Participatory Research Principles, Methodologies and Practices with, by and for Postgraduate Researchers

Participatory methods are increasingly prioritised, including by researchers at the start of their doctoral journeys. However, participatory research is an area often incompatible with the postgraduate process, despite its academic valorisation and desire from researchers for such approaches. As a primarily collaborative inquiry, participatory research conflicts with postgraduate study, which is institutionally and academically positioned as an individual endeavour. Participatory research also rests upon strong, established relationships with external partners, which due to the time constraints of doctoral research, are often difficult to build.

In this workshop, we will detail the experiences of postgraduate researchers (PGRs) doing participatory research. Building upon collaborative workshops with 20 PGRs, we reflect upon the creative processes that gathered insights into the hopes, hiccups and aspirations of PGRs doing participatory research. We will have a series of resources, outputs and collaborative activities that enable PGRs of all stages to gather, share and reflect upon their own projects and the practicalities of doing participatory research.

Outcomes

Participants will:

• Develop understandings into the principles and politics of participatory research;
• Locate understandings of participatory research methodologies within the PGR and doctoral experience;
• Share examples of good practice between PGRs at different stages of the doctoral research journey;
• Be equipped with resources to support and deliver a spectrum of collaborative and participatory research at PGR level.

Contributors

Dr Kirsty Liddiard is a feminist disability studies scholar and disabled researcher whose co-produced research centres on lived experience, emotion and embodiment as core axes through which to understand the everyday lives of disabled people and their families. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education and iHuman at the University of Sheffield. Kirsty is a Co-Director of PRN alongside Lauren White.

Dr Lauren White is a Lecturer in Research Methods in the Sheffield Methods Institute and School of Education. Her research interests centre around the everyday experiences of health, illness and disability, utilising creative and participatory methodologies to explore these areas with the communities involved. Creativity, joy and collaboration are at the heart of much of her work.

Dr Ankita Mishra is the Research Associate for Health Priorities in Disability Matters, a major six year pan-national programme of disability, health and science research that spans across UK, India, Singapore, Australia and Canada, based at iHuman, Social Research Institute, The University of Sheffield.

Dr Sophie Phillips is a Research Associate with iHuman at the University of Sheffield. She works on the Wellcome Trust Anti Ableist Research Culture Project, where they are employing inclusive methods to investigate how the university can become anti-ableist. Sophie is specifically exploring how we can promote more inclusive disability research at the University of Sheffield.

Dr Bryony Vince-Myers is a Research Associate in the Participatory Research Network at the University of Sheffield (PRN@TUoS). She is also Project Coordinator on the Co-Pro Futures Inquiry, a two-year project funded by Research England which aims to propose actionable measures to overcome systemic barriers to participatory and co-produced research within universities and the broader higher education sector.