Conducting Research in Difficult, Dangerous, and/or Vulnerable Contexts: Messy Narratives From the Field

Abstract

Organizational communication scholars have historically conducted research in large for-profit businesses, governmental agencies, and a few high-profile nonprofits/NGOs—all of which are relatively easy to access and presumably “safe” to study. It is largely unsurprising, then, that limited scholarship addresses the challenges associated with conducting research in less standard contexts that are often perceived to be difficult, dangerous, and/or vulnerable (DDV). In this forum, we offer lived stories—unfiltered messy narratives—to demystify three core ethical challenges inherent in conducting research of this nature and share how we (imperfectly) navigated them. In addition, we offer practical strategies for conducting research in DDV contexts. Taken together, our overall collective aim is to successfully prepare future scholars to conduct research projects in DDV contexts.

Managing Visibilities: The Shades and Shadows of NGO Work in Repressive Contexts

“…In addition, the fears surrounding government surveillance illustrated in this study likely impacted my ability to recruit respondents through the key informant. To safeguard the personal security of both myself and informants during fieldwork (especially the vulnerable groups that require ongoing protection), I had to continuously engage in a reflexive assessment of issues such as reciprocity and power within the researcher-participant relation (Peterson et al, 2022). Taking these constraints into consideration, however, I believe that this study makes a small but important contribution to the literatures on both visibility and activism.…”

“…Typically used as an umbrella term, visibility management indicates a wide variety of technology mediated phenomena such as transparency, disclosure, opacity, surveillance and secrecy and their intersections (see special issue Hansen et al, 2015). However, human and material agencies involved in the management of visibilities remain empirically underexplored in part due to challenges of access and data collection in organizations that operate in manners that are partially visible and thus difficult to reach (Peterson et al, 2022; Pearce, 2020; Albu, 2022). This has left blank spots about civic engagement in a digital era where the management of visibilities can be crucial for dealing with competing demands specific to NGOs work: Activists are, on the one hand, largely reliant on emerging technologies (e.g., citizen journalist apps, social media, etc.,) to make their activities visible (Segerberg & Bennett, 2011) and can leverage datafication in their tactics and narratives.…”

Forum: The Case for Reflexive Writing Practices in Management Communication and Organization Studies

“…Reflexivity is a way forward here. In management communication and organization studies, however, the term is generally restricted to discussions of qualitative research methods, ethical decisions (e.g., Peterson et al, 2022), and how research may affect participants (Brummans & Vézy, 2022). More generally, the term is used as a way to encourage scholars to question who they are as researchers and to understand how assumptions guide their work (e.g., Jamieson et al, 2023).…”

Global families: an evolving concept

“…It is a common requirement amongst aid workers, for example, to work in dangerous conditions -war zones or where there is disease or some natural disaster (Fee, 2017;Fee, McGrath-Champ and Berti, 2019). Human rights workers are similarly exposed to fragile contexts in which their lives may be at risk (Bliesemann de Guevara and Bøås, 2020; Peterson et al, 2022). Most studies of global families have focused on dangerous locations as conflict zones in the political context of failed States, military presence, and border issues, among others.…”