaped by national labour laws, codes of conduct, trade unions and non-governmental organizations. The study draws upon the Global Production Network and labour agency concepts. The study used a qualitative research strategy based on interpretivist epistemology and constructionalist ontology. This approach was most suitable as it enabled participants to articulate rich accounts of labour issues. A case study research design provided the framework for data collection to allow proximity to reality and intensive observation. The study used purposive sampling as it was an effective way to sample strategically so that participants selected were relevant to the research question. Primary data was collected from semi-structured interviews of female workers and key informant interviews of industry stakeholders. These interviews were initially conducted over Zoom, as it was not possible to travel to Bangladesh during the pandemic. Although remote research was viable for this study and could be highly effective, it had limitations. Hence, when restrictions were lifted, face-to-face research was conducted, as many participants did not have access to the internet. This enabled the researcher to better discuss sensitive issues and judge whether a participant is feeling uncomfortable or distressed. Face-to-face interviews increased the ability to read non-verbal cues and responses to questions which may reveal important insights or information that might be missed via Zoom. Overall, it was harder to learn about participant needs using Zoom.
Exploring the Potential of Large Language Models to Understand Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Strategies From Narratives
Yuhui Chen - The University of Manchester
Interpersonal emotion regulation, as defined by Niven et al. (2009), employs various strategies like affective and cognitive engagement, attention, and humor to influence others' emotions. Traditional research in this area (Little et al. 2012; Lopez-Perez et al. 2017), often relies on questionnaires, which may not be effective for those with limited literacy or introspection skills. To address this, recent studies (Kwon & Lopez-Perez, 2021; Lopez-Perez et al., 2016) have adopted narrative-based methods, particularly for children, although these require time-intensive and potentially subjective qualitative analysis.
Our research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically text-based models like ChatGPT and Claude in categorizing emotional content in narratives. We conducted two studies to compare AI performance against human coding in identifying regulation strategies from qualitative data. In Study 1, with 2,824 responses, ChatGPT initially achieved Kappa values over .47. Refinements in prompts (i.e., coding instructions) led to improved consistency between ChatGPT and human coders (κ > .79). In Study 2, the refined prompts demonstrated comparable accuracy (κ > .76) when analyzing a new set of responses (N = 2090), using both ChatGPT and Claude. Additional evaluations of LLMs’ performance using different accuracy metrics pointed to notable variability in LLM’s capability when interpreting narratives across different emotions and regulatory strategies. These results point to the strengths and limitations of LLMs in classifying regulation strategies, and the importance of prompt engineering and validation.
Complement or Compromise? Exploring the Role of Digital Technology in Palliative Care Through the Perspectives of Multi-Stakeholders.
Michelle Tierney - University of Central Lancashire
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced palliative care services to rapidly adopt digital technologies, leading to significant changes in care delivery. While technology has supported services, its implementation presents both opportunities and challenges. Despite this shift, the perspectives of key stakeholders, including palliative care practitioners, patients, the bereaved, and caregivers, are often overlooked.
The study looks at what motivated the use of digital technology in palliative care, and what barriers were experienced by those involved. A qualitative approach was used, involving semi-structured interviews with 20 stakeholders from St Catherine’s Hospice, Lancashire. A hybrid thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006; 2019) was conducted, combining inductive coding to identify emergent themes and deductive coding informed by existing frameworks and policies. In total, 28 inductive and 28 deductive codes were generated and merged into overarching themes such as technology implementation and psychological needs.
Findings highlight both motivations and challenges, revealing the complex and often conflicting needs of stakeholders. Patients valued communication with loved ones using a shared mobile phone on the inpatient unit, while practitioners raised infection control concerns. Staff appreciated remote consultations but faced Wi-Fi and confidentiality issues; patients experienced physical difficulties using devices. Virtual reality was seen as helpful for pain and psychological support, though concerns about motion sickness were raised. Deductive themes reinforced the importance of policy-informed technology, focusing on ethics, equality, and digital inclusion.
Findings will inform the development of a framework to guide the design of technological solutions, supporting future innovations that complement rather than compromise care.
Protecting Intimacy: Managing the Boundaries of the Public and the Private in Professional Couples in Chile Through Emotion Work
Camila Toledo - University of Manchester
This article reports on how couples manage the public space of work in the private space of the couple through their emotions. Given the thesis of the blurring of the boundaries between the public and the private, which some have coined with the concept of hybridity, it is worth asking how couples deal with this phenomenon in their everyday experience. For this purpose, the concept of emotion work, understood as the act of changing the intensity of an emotion in order to adapt to the environment, was taken as a reference. The study consisted of interviews with 22 Chilean professionals about the emotion work they perform in their workspace and couple life. The findings show that people perceive work experiences as a threat to the private space of the couple and therefore try to protect this space by constructing a boundary through their emotion work. This shows that although the context seems to be blurring the boundaries between public and private space, it remains important for couples to maintain a limit between the two spaces through their emotions. The article concludes that the findings challenge the idea of hybridity and show its limitations in explaining some areas of social life.
