Community Members as Fieldwork Guides in Disaster Settings: Ethics of Care Through a Relational Methodology of Empathy and Trust

Abstract

This reflexive account of fieldwork with disaster-affected communities in Kerala, India, recounts the researcher’s engagement with positionality and ethics. A participatory method was adopted—enlisting local field guides who mediated the researcher’s interactions with participants. Apart from offering pragmatic solutions for accessing participants, the method enhanced the researcher’s contextual/cultural insight, and facilitated a relationship of trust. The researcher-guide dynamic is explored as a co-constructing and relational method that minimizes harm and maximizes benefit for participants. Ethics of care is elucidated as a practicable ethical framework for thinking and doing disaster research, illustrated with reference to the present method.

Keywords

disaster fieldwork reflexivity positionality relational methods ethics of care disaster ethics participatory disaster research

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahluwalia

M. K.

Mohabir

R. K.

(2017). Turning to Waheguru: Religious and cultural coping mechanisms of bereaved Sikhs. OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying, 78(3), 302–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222816688907

Alam

Collins

A. E.

(2010). Cyclone disaster vulnerability and response experiences in coastal Bangladesh. Disasters, 34(4), 931–954. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2010.01176.x

Bailey

C. A.

(2007). A guide to qualitative field research. Pine Forge Press.

Bayeck

R. Y.

(2021). The intersection of cultural context and research encounter: Focus on interviewing in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406921995696

Benight

C. C.

McFarlane

A. C.

(2007). Challenges for disaster research: Recommendations for planning and implementing disaster mental health studies. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 12(5), 419–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325020701285128

Billo

Hiemstra

(2013). Mediating messiness: Expanding ideas of flexibility, reflexivity, and embodiment in fieldwork. Gender, Place & Culture, 20(3), 313–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369x.2012.674929

Birt

Scott

Cavers

Campbell

Walter

(2016). Member checking. Qualitative Health Research, 26(13), 1802–1181. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316654870

Brannelly

Boulton

(2017). The ethics of care and transformational research practices in Aotearoa New Zealand. Qualitative Research, 17(3), 340–350. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794117698916

Campanella

Kirshner

Mendy

Landa-Posas

Hoover

K. T.

Lopez

Porras-Holguin

Estrada Martín

M. E.

(2022). Co-constructing knowledge for action in research practice partnerships. Social Sciences, 11(3), 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11030140

10.

Campbell

L. M.

Gray

N. J.

Meletis

Z. A.

Abbott

J. G.

Silver

J. J.

(2006). Gatekeepers and keymasters: Dynamic relationships of access in geographical fieldwork. Geographical Review, 96(1), 97–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2006.tb00389.x

11.

Caretta

M. A.

Jokinen

J. C.

(2016). Conflating privilege and vulnerability: A reflexive analysis of emotions and positionality in postgraduate fieldwork. The Professional Geographer, 69(2), 275–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2016.1252268

12.

Chacko

(2004). Positionality and praxis: Fieldwork experiences in rural India. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 25(1), 51–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0129-7619.2004.00172.x

13.

Chetia

(2020, July 19). Traversing the ethnographic route to meet disaster-affected populations: Dilemmas of a monsoon fieldwork in Assam, India. LSE Field Research Methods Lab. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/fieldresearch/2020/07/13/traversing-the-ethnographic-route/

14.

Collogan

L. K.

Tuma

Dolan-Sewell

Borja

Fleischman

A. R.

(2004). Ethical issues pertaining to research in the aftermath of disaster. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17(5), 363–372. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jots.0000048949.43570.6a

15.

Costello

Burns

Davidson

(2009). The therapeutic value of the interview. Cancer Nursing Practice, 8(6), 16–20. https://doi.org/10.7748/cnp2009.07.8.6.16.c7117

16.

Dempsey

Dowling

Larkin

Murphy

(2016). Sensitive interviewing in qualitative research. Research in Nursing & Health, 39(6), 480–490. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.21743

17.

Dickson-Swift

James

E. L.

Kippen

Liamputtong

(2006). Blurring boundaries in qualitative health research on sensitive topics. Qualitative Health Research, 16(6), 853–871. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732306287526

18.

Dickson-Swift

James

E. L.

Kippen

Liamputtong

(2009). Researching sensitive topics: Qualitative research as emotion work. Qualitative Research, 9(1), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794108098031

19.

