The article discusses the effects on the researcher of reading disturbing secondary data (defined here as evidence gathered by someone other than the researcher). The case study is a qualitative sociological autopsy of suicide, and the secondary data—written documents and photographs—are all from case files in a British coroner's office. Following ethnographic detail about the research setting and research process, there is discussion of the diverse secondary data sources in these files, particularly in relation to the impact on the researcher. Some general observations are made about emotion in the research process and potential strategies for responding to emotion. The authors locate their responses to reading about suicides within the broader context of the social processing of death and distress, and also consider whether emotional reactions to data have any analytical purchase.
Appleby, L. (1999). Safer services: National confidential inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness. London: Department of Health.
2.
Atkinson, J.M. (1978). Discovering suicide. Studies in the social organization of sudden death. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
3.
Berger, P. (1990/1967). The sacred canopy: Elements of a sociological theory of religion. New York: Anchor Books.
4.
Cannon, S. (1989). Social research in stressful settings: Difficulties for the sociologist studying the treatment of breast cancer. Sociology of Health and Illness, 11, 62-77.
5.
Carlier, I., Lamberts, R., & Gersons, B. (1997). Risk factors for posttraumatic stress symptomatology in police officers: A prospective analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 185 (8), 498-506.
6.
Carter, K., & Delamont, S. (Eds.). (1996). Qualitative research and the emotional dimension. Aldershot, UK: Avebury.
7.
Cohen, S. (2001). States of denial: Knowing about atrocities and suffering. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
8.
Dickson-Swift, V., James, E., Kippen, S., & Liamputtong, P. (2006). Blurring the boundaries in qualitative health research on sensitive topics. Qualitative Health Research, 16 (6), 853-871.
9.
Dunn, L. (1991). Research alert! Qualitative research may be hazardous to your health!Qualitative Health Research, 1(3), 388-392.
10.
Ellis, C., & Bochner, A. (Eds.). (1996). Composing ethnography: Alternative forms of qualitative writing. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
11.
Fincham, B., Scourfield, J., & Langer, S. (2007) Documentary data: Single medium, multiple modes ? Qualitative Researcher, 5, 2-4.
12.
Freud, S. (1958). The dynamics of transference. In J. Strachey (Ed. and Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (vol. 12, pp. 97-108). London: Hogarth Press.
13.
Funk, J.B., Baldacci, H.B., Pasold, T., & Baumgardner, J. (2004). Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the Internet: Is there desensitization?Journal of Adolescence, 27(1), 23-39.
14.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
15.
Gregory, D., Russell, C., & Phillips, R. (1997). Beyond textual perfection: Transcribers as vulnerable persons. Qualitative Health Research, 7(2), 294-300.
16.
Grinyer, A. (2004). Young adults with cancer: Parents' interactions with health care professionals. The European Journal of Cancer Care, 13, 88-95.
17.
Hart, P.M., Wearing, A.J., & Headey, B. (1995). Police stress and well-being: Integrating personality, coping and daily work experiences. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 68(2), 133-156.
18.
Hawton, K., Appleby, L., Platt, S., Foster, T., Cooper, J., Malmberg, A., & Simkin, S. (1998). The psychological autopsy approach to studying suicide: A review of methodological issues. Journal of Affective Disorders, 50(2/3), 269-276.
19.
Hubbard, G., Backett-Milburn, K., & Kemmer, D. (2001). Working with emotion: Issues for the researcher in fieldwork and teamwork. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 4(2), 119-137.
20.
Johnson, B., & Macleod Clarke, J. (2003). Collecting sensitive data: The impact on researchers. Qualitative Health Research , 13(3), 421-434.
21.
Jordan, J. (2001). Is suicide bereavement different? A reassessment of the literature. Suicide and Life-threatening Behaviour , 31(1), 91-102.
22.
Kleinman, S., & Copp, M.A. (1993). Emotions and fieldwork. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
23.
Lawton, J. (2000). The dying process: Patients' experiences of palliative care. London, New York: Routledge.
24.
Lefcourt, H.M., & Martin, R.A. (1987). Humor and life stress: Antidote to adversity. New York: Springer Verlag.
25.
Mellor, P.A., & Shilling, C. (1993). Modernity, self-identity and the sequestration of death. Sociology, 27(3), 411-431.
26.
Moran-Ellis, J. (1997). Close to home: The experience of researching child sexual abuse. In M. Hester, L. Kelly, and J. Radford. (Eds.), Women, violence and male power: Feminist activism, research and practice. Buckingham, PA: Open University Press.
27.
Rager, K.B. (2005). Self-care and the qualitative researcher: When data can break your heart. Educational Researcher, 34(4), 23-27.
28.
Reiner, R. (2000). The politics of the police (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
29.
Rowling, L. (1999). Being in, being out, being with: Affect and the role of the qualitative researcher in loss and grief research. Mortality, 4(2), 167-181.
30.
Scott, S. (1998). Here be dragons: Researching the unbelievable, hearing the unthinkable. A feminist sociologist in uncharted territory. Sociological Research Online, 3(3). Available at http://www.socresonline.org.uk/socresonline/3/3/1.html
31.
Shilling, C. (2003). The body and social theory (2nd Ed.). London: Sage.
32.
Wilmott, H. (2000). Death. So what? Sociology, sequestration and emancipation . Sociological Review, 48(4), 649-666.
