The participatory researcher: developing the concept of ‘accompanying research’

Abstract

in the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. Her main research areas are grief and bereavement studies, identity work in relation to body-centrered ritualized practices and the development of entrepreneurial education and learning. ABSTRACT The article investigates a specific type of participatory methodology that we consider under-described in the current literature on research methods and research roles in social and cultural analysis. Influenced by Bergold & Thomas' (2012) definition of participatory methodologies we understand this as based on a partnership between practitioners and academic researchers who follow each other-cf. the term 'accompanying'-for a period of time with the double purpose of researching and being researched and with the terms of the collaboration being jointly defined. Taking inspiration also from Andersen (2008) we understand accompanying research as something we do, perform and develop in collaboration, and in the article we unfold accompanying © Centrum för kulturpolitisk forskning