Edwards

Mauthner

(2002). Ethics and feminist research: Theory and practice. In Miller

Mauthner

Birch

Jessop

(Eds.), Ethics in qualitative research (pp. 15–31). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209090.n1

20.

Elmir

Schmied

Jackson

Wilkes

(2011). Interviewing people about potentially sensitive topics. Nurse Researcher, 19(1), 12–16. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr2011.10.19.1.12.c8766

21.

Fletcher-Brown

(2019). Reflexivity and the challenges of collecting sensitive data in India: A research note. Qualitative Research, 20(1), 108–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794119833318

22.

Fox

R. C.

(2004). Observations and reflections of a perpetual fieldworker. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 595(1), 309–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716204266635

23.

Fry

C. L.

(2010). Ethical implications of peer-driven recruitment: Guidelines from public health research. The American Journal of Bioethics, 10(3), 16–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265160903585610

24.

Gilligan

(1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women’s development. Harvard University Press.

25.

Groot

B. C.

Vink

Haveman

Huberts

Schout

Abma

T. A.

(2018). Ethics of care in participatory health research: Mutual responsibility in collaboration with co-researchers. Educational Action Research, 27(2), 286–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2018.1450771

26.

Gurung

McGowran

(2021). Local perspectives on landslide prevention and management in Kalimpong district, West Bengal, India. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 31(3), 193–201. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm-02-2021-0056

27.

Guzzardo

M. T.

Todorova

I. L.

Engelman

Polidoro Lima

Dean-Olmsted

Guzzardo-Tamargo

R. E.

(2021). Reflexivity and humility evoke a transformable methodology in a post disaster context. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 9(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2020.1862661

28.

Held

(2006). The ethics of care: Personal, political, and global. Oxford University Press.

29.

Henderson

Addington-Hall

J. M.

Hotopf

(2005). The willingness of palliative care patients to participate in research. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 29(2), 116–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2004.12.001

30.

Herron

R. V.

Skinner

M. W.

(2013). Using care ethics to enhance qualitative research on rural aging and care. Qualitative Health Research, 23(12), 1697–1707. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732313509893

31.

Holmes

A. G. D.

(2020). Researcher positionality—A consideration of its influence and place in qualitative research—A new researcher guide. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 8(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232

32.

Horsley

J. S.

(2012). Planning for spontaneity: The challenges of disaster communication fieldwork. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 11(3), 180–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691201100301

33.

(2015). Challenges of conducting disaster research: The case of the Sichuan earthquake. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 6(2), 164–182. https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12080

34.

Indah

(2018). Probing problems: Dilemmas of conducting an ethnographic study in a disaster-affected area. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 31, 799–805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.07.025

35.

Isham

Bradbury-Jones

Hewison

(2018). Reflections on engaging with an advisory network in the context of a “sensitive” research study. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 22(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2018.1494971

36.

Isobel

(2021). Trauma-informed qualitative research: Some methodological and practical considerations. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 30(S1), 1456–1469. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12914

37.

Johnson

C. H.

(2017). Using social work theory to engage with gatekeepers in researching the sensitive topic of intra-familial homicide. Qualitative Social Work, 17(3), 423–438. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325016686674

38.

Johnson

G. A.

Vindrola-Padros

(2017). Rapid qualitative research methods during complex health emergencies: A systematic review of the literature. Social Science & Medicine, 189, 63–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.07.029

39.

Knack

J. M.

Chen

Williams

K. D.

Jensen-Campbell

L. A.

(2006). Opportunities and challenges for studying disaster survivors. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 6(1), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-2415.2006.00116.x

40.

Kobetz

Menard

Diem

Barton

Blanco

Pierre

Auguste

P. D.

Etienne

Brewster

(2009). Community-based participatory research in little Haiti: Challenges and lessons learned. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 3(2), 133–137. https://doi.org/10.1353/cpr.0.0072

41.

Kumar

(2020). Twitter, disasters and cultural heritage: A case study of the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 28(4), 453–465. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12333

42.

Laungani

(2015). Death in a Hindu family. In Parkes

C. M.

Laungani

Young

(Eds.), Death and bereavement across cultures (pp. 42–60). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315721088-4

43.

Lavin

R. P.

Schemmel-Rettenmeier

Frommelt-Kuhle

(2012). Conducting research during disasters. Annual Review of Nursing Research, 30(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1891/0739-6686.30.1

44.