Reflexivity and Changing Perspectives
A shift in research from a traditional, micro perspective to a macro perspective of social networks
Valentina-Georgiana Dumitrache - University of Bucharest
In light of the ongoing transformations within society and the emergence of new values associated with social phenomena, it is essential to reconsider the perspectives, tools and methods we use in research. Therefore, a shift in our analytical approach could improve our understanding and response to the changing landscape. Thus, I propose a transition from the traditional analysis of social phenomena, which takes into account the characteristics of the individual as causes of other characteristics or consequences, to an analysis based on the study of social networks (Borgatti et. al, 2009) that aims at the context in which the actor is placed, the influences exerted on him and his power in the network. Thus, the focus is shifted from a micro perspective (motivations, personality traits and individual knowledge) to a macro, contextual one (centrality and influence in a specific network, the type of links - similarity, social relations, interactions and flows, but also their direction - unidirectional/bidirectional). Considering that individuals, by their nature as social beings, live in groups, communities, societies, which can be understood as social networks, this different research perspective could offer a valuable framework for gaining deeper insights into various social phenomena. No less important, this approach can also reduce certain limitations of traditional research, for example, by eliminating self-report information, which is considered to have questionable credibility and usefulness in research.
Keywords: social networks, social relations, macro perspective
Material Culture Through a Screen: A Historian's Perspective
Beck Heslop - University of Manchester
This lightning talk will share my practical experience as a historian using a material culture approach without, for the most part, access to the physical objects of my study. I describe how using digitised collections and online archives has brought up empirical and methodological challenges, but has also given me (digital) access to objects I would otherwise not have encountered and has forced me to think creatively about my sources. Having recently been able to access some objects in-person, I also reflect on how this experience is qualitatively different from my encounters through a screen. Ultimately, I argue suggest that while digitisation cannot replace the physical archive, it is an important and valuable addtion.
Valuing the Contribution of Practitioner Reflectivity and Reflexivity in Qualitative Research.
Jane Horton - University of Liverpool
This talk briefly explores reflexivity and positionality in relation to research methods and testimonies which describe the translation of the statutory Prevent Duty Guidance in the compulsory education sector. Qualitative interviews were conducted remotely with educators during the Covid 19 era, which provided opportunities for participants to engage in candid reflections on their practice, away from the constraints of the workplace. Drawing on specific concepts from the classical theories, I illuminate how methodological adaptions to the research design, generated and supported opportunities for participant reflection and reflexivity. Advancing on from Inne’s argument (Innes, 2024), I argue that practitioner reflectivity and reflexivity are intrinsically beneficial practices, which provide insights into policy implementation on the ground and potentially make constructive contributions to policy evaluation and the development of best practice. The paper, therefore, compliments the existing body of knowledge in this field, which values the expertise of ‘frontline practitioners’ and accentuates the centrality of fixing them in policy focused research. It progresses the argument by concurring that practitioner reflexivity, where appropriate, is embedded into research design, supporting its incorporation into the policy making process and policy evaluation (see Innes, 2024).
Positionality: Stepping Outside from Within
Rebecca Parnell - The University of Manchester
In a shift from the ethnographer’s aim for total objectivity, a reflexive consideration of the individual researcher's subjectivity is standard practice within modern ethnomusicology. In many cases, this may focus on demographic categories: gender, education, sexual orientation, etc, with the author considering the implications of their personal experiences, knowledge, and beliefs on their research approach. Some researchers' proximity to their subjects can be more closely bound, such as those researching communities within which they consider themselves a member. This liminal space between insider and outsider can create an ‘uncomfortable discursive loop’ (Noakes 2008: 20) as the researcher shifts between roles. What then changes when a researcher chooses to extricate themselves from being an insider for the purposes of a project? What tensions exist between the researcher and their subjects? How can this be managed?
My PhD project focuses on ethnography of a chamber orchestra with which I was previously employed. This lightning talk will introduce my project, the steps I have taken to gain critical distance from the organisation, and how this has impacted both my research and relationship with former colleagues.
Designing Research: Navigating Challenges in a Different Context
Negar Pourmohsen - The University of Manchester
In this lightning talk, I will discuss the challenges I face as I prepare to conduct research and fieldwork in a country different from my own. While I have a deep understanding of the country’s history and culture, it remains a different place. A key question I’m exploring is how to develop research questions that are not only relevant to this new context but also address specific local issues. Additionally, I will discuss how to build trust and engage with local communities and authorities to conduct interviews—an essential component of social science research. Understanding context and being context-specific is vital in social science research. Furthermore, as researchers, we should be able to research in diverse contexts, as this can provide us with insights.
This talk will reflect on my experience during these preparatory months, and I will invite the audience to share their thoughts and experiences on navigating similar challenges.