Who cares about academic welfare in empirical data collection? Exploring the deficit in personal and psychological care for researchers in research ethics processes

Abstract

Ethics applications in academic research rarely account for the personal care and wellbeing of the researchers who undertake research. This paper reflects on the practice of carrying out research where the experiences of the participant and reflections of the researcher themselves are closely aligned. Such instances encourage the revisiting of difficult, troubling, and sometimes traumatic periods of the researchers’ personal life history. This article reflects on research conducted during a doctoral thesis which uses qualitative methods to understand the experiences of thirteen working-class professional services and administrative staff. I suggest that this type of personal reflection is involuntary, it is not actively pursued yet becomes inseparable from the conduct of research. Echoing the work of Brown and Wild ([2022]. Ethical Dilemmas in Education: Considering Challenges and Risks in Practice. Open University Press) this paper calls for additional support mechanisms to be implemented for researchers who conduct this sort of involuntary reflexivity in qualitative research, making suggestions for practical solutions within UK institutions.