Lindemann

(2019). Feminist ethics of care and responsibility. An Invitation to Feminist Ethics, 100–120. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190059316.003.0006

45.

Lokot

(2021). Whose voices? Whose knowledge? A feminist analysis of the value of key informant interviews. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, Article 160940692094877. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920948775

46.

Louis-Charles

H. M.

Howard

Remy

Nibbs

Turner

(2020). Ethical considerations for postdisaster fieldwork and data collection in the Caribbean. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(8), 1129–1144. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220938113

47.

Mack

Woodsong

MacQueen

K. M.

Guest

Namey

(2005). Qualitative research methods: A data collector’s field guide. Family Health International.

48.

Mackenzie

McDowell

Pittaway

(2007). Beyond ‘do no harm’: The challenge of constructing ethical relationships in refugee research. Journal of Refugee Studies, 20(2), 299–319. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fem008

49.

Mahat-Shamir

Neimeyer

R. A.

Pitcho-Prelorentzos

(2019). Designing in-depth semi-structured interviews for revealing meaning reconstruction after loss. Death Studies, 45(2), 83–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2019.1617388

50.

Merriam

S. B.

Johnson-Bailey

Lee

Kee

Ntseane

Muhamad

(2001). Power and positionality: Negotiating insider/outsider status within and across cultures. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 20(5), 405–416. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370120490

51.

Mishra

Ghate

Maharjan

Gurung

Pathak

Upraity

A. N.

(2017). Building ex ante resilience of disaster-exposed mountain communities: Drawing insights from the Nepal earthquake recovery. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 22, 167–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.03.008

52.

Mishra

(2021). Affective, embodied experiences of doing fieldwork in India. Empowering Methodologies in Organisational and Social Research, 160–178. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429352492-9

53.

Molyneux

Kamuya

Marsh

(2010). Community members employed on research projects face crucial, often under-recognized, ethical dilemmas. The American Journal of Bioethics, 10(3), 24–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161003708623

54.

Monahan

Fisher

J. A.

(2010). Benefits of ‘observer effects’: Lessons from the field. Qualitative Research, 10(3), 357–376. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794110362874

55.

Mueller

R. A.

(2019). Episodic narrative interview: Capturing stories of experience with a methods fusion. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, Article 160940691986604. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919866044

56.

Mukherji

Ganapati

N. E.

Rahill

(2014). Expecting the unexpected: Field research in post-disaster settings. Natural Hazards, 73(2), 805–828. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1105-8

57.

Nadarajah

(2016). Doing fieldwork in disaster areas—Nurturing the embodied for analytical insight. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2(1), 57–76.

58.

National Academy of Sciences. (2006). Facing hazards and disasters: Understanding human dimensions. National Academies Press.

59.

Newman

Kaloupek

D. G.

(2004). The risks and benefits of participating in trauma-focused research studies. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17(5), 383–394. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jots.0000048951.02568.3a

60.

O’Mathúna

D. P.

(2010). Conducting research in the aftermath of disasters: Ethical considerations. Journal of Evidence-based Medicine, 3(2), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-5391.2010.01076.x

61.

O’Mathúna

D. P.

(2018). The dual imperative in disaster research ethics. In Iphofen

Tolich

(Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research ethics (pp. 441–454). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526435446.n30

62.

Oulahen

Vogel

Gouett-Hanna

(2020). Quick response disaster research: Opportunities and challenges for a new funding program. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 11(5), 568–577. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-020-00299-2

63.

Paul

S. K.

Routray

J. K.

(2010). Flood proneness and coping strategies: The experiences of two villages in Bangladesh. Disasters, 34(2), 489–508. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2009.01139.x

64.

Pelletier

C. A.

Pousette

Ward

Fox

(2020). Exploring the perspectives of community members as research partners in rural and remote areas. Research Involvement and Engagement, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-020-0179-6

65.

Petkov

M. P.

Kaoullas

L. G.

(2015). Overcoming respondent resistance at elite interviews using an intermediary. Qualitative Research, 16(4), 411–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794115589646

66.

Priya

K. R.

(2010). The research relationship as a facilitator of remoralization and self-growth: Post-earthquake suffering and healing. Qualitative Health Research, 20(4), 479–495. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732309360419

67.

Priya

K. R.

(2012). Social constructionist approach to suffering and healing: Juxtaposing Cassell, Gergen and Kleinman. Psychological Studies, 57(2), 211–223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-011-0143-5

68.

