The past few years have seen the development of an important debate over methodology in disability research. The rise of emancipatory and participatory methodologies has meant that disabled people are making increasing demands to be included in the research process. The present paper will examine this debate and its implications for learning difficulty research. The article will discuss the reasons why participatory methodology is gaining greater acceptance than emancipatory methodology among learning difficulty researchers by examining the position of participatory research in the methodological traditions of social research into learning difficulty.
Summary
The present paper explores the social model of disability and its significance for people with learning difficulties. The authors argue that, while the social model has been adopted as an explicit framework for analysis by many people with physical and sensory impairments, its impact on people with learning difficulties, and the non‐disabled people who write about them or research with them has been much less marked. In the first part of the present paper, the authors examine why the social model appears to have neglected learning difficulty and why learning difficulty researchers have not utilized the social model as a means for understanding the experiences of people with learning difficulties. Drawing on research with self‐advocates, the second part of this paper discusses the way that many people with learning difficulties can be seen to engage with ideas inherent to the social model. However, the political nature of many of the everyday actions of people with learning difficulties, which impinges on the social model, is not recognized. Consequently, it has not been theorized.
This article provides insights into the outcomes of reflection following two interview approaches used to explore narratives of the lived, individual experiences of South-Asian girls living in West London. In attempting to illuminate and re-present the cultural experiences as told by these girls, the choice of interview approach became critical in allowing the voices to be effectively heard (Rogers, 2005). This article therefore considers how a semi-structured interview approach offered valuable insights into the girls' experiences but became constraining for both researcher and participant in unveiling the complexity and depth of their lives. These constraints emerged through reflection by both participants and researcher. As a result of reflexivity during the research process, the researcher moved towards the use of research conversations during the second phase of the study. Ultimately the study revealed how the girls felt empowered by the opportunity to narrate their individual experiences and tell of their lives. In narrating their reflections on being part of the research, there was a clear recognition that the process facilitated the articulation of new voices and 'multi-voicedness ' (Moen, 2006)
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