Analysing the dialogic turn in the communication of research-based knowledge: An exploration of the tensions in collaborative research

Abstract

Tensions have been identified in the shift to dialogue whereby researchers produce and communicate research-based knowledge in interaction with different social actors. This paper draws on three perspectives on those tensions— science and technology studies analyses of public engagement, action research and dialogic communication theory—in order to explore how the tensions are articulated in the communication processes that are integral to the co-production of knowledge in a case study of collaborative research about virtual worlds. The data analysed are based on the workshops where the collaborating actors (university researchers and practitioners) co-produce knowledge through communication processes in which different expert-identities and knowledge forms are negotiated. The analysis explores the balancing-act between imposing control on the research process and opening up for a plurality of voices. The paper concludes with a discussion of the value of a reflexive approach for the analysis and design of dialogic research communication.