Cooperation and Conflict in Qualitative Research: A Dialectical Approach to Knowledge Production

Abstract

Our goal with this article is to present a dialectical approach to examining the interaction between researchers and research participants. A dialectical approach maintains that an apparent contradiction at one level might, in fact, be integrated as a synthesis of the two opposing poles at a higher level of conceptual analysis. We claim that a research approach advocating either pole might limit understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon in question. The interaction between researchers and research participants might be conceived of as creating a continuum ranging from cooperation to conflict. We adopt a dialectical perspective, and propose a whole spectrum of interactive styles between cooperation and conflict. Although some of these interactions might be perceived as a hindrance to knowledge production, we treat them as opportunities for the production of knowledge and the enhancement of interests of the study’s target population.