Documents as 'risky' sources of data: a reflection on social and emotional positioning - a research note

Barlow, C. (2015) Documents as 'risky' sources of data: a reflection on social and emotional positioning - a research note. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 19 (3). pp. 377-384. ISSN 13645579 (ISSN)

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Abstract

As units of analysis, documents are often seen as unproblematic, easily accessed sources of data. This research note discusses and reflects on a research project where documents were not easy to access and instead prompted significant negotiation, contained disturbing information and images and had an emotional impact on the researcher. A reflexive account is provided in this paper, which draws upon feminist methodological theory and explores the researcher's experiences of using documents in research. The paper concludes that documents should not always be categorised as a low risk data source, rather issues such as access difficulties, ethical dilemmas and potential emotional harm, should also be considered. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1080/13645579.2015.1051797
Dates:	Date Event 18 June 2015 Published Online 13 May 2015 Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords:	access, documents, emotions, ethical issues, gatekeepers, reflexivity, risk
Subjects:	CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-01 - social sciences (non-specific)
Divisions:	Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences > College of Education and Social Work
Depositing User:	Users 18 not found.
Date Deposited:	09 Dec 2016 11:00
Last Modified:	03 Mar 2022 15:55
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/489

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