University of Bristol, Social Medicine, Canygne Hall, Whatley Road Clifton, Bristol BS8 2PS, United Kingdom.
Soc Sci Med. 2011 Jan;72(1):23-30. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.09.050. Epub 2010 Oct 23.
Disability is as much a factor in interactional dynamics as ethnicity, age, gender or sexuality, and therefore its impact on the processes around qualitative research warrants much more systematic attention. Disabled researchers are not confined to disability studies research, although most accounts of the impact of disability on the research process have, thus far, been undertaken within this field. This paper moves beyond this narrow focus to consider the impact of disabled identities and the embodied experiences of impairment on studies involving, primarily, non-disabled people. By reflecting on our experiences as visibly disabled researchers, we highlight some of the practical, ethical and conceptual dilemmas we encountered. Impairments may assist rapport building with participants, but also introduce complex dilemmas concerning whether, when and how to disclose them, and the consequences of doing so. We highlight the centrality of the visibility of the disabled body in mediating these dilemmas, and its part in constraining our responses to them. While we value our commitment to positive readings of disability, we demonstrate that disabled researchers nevertheless undertake research in contexts where disability is assigned meanings disabled people may not share. We argue that all researchers should attend to their own 'body signifiers' (whether in relation to ethnicity, wealth, gender, age etc.) and embodied experiences of research processes, as these are integral to research outcomes, the ethics of research, and are a means by which to address power differentials between researcher and participant. This paper addresses a gap in the literature, using our experiences of research to highlight the negotiations and dilemmas faced by visibly disabled researchers. Negotiations of identity prompted by the disabled body in the research process require consideration and should not be ignored.
残疾与种族、年龄、性别或性取向等因素一样，是互动动态的一个重要因素，因此，残疾对定性研究过程的影响需要更多系统的关注。残疾研究人员不仅局限于残疾研究领域，尽管迄今为止，大多数关于残疾对研究过程影响的描述都在这个领域内进行。本文超越了这一狭隘的焦点，考虑了残疾身份和身体损伤的体验对主要涉及非残疾人群的研究的影响。通过反思我们作为明显残疾研究人员的经验，我们强调了我们遇到的一些实际、伦理和概念上的困境。残疾可能有助于与参与者建立融洽的关系，但也会带来复杂的困境，例如是否、何时以及如何披露残疾情况，以及披露的后果。我们强调了残疾身体的可见性在调解这些困境中的核心作用，以及它在限制我们对这些困境的反应方面的作用。虽然我们重视对残疾的积极解读，但我们也表明，残疾研究人员在研究中仍然处于残疾被赋予残疾人士可能不同意的含义的背景下。我们认为，所有研究人员都应该关注自己的“身体标志”（无论是与种族、财富、性别、年龄等有关）和研究过程中的身体体验，因为这些是研究结果、研究伦理的组成部分，也是解决研究人员和参与者之间权力差异的一种手段。本文利用我们的研究经验来突出明显残疾研究人员所面临的谈判和困境，填补了文献中的空白。残疾身体在研究过程中引发的身份谈判需要考虑，不应被忽视。