Priya

K. R.

(2019). Using constructivist grounded theory methodology: Studying suffering and healing as a case example. In Bryant

Charmaz

(Eds.), The SAGE handbook of current developments in grounded theory (pp. 392–412). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526436061.n21.

69.

Ray-Bennett

N. S.

(2009). The influence of caste, class and gender in surviving multiple disasters: A case study from Orissa, India. Environmental Hazards, 8(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.3763/ehaz.2009.0001

70.

Redman-MacLaren

Mafile’o

Tommbe

MacLaren

(2019). Meeting in the middle: Using lingua franca in cross-language qualitative health research in Papua New Guinea. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, Article 160940691988345. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919883459

71.

Reich

J. A.

(2021). Power, positionality, and the ethic of care in qualitative research. Qualitative Sociology, 44(4), 575–581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-021-09500-4

72.

Rodgers

(2004). ‘‘Hanging out’’ with forced migrants: Methodological and ethical challenges. Forced Migration Review, 21, 48–49.

73.

Rosenstein

D. L.

(2004). Decision-making capacity and disaster research. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17(5), 373–381. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jots.0000048950.36359.a2

74.

Shai

P. N.

(2020). A local researcher’s experiences of the insider–outsider position: An exercise of self-reflexivity during ethnographic GBV and HIV prevention research in South Africa. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, Article 160940692093856. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920938563

75.

Simon

Mosavel

(2010). Community members as recruiters of human subjects: Ethical considerations. The American Journal of Bioethics, 10(3), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265160903585578

76.

Tansey

C. M.

Anderson

Boulanger

R. F.

Eckenwiler

Pringle

Schwartz

Hunt

(2017). Familiar ethical issues amplified: How members of research ethics committees describe ethical distinctions between disaster and non-disaster research. BMC Medical Ethics, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0203-z

77.

Taylor

(2011). The intimate insider: Negotiating the ethics of friendship when doing insider research. Qualitative Research, 11(1), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794110384447

78.

Tew

(2008). Researching in partnership; Reflecting on a collaborative study with mental health service users into the impact of compulsion. Qualitative Social Work, 7(3), 271–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325008093702

79.

Thomson

Gunter

(2011). Inside, outside, upside down: The fluidity of academic researcher “identity” in working with/in school. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 34(1), 17–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727x.2011.552309

80.

Toy-Cronin

(2018). Ethical issues in insider-outsider research. In Iphofen

Tolich

(Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research ethics (pp. 455–469). SAGE.

81.

Tremblay

Martin

D. H.

McComber

A. M.

McGregor

Macaulay

A. C.

(2018). Understanding community-based participatory research through a social movement framework: A case study of the Kahnawake schools diabetes prevention project. BMC Public Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5412-y

82.

Trott

C. D.

Sample-McMeeking

L. B.

Weinberg

A. E.

(2019). Participatory action research experiences for undergraduates: Forging critical connections through community engagement. Studies in Higher Education, 45(11), 2260–2273. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1602759

83.

Vanner

(2015). Positionality at the center. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(4), Article 160940691561809. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406915618094

84.

Venugopal

Yasir

(2017). The politics of natural disasters in protracted conflict: The 2014 flood in Kashmir. Oxford Development Studies, 45(4), 424–442. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2016.1276160

85.

Vindrola-Padros

Johnson

G. A.

(2021). The use of rapid qualitative research in time-sensitive contexts. Temporality in Qualitative Inquiry, 172–191. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003083504-11

86.

Viswambharan

A. P.

Priya

K. R.

(2015). Documentary analysis as a qualitative methodology to explore disaster mental health: Insights from analysing a documentary on communal riots. Qualitative Research, 16(1), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794114567494

87.

Walter

(2010). Grief and culture. Bereavement Care, 29(2), 5–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/02682621003707431

88.

Wartman

Berman

J. W.

Bostrom

Miles

Olsen

Gurley

Irish

Lowes

Tanner

Dafni

Grilliot

Lyda

Peltier

(2020). Research needs, challenges, and strategic approaches for natural hazards and disaster reconnaissance. Frontiers in Built Environment, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2020.573068

89.

Wiles

(2012). What are qualitative research ethics? Bloomsbury.

90.

Wolbers

Kuipers

Boin

(2021). A systematic review of 20 years of crisis and disaster research: Trends and progress. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 12(4), 374–392. https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